Description

John Hamilton (of Glasgow), 1910. 4-storey 5-bay former women's hostel (now annexe of Edinburgh College of Art) with Art Nouveau details and finialled ogee-roofed corner tower. Squared and snecked bull-faced sandstone, cream/grey to ground, red above ground floor, with polished dressings; brick to W elevation, white-glazed brick to rear. Cornice over ground floor with timber lettered fascia below; timber bracketed eaves.

N (WEST PORT) ELEVATION: 2-leaf timber panelled door in small-pane glazed screen to centre in moulded surround with consoled segmental pediment over, containing good Art Nouveau lettering (see Notes); 3-storey pilaster strips flanking windows above; stylised flat pediment to 3rd floor window breaking eaves. Pedimented dormerhead breaking eaves to outer right. Polygonal corner tower to outer left, corniced at 2nd floor, corbelled out above chamfered corner to outer left.

E (VENNEL) ELEVATION: recessed bay to outer left (adjoining Portsburgh Chapel, see Notes); timber panelled door to left with small-pane glazed fanlight; stylised flat pediment breaking eaves above. 4 bays to right regularly fenestrated.

Smal- pane glazing above, 2-light casements below in timber sash and case windows. Greenish-grey slates. Cast-iron down pipes with decorative hoppers. Tall corniced stacks with circular cans to wallhead to E and small stack to W gablehead.

Statement of Interest

B group comprises the former Portsburgh Chapel, The Vennel, (1828, separately listed), which had already been converted to hostel use in 1893, and the former Salvation Army Women's Hostel, built in 1910 as an extension to the Chapel building. Both now form part of an annexe to Edinburgh College of Art, Lady Lawson Street (separately listed). Lettering over door reads 'The Salvation Army Women's Hostel.' Carved stones laid by Mrs Bramwell Booth, William Brown (Lord Provost), Rev Williamson (St Giles) and Rev Whyte (Pricipal New College). The West Port was originally the SW city gate, and the street now known as West Port lay in the burgh of Portsburgh.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q56632450

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

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  Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius (Penguin Art & Architecture)
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  Listed Buildings: The Law and Practice of History Buildings, Ancient Monuments and Conservation Areas
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  Oxfordshire: North and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  London 1: The City of London: City of London v. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Cork: City and County (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)