Description

Dated 1621 with later additions and alterations (see Notes). Outstanding U-plan group of interconnected 17th century mercantile buildings with fine 4-storey, 4-bay, L-plan former hall to centre on sloping site (2 storey to rear), flanked by 3-storey wings projecting to N. Rubble with ashlar dressings throughout.

FURTHER DESCRIPTION: FORMER HALL - N ELEVATION: Broken, moulded cill courses to 1st and 2nd floors (N elevation). Irregular fenestration. Crow-stepped gables. Projecting stair tower to far left with moulded doorway and finialed date-stone pediment embedded within wall at 3rd floor. Wide segmental arched pend now forming main entrance. Large drum well (dated 1837) situated to immediate left. Rear (S) elevation: 8-bay with regular fenestration; ochre coloured lime render. Further adjoined gable-ended block set back to far left.

Pedimented dormers to W wing. Further large segmental arch opening to ground at E wing.

INTERIOR: Comprehensively refurbished for use as a public house and nightclub.

Predominantly multi-pane timber sash and case windows. Scottish slate. Piended roofs to wings. End stacks to main hall section. Cast-iron rainwater goods.

Statement of Interest

The former Tailors' Hall is a rare example of early 17th century mercantile architecture, occupying a key location on the Cowgate. Having undergone a number of changes of use during its long history, the building retains much of its 18th century character with its projecting stair outshot and large windows to the main hall at 2nd floor. In 1620 the Incorporation of Tailors acquired an area of land on the S of the Cowgate on which stood a group of ruinous buildings. They built the main hall, completed in 1621, on the S side of the courtyard. The top floor of the hall was added in 1757. In 1640, a range of fine crow-stepped buildings were added to the N side of the courtyard, fronting the Cowgate. This block was demolished circa 1940. There was a garden behind the Tailors' Hall which is now a car-park serving the buildings on Chambers Street to the S. In 1801 the Argyle Brewery acquired the whole of the Tailors' property with the exception of one building alongside the Hall which the Incorporation retained. The draft of the National Covenant was approved in the Hall on 17th February 1638. The group of adjoining buildings were converted for use as a brewery circa 1925 and then again to function as a hotel. It is currently operating as a bar and nightclub.

List description updated at resurvey (2007/08).

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Tailor's Hall at Wikipedia
• Wikidata Q17568201

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Cumbria: Cumberland, Westmorland and Furness (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Historic Environment Law: Planning, Listed Buildings, Monuments, Conservation Areas and Objects, Supplement 2014
• 
  Berkshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Cambridgeshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Listed Buildings: The Law and Practice of Historic Buildings, Ancient Monuments and Conservation Areas
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides): Written by Charles O'Brien, 2014 Edition, Publisher: Yale University Press [Hardcover]