Description

Circa 1820. 2-storey, 4-bay pair of subdivided cottages set on slope. Symmetrical, rectangular-plan. Coursed rubble sandstone; droved long and short rubble quoins; continuous cornice; polished and painted surrounds to windows at S; projecting cills; architraved doorpieces. Polished and droved surrounds to N. Later conservatory added to S at ground; rear basement now a separate flat.

S (ENTRANCE) ELEVATION: architraved doorpieces to central bays with decorative friezes and projecting cornices. Single window to ground in bay to outer left; single door formed from window in bay to outer right; regularly fenestrated to 1st floor.

N (REAR) ELEVATION: 3-storey, 4-bay symmetrical arrangement. Single openings in all bays to basement. Tripartite windows to ground floor in bays to outer left and right. Single windows to both floors in remaining bays.

2-pane timber sash and case windows. Replacement grey pantiled roof with stone skews; Velux rooflights. Coped rubble apex stacks to E and W; circular cans.

INTERIOR: not seen 1996.

BOUNDARY WALL AND GATEPIERS: coped rubble wall to Newhaven Road. Polished and painted pilastered pedestrian gateway to S; projecting cornice; replacement iron gate; garage with roller shutter door to left. Polished sandstone gatepiers to N; curved pyramidal caps; replacement metal gates.

Random rubble wall to W marks original entry to Willow Bank House (demolished). Stone coping; pyramidal caps; timber gate.

Statement of Interest

Once part of the Whalebank Estate with Willow Bank House to its W (the original No 243) and Shelbourne Bank House (now No 12 Park Road) beyond. The boundary wall and gateway to the W of No 243 are the only remains of Willow Bank House - demolished in 1970 by Edinburgh City to make way for "public open space" behind the modern scheme by Ian G. Lindsay & Partners (Auchinleck Court). Originally surrounded by extensive open land to N and S, the Whalebank Estate and the three substantial buildings aligned on it, played a key role in the then sparse townscape. Despite the addition of a conservatory to the front of No 243/1 and the subsequent cutting off of its doorpiece, the pair remain symmetrical and true to their original form.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q77770940

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

• 
  Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius (Penguin Art & Architecture)
• 
  Sussex: West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Historic Environment Law: Planning, Listed Buildings, Monuments, Conservation Areas and Objects, Supplement 2014
• 
  London 4: North: North v. 4 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Gloucestershire 1: The Cotswolds: Cotswolds Pt. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Cork: City and County (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)