Description

1886. 3-storey, 9-bay Baronial tenement, falmboyant skyline, incorporating hotel and shops at ground. Cream sandstone coursers, ashlar dressings. Base and cill courses at 1st and 2nd, cornice.

Single and bipartite windows with moulded reveals, ashlar mullions.

Nos 9 to 17:

N (ENTRANCE) ELEVATION: symmetrical 5-bay, 3 shops divided by fanlit doors to tenement. Tripartite arrangement to each shop, chamfered and moulded surrounds. Centre bay, corbelled and corniced bipartite window at 1st, bipartite dormerhead above with curvilinear gable, blind oculus to gable, skewputts, surmounted by urn finial. Flanking semi-circular pedimented windows widely spaced at 1st, lozenge pattern in tympanum to left, (right badly weathered); gabled dormerheads above. Outer bay to right (mirror image to left) bipartite window at 1st, bipartite dormerhead above with corbelled, crowstepped gable, date stone '1886', (initials CM to left gable), ball finial and tall corbelled stack breaking skew at wallhead.

Nos 19, 21: former hotel at corner of High Street and St Michael's Wynd.

N (ENTRANCE) ELEVATION: symmetrical 4-bay, public entrance in chamfered corner to right. 5-bay at ground, central fanlit door to tenement, flanking windows with cast-iron guards; window to each bay at 1st; gabled bays at centre, breaking eaves at 2nd floor where divided by corbelled gablehead stack; windows with gabled dormerheads, finials, curved and moulded gable to right, lozenge pattern in tympanum to left gable. Chamfered corner; corbelled and squared above door at 1st; corbelled circular bratizan above, with fluted panel at base, blind arrow-loop windows, corbelled eaves course, slated conical roof lead finial.

W (SIDE) ELEVATION: gabled 3-bay facade, irregularly spaced fenestration; crowstepped gables to outer bays. Plate glass lower, multi-pane upperin sash and case windows; 2-pane upper to ground floor windows in N face of hotel. Grey slate roof, sandstone corniced gagle and mutual stacks. Original rainwater goods.

Statement of Interest

Hotel no longer in use as such. Situated on the corner of High Street and St Michaels Wynd. Shop front at centre and left, original arrangement. The Mint a 15th century residence for the knights Hospitaller of St John of Jerusalem whose Scottish headquarters were at Torphichen, was demolished during the redevelopment of this site in 1885. Drwings made of the building during the demolition have been a substantial establishment consisting of a large blackened tower below which were two small courtyards surrounded by arched buildings. One of these buildings perhaps the common hall, still had some fine oak ceiling struts and a large stone fireplace. Ruined cottages at rear demolished 1990. Archaeological investigation of site carried out 1991 by Scottish Urban Archaeological Trust Ltd. Consent granted 1991 for conversion of former hotel to flats and shops and erection of new houses at rear.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q17851400

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

• 
  Herefordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  London 6: Westminster (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England): Westminster v. 6
• 
  Worcestershire Revised Edition (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Suffolk: East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  London 3: North West: North West v. 3 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Berkshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)