Description

George Smith, 1843. 17-bay terrace of 2- and 3-bay shops, 2-storey to E, 2-storey and mezzanine to W, stepped with incline of street. Ashlar (painted). Pavement and railings of Victoria Terrace (separately listed) above. Base course, eaves cornice and blocking course. Aproned 1st floor and mezzanine windows contained within bracketed key-blocked round-arched moulded surrounds. Most shop fronts altered in later 19th century; later decoratively consoled cornice at No 32.

Statement of Interest

Victoria Street was part of Thomas Hamilton's plan for the new Southern and Western Approaches to the city. The plan was first proposed in an article in the Scots Magazine in 1817 (attributed to Hamilton) proposing the formation of 'a Communication between the N and S sides of the City of Edinburgh by means of a bridge entering the Lawnmarket nearly opposite Bank Street.' Hamilton and William Burn produced a 'Report relative to the proposed approaches' in 1824, of which a plan appeared in 'The Scotsman' (27th November 1824). Hamilton and Burn went to London in 1825 to gain support for an Act of Parliament, and the City Improvement Act was passed in 1827. Hamilton was appointed architect to the Commissioners for the Improvement Act, and carried out the 2 major town planning initiatives for which they were responsible - the W approach - King's Bridge and Johnstone Terrace, and the S approach - George IV Bridge, and the link to the Grassmarket - Victoria Street. Hamilton was replaced as architect to the Commissioners in 1834 by George Smith, and the buildings on the N side of Victoria Street were designed by Smith.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q17809963

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

• 
  Gwent/Monmouthshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Wales)
• 
  Devon (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Huddersfield in 50 Buildings
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  Cork: City and County (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)
• 
  Suffolk: West: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Listed Buildings: The Law and Practice of Historic Buildings, Ancient Monuments and Conservation Areas