History in Structure

Police Call Box, Princes Street, Edinburgh

A Category B Listed Building in Edinburgh, Edinburgh

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Coordinates

Latitude: 55.9521 / 55°57'7"N

Longitude: -3.1956 / 3°11'44"W

OS Eastings: 325438

OS Northings: 673872

OS Grid: NT254738

Mapcode National: GBR 8NF.6V

Mapcode Global: WH6SL.WNGF

Plus Code: 9C7RXR23+RQ

Entry Name: Police Call Box, Princes Street, Edinburgh

Listing Name: Princes Street at Royal Scottish Academy, Police Box

Listing Date: 10 August 1990

Category: B

Source: Historic Scotland

Source ID: 371052

Historic Scotland Designation Reference: LB30243

Building Class: Cultural

Also known as: Edinburgh, Princes Street, Police Call Box

ID on this website: 200371052

Location: Edinburgh

County: Edinburgh

Town: Edinburgh

Electoral Ward: City Centre

Traditional County: Midlothian

Tagged with: Police box

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Description

E.J.MacRae, 1930-31 (see Notes). Rectangular cast-iron police call box with classical details. Painted blue. 2-bay pilastered long elevations. Single bay elevations with open pediments containing ribboned wreath paterae. Plaque with city arms to door. Saltire glazing pattern to all elevations. Low-pitched roof.

Statement of Interest

This example of an Edinburgh police box is situated on a prominent site on Princes Street, close to the Royal Scottish Academy and the Mound. The Edinburgh police box adopts a Classical style to complement the city's classical architecture and while no longer in use for their original pupose, remain a distinctive feature of the city with significant historic and architectural value. Police boxes were introduced to Britain in the late 19th century and become widespread during the 1930's. During this later period, a standard design for Britain was introduced, although Edinburgh did not adopt this and instead the city architect, E J MacRae working with assistants A Rollo and J A Tweedie, designed the Edinburgh box. Each box was intended to serve as a "miniature police station" for officers on the beat with telephone, incident book, fire extinguisher and first-aid kit inside. The official objectives of the Police Box system included 'communicating information to or from the station' and 'preparing reports on occurrences.

List description revised as part of Edinburgh Holyrood Ward resurvey 2007-08.

External Links

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