Milne's Entry. Lawnmarket. Edinburgh

Category

Library Item

Item no

6870

Title

Milne's Entry. Lawnmarket. Edinburgh

Description

Tenement buildings surround a courtyard in Milne's Entry in the Lawnmarket. They are in a poor condition with broken windows and crumbling plaster. Rubble is stacked against the metal railings.

Artist / maker

Inglis, Alexander Adam

Date

1870

Size

12.6 x 20.4 cm

Type

Photograph

Location

Edinburgh and Scottish Collection

The accompanying text in the volume reads:
"32. Milnes Court. This court is situated immediately behind the larger tenement shown in the centre of the following view (No 33).
The court appears to have been the earliest attempt to substitute an open square of somefor the narrow closes that had so long afforded the sole town residences of the Scottish gentry. The principal house which forms the north side of the court has a handsome entrance, with neat mouldings, rising into a small peak in the centre, like a very flat ogee arch. This style of ornament seems to mark the handiwork of Robert Milne the builder of the most recent portions of Holyrood Palace, and seventh Royal Master Mason.
(Wilson Memorials 2.159)

The houses on the left or west side of the court are much older. Their High Street part is shown in the next view (No 33 below). They were acquired by the Free Church and demolished in 1883 to make room for additions to the Assembly Hall."

Milne's Court was built in 1690 by the royally appointed Master Mason Robert Mylne. Tall tenement buildings surrounded a central courtyard, set back from the Lawnmarket down a narrow alley. The building on the west side of the courtyard was demolished in the late 19th century, but the original tenements on the north and south sides remain. The eastern side was sympathetically reconstructed in the 1960's. The buildings are currently used as halls of residence by the University of Edinburgh.

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Related subjects

Homes > Derelict buildings and excavation sites > Disrepair (homes)

Homes > Residential buildings > Tenements

Places > Edinburgh areas > Old Town

Places > Edinburgh areas > Royal Mile

Places > Scotland > Edinburgh