Description

1755. (Reconstructed, 1955, Gordon and Dey, see Notes). 4-storey, 10-bay rectangular-plan tenement block with armorial panel above large basket-arched pend to right of centre. Random rubble with sandstone ashlar dressings. Corniced eaves course. Architraved windows with long and short margins. Bays 3-7 from left united by single architrave to 1st and 2nd floor windows with ashlar panels between and scrolled open pediments in relief. Wider set fenestration to bays above and to right of pend. Rear courtyard (S) elevation: 3-bay with full-height turn-pike stair tower to left. Later, bipartite window at each floor to right. Canted bay to outer right.

INTERIOR: extensively modernised (1956) to provide accommodation and facilities for Moray House Institute of Education including classrooms, staff studies and proscenium theatre (seen at resurvey - 2007).

Predominantly 12-pane timber sash and case windows. Scottish slate. Cast-iron rainwater goods.

Statement of Interest

A mid 18th century tenement block that retains its traditional character. No 176-184 is distinguished by its particularly generous pend to St John's Street and its simple, unobtrusive detailing. The Canongate area of Edinburgh has a particularly rich history of tenement building, of which No 176-184 is a valuable component.

The building underwent extensive reconstruction in 1955 by the architectural partnership of Gordon and Dey, following similar conservation principals to those championed by Robert Hurd (see below). Originally constructed by the Earls of Hopetoun, who built Hopetoun House, the building is currently known as St John's Land, taking its name from St John Street (and the associated Order of St John In Scotland) to the S. It was acquired by Moray House Institute of Education in 1956 and is now part of the University of Edinburgh.

The historic and architectural value of Edinburgh's Canongate area as a whole cannot be overstated. Embodying a spirit of permanence while constantly evolving, its buildings reflect nearly 1000 years of political, religious and civic development in Scotland.

The Canons of Holyrood Abbey were given leave by King David I to found the burgh of Canongate in 1140. Either side of the street (a volcanic ridge) was divided into long, narrow strips of land or 'toft's'. By the end of the 15th century all the tofts were occupied, some subdivided into 'forelands' and 'backlands' under different ownership. Fuedal superiority over Canongate ceased after 1560. The following century was a period of wide-scale rebuilding and it was during this time that most of the areas' mansions and fine townhouses were constructed, usually towards the back of the tofts, away from the squalor of the main street. The 17th century also saw the amalgamation of the narrow plots and their redevelopment as courtyards surrounded by tenements. The burgh was formally incorporated into the City in 1856.

Throughout the 19th Century the Canongate's prosperity declined as large sections of the nobility and middle classes moved out of the area in favour of the grandeur and improved facilities of Edinburgh's New Town, a short distance to the North. The Improvement Act of 1867 made efforts to address this, responding early on with large-scale slum clearance and redevelopment of entire street frontages. A further Improvement Act (1893) was in part a reaction to this 'maximum intervention', responding with a programme of relatively small-scale changes within the existing street pattern. This latter approach was more consistent with Patrick Geddes' concept of 'conservative surgery'.

Geddes was a renowned intellectual who lived in the Old Town and was a pioneer of the modern conservation movement in Scotland which gathered momentum throughout the 20th century. Extensive rebuilding and infilling of sections of the Canongate's many tenements took place, most notably by city architects, E J McRae and Robert Hurd (mid 20th century) with some early frontages retained and others rebuilt in replica.

List description updated at resurvey (2007/08).

Statutory address updated (2015). Previously listed as '176-184 (even nos) Canongate St John's Land'.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q56631823

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)
• 
  Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990: Updated version
• 
  Oxfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Suffolk: West: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Somerset: South and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Essex: Buildings of England Series (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)