Thistle Court (East)

My forays into the Christian Aid Booksale have turned up some new lines of Blip opportunity, this time in the New Town, thanks to a book called Historic Houses Of Edinburgh by Joyce M. Wallace for which I paid the grand sum of 80p.

Thistle court was the first building in the famous Edinburgh New Town development and although the earliest surviving example of New Town architecture it is not of the classical style. Originally called Rose Court, it stands on the south side at the Eastern end of Thistle Street.

John Young, a wright, accepted an inducement of £20 from the Corporation to be the first to build a house in the New Town, (effectively to encourage the populace to invest in the Plan) and James Craig himself laid the foundation stone on 26th October 1767 for what is described as 'two rubble-built semi-detached houses standing at either end facing a narrow garden', (in which title deeds include a draw-well, called the Obelisk Well).

On the Eastern houses (numbered, from the North, 1 and 2) the two centrally-positioned doors are enhanced by a single triangular pediment with a wrought iron lamp bracket. Each house has two storeys and an attic lit by two dormer windows. This building is now occupied by offices.

The similar houses on the West side (numbers 3 and 4) are deemed plainer and more unpretentious and, having been gutted, have been turned into an electricity sub-station.

I foresee many other trips around town and hours of research into facts from my bargain book. Just when I'll get around to reading the other 20-odd books I bought is another matter!