Edinburgh City Chambers

Last updated

Edinburgh City Chambers
Edinburgh City Chambers.jpg
Edinburgh City Chambers viewed across the Royal Mile from the Mercat Cross in Parliament Square
Location Edinburgh
Coordinates 55°57′01″N3°11′25″W / 55.9503°N 3.1904°W / 55.9503; -3.1904
Built1760
Architect John Adam
Listed Building – Category A
Designated14 December 1970
Reference no.LB17597
Location map United Kingdom Edinburgh.png
Red pog.svg
Shown in Edinburgh

Edinburgh City Chambers in Edinburgh, Scotland, is the meeting place of the City of Edinburgh Council and its predecessors, Edinburgh Corporation and Edinburgh District Council. It is a Category A listed building. [1]

Contents

History

The current building was originally built as the Royal Exchange, which was funded by subscription and commissioned in 1753. [2] It was designed by John Adam with detail alterations by John Fergus. [1] The building works absorbed many small streets, commonly known in Edinburgh as "closes", that ran north to south across the breadth of the site. The Royal Exchange building sat partially on top of the truncated buildings on the closes that were subsequently blocked-off. These now underground closes were still accessible but were closed for public access for many years until reopened as 'The Real Mary King's Close'. [3] The Exchange was opened by Lord Provost George Drummond in 1760. [4]

The exchange had a coffee shop and shops including a millinery operated by Sibilla Hutton. [5] The Exchange never proved popular with the merchants, for whom it was built, who persisted in meeting at the Mercat Cross or, rather, where it stood before it was removed in 1756. [6] The Town Council took over the north range in 1811 as the City Chambers and by 1893 had bought the whole building. [7]

The City Chambers initially housed Edinburgh Town Council from 1893 to 1895, when that body was replaced by Edinburgh Corporation. It remained the Corporation's headquarters until it was replaced by Edinburgh District Council under the wider Lothian Regional Council in May 1975. [8] It then remained the Edinburgh District Council headquarters until the abolition of the Lothian Region led to the formation of Edinburgh City Council in April 1996. [9]

The City Chambers were used as a filming location for the film Braveheart in 1995 [10] and for the TV series Belgravia in 2019. [11]

Architecture

The main building is set back from the High Street behind a quadrangle fronted by a groin-vaulted open arcade screen facing the street. There is a prominent bronze statue of Alexander Taming Bucephalus, by John Steell, in the quadrangle. This was modelled in 1832 but not cast in bronze until 1883. [12] It stood in St Andrew Square until 1916. [13]

The "Stone of Remembrance", within the arcade on the High Street, commemorates residents of the royal burgh who lost their lives in the First World War. The monument was unveiled by Prince Henry on Armistice Day in 1927. [14]

The bronze statue in the north east corner of the quadrangle is of General Stanisław Maczek, a Polish Second World War tank commander who was instrumental in the Allied liberation of France, and who lived in Edinburgh for the last 46 years of his life. The statue, which was unveiled in 2018, is the work of the Polish sculptor, Bronislaw Krzysztof. [15] [16]

Most of the interior and all of the main Council Chambers date from 1875 to 1890 and are by the City Architect of the time, Robert Morham. He also built the north-west wing in 1898 and the arched arcade fronting the courtyard in 1901. [17] The east and west wings on the Royal Mile are by the later City Architect Ebenezer James MacRae in the 1930s. [17] The west wing replaced the printworks of William Chambers where Chambers Dictionary was first published. [18]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glasgow City Chambers</span> Municipal building in Glasgow, Scotland

The City Chambers or Municipal Buildings in Glasgow, Scotland, has functioned as the headquarters of Glasgow City Council since 1996, and of preceding forms of municipal government in the city since 1889. It is located on the eastern side of the city's George Square. It is a Category A listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Mile</span> Collection of streets in Edinburgh

The Royal Mile is a succession of streets forming the main thoroughfare of the Old Town of the city of Edinburgh in Scotland. The term was first used descriptively in W. M. Gilbert's Edinburgh in the Nineteenth Century (1901), describing the city "with its Castle and Palace and the royal mile between", and was further popularised as the title of a guidebook by R. T. Skinner published in 1920, "The Royal Mile (Edinburgh) Castle to Holyrood(house)".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henry Cockburn, Lord Cockburn</span> Scottish lawyer, judge and literary figure (1779–1854)

Henry Thomas Cockburn of Bonaly, Lord Cockburn was a Scottish lawyer, judge and literary figure. He served as Solicitor General for Scotland between 1830 and 1834.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stanisław Maczek</span> Polish general (1892–1994)

Lieutenant General Stanisław Maczek was a Polish tank commander of World War II, whose division was instrumental in the Allied liberation of France, closing the Falaise pocket, resulting in the destruction of 14 German Wehrmacht and SS divisions. A veteran of World War I, the Polish–Ukrainian and Polish–Soviet Wars, Maczek was the commander of Poland's only major armoured formation during the September 1939 campaign, and later commanded a Polish armoured formation in France in 1940. He was the commander of the famous 1st Polish Armoured Division, and later of the I Polish Army Corps under Allied Command in 1942–45.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Steell</span> Scottish sculptor (1804-1891)

Sir John Robert Steell was a Scottish sculptor. He modelled many of the leading figures of Scottish history and culture, and is best known for a number of sculptures displayed in Edinburgh, including the statue of Sir Walter Scott at the base of the Scott Monument.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Scottish Academy Building</span> Art museum in Edinburgh, Scotland

The Royal Scottish Academy building, the home of the Royal Scottish Academy, is an art museum in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is situated at the junction of The Mound and Princes Street in the centre of the city. It was built by William Henry Playfair in 1822-6. Along with the adjacent National Gallery of Scotland, their neo-classical design helped to transform Edinburgh into the cityscape known as "the Athens of the North". Today the structure is a Category A listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marchmont</span> Human settlement in Scotland

Marchmont is a mainly residential area of Edinburgh, Scotland. It lies roughly one mile to the south of the Old Town, separated from it by The Meadows and Bruntsfield Links. To the west it is bounded by Bruntsfield; to the south-southwest by Greenhill and then Morningside; to the south-southeast by The Grange; and to the east by Sciennes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Hamilton (architect)</span> Scottish architect (1784-1858)

Thomas Hamilton was a Scottish architect, based in Edinburgh where he designed many of that city's prominent buildings. Born in Glasgow, his works include: the Burns Monument in Alloway; the Royal High School on the south side of Calton Hill ; the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh; the George IV Bridge, which spans the Cowgate; the Dean Orphan Hospital, now the Dean Gallery; the New North Road Free Church, now the Bedlam Theatre; Cumstoun, a private house in Dumfries and Galloway; and the Scottish Political Martyrs' Monument in Old Calton Cemetery, Edinburgh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Princes Street Gardens</span> Park in Edinburgh, Scotland, UK

Princes Street Gardens are two adjacent public parks in the centre of Edinburgh, Scotland, lying in the shadow of Edinburgh Castle. The Gardens were created in the 1820s following the long draining of the Nor Loch and building of the New Town, beginning in the 1760s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timeline of Edinburgh history</span>

This article is a timeline of the history of Edinburgh, Scotland, up to the present day. It traces its rise from an early hill fort and later royal residence to the bustling city and capital of Scotland that it is today.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lord Provost of Edinburgh</span> Position

The Right Honourable Lord Provost of Edinburgh is elected by and is the convener of the City of Edinburgh Council and serves not only as the chair of that body, but as a figurehead for the entire city, ex officio the Lord-Lieutenant of Edinburgh and honorarily the Admiral of the Firth of Forth. It is the equivalent in many ways to the institution of Mayor that exists in many other countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Town, Edinburgh</span> The oldest part of Edinburgh

The Old Town is the name popularly given to the oldest part of Scotland's capital city of Edinburgh. The area has preserved much of its medieval street plan and many Reformation-era buildings. Together with the 18th/19th-century New Town, and West End, it forms part of a protected UNESCO World Heritage Site.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cockburn Street, Edinburgh</span> Thoroughfare in Edinburgh, Scotland

Cockburn Street is a street in Edinburgh's Old Town, created as a serpentine link from the High Street to Waverley Station in 1856. Originally named Lord Cockburn Street after the then recently-deceased Scottish lawyer, judge and literary figure Henry, Lord Cockburn who was influential in urging his fellow citizens to remain vigilant in ensuring that early-Victorian expansion, e.g. improvements such as Cockburn Street, did not irrevocably damage or obliterate the built heritage and environment. Lord Cockburn's head is carved over the entrance to 1 Cockburn Street which now serves as offices for the Edinburgh Military Tattoo. The street contains a series of small specialist shops.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Rhind (sculptor)</span> Scottish sculptor (1828–1892)

John RhindARSA (1828–1892) was a Scottish sculptor, based in Edinburgh. He was born in Banff the son of a master mason. He was trained under Alexander Handyside Ritchie (1804–1870). He served this apprenticeship in a yard at 4 East Broughton Place.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">City of Edinburgh Council</span> Local government body in Scotland

The City of Edinburgh Council is the local government authority covering the City of Edinburgh council area. Almost half of the council area is the built-up area of Edinburgh, capital of Scotland. With a population of 514,990 in mid-2019, it is the second most populous local authority area in Scotland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Tolbooth, Edinburgh</span> Former municipal building in Edinburgh, Scotland

The Old Tolbooth was an important municipal building in the city of Edinburgh, Scotland for more than 400 years. The medieval structure, which was located at the northwest corner of St Giles' Cathedral and was attached to the west end of the Luckenbooths on the High Street in the Old Town, was first established in the 14th century by royal charter. Over the years it served a variety of purposes such as housing the Burgh Council, early meetings of the Parliament of Scotland and the Court of Session. The Tolbooth was also the burgh's main jail where, in addition to incarceration, physical punishment and torture were routinely conducted. From 1785 public executions were carried out. In 1817 the buildings, which had been rebuilt and renovated several times, were demolished.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">General Register House</span> Historic site in Princes Street, Edinburgh

General Register House is an Adam style neoclassical building on Princes Street, Edinburgh, purpose built by Robert Adam between 1774 and 1788 as the headquarters of the National Archives of Scotland. It is a Category A listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lothian Chambers</span> County building in Edinburgh, Scotland

Lothian Chambers, formerly Midlothian County Buildings, is a municipal structure on George IV Bridge in Edinburgh, Scotland. The structure, which accommodates the Consulate-General of France and the French Institute for Scotland, is a Category B listed building.

References

  1. 1 2 Historic Environment Scotland. "City Chambers, 245-249 High Street (even numbers), 253 High Street, 323 High Street, 329 High Street, 2 Warriston's Close and 14 Cockburn Street, Edinburgh (Category A Listed Building) (LB17597)" . Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  2. ↑ "The Book of the Old Edinburgh Club" (PDF). Retrieved 13 April 2020.
  3. ↑ "Mary King's Close". BBC World Service. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
  4. ↑ "George Drummond". Royal Bank of Scotland. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
  5. ↑ "Hutton, Sibilla (d. 1808), milliner and shopkeeper" . Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/65574 . Retrieved 7 August 2020.(Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  6. ↑ Grant, James. Old and New Edinburgh. Vol. 1. Retrieved 22 October 2012.
  7. ↑ Historic Environment Scotland. "Edinburgh, 245-329 High Street, City Chambers (52307)". Canmore . Retrieved 13 April 2020.
  8. ↑ "Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973". Legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
  9. ↑ "The City of Edinburgh Council". Edinburgh Live. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
  10. ↑ "Braveheart". Movie Locations. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
  11. ↑ Rhona Shennan (16 March 2020). "Belgravia filming locations in Edinburgh". Edinburgh Evening News. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
  12. ↑ Gillon, Jack; McAuley, Paul (2015). Monumental Edinburgh. Amberley Publishing. ISBN   978-1445650074.
  13. ↑ Buildings of Scotland:Edinburgh by McWilliam Gifford and Walker
  14. ↑ "Stone of Remembrance". Edinburgh Guide. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
  15. ↑ "Statue plan for Polish WW2 general who worked in Capital". Edinburgh Evening news. 12 March 2017. Archived from the original on 8 August 2019. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
  16. ↑ Brown, Graham (24 October 2018). "VIDEO: Statue of war hero General Maczek installed thanks to late Angus peer's memorial campaign". The Courier. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
  17. 1 2 "Edinburgh City Chambers". Dictionary of Scottish Architects. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
  18. ↑ Cassell's Old and New Edinburgh vol. II p. 223
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.