Geddes in Edinburgh - 2

We then continued to some of the spaces attributed to Geddes as one contributor to a broader 1893 Sanitary Improvement Scheme for the Edinburgh Old Town. Johnson and Rosenburg talk of Geddes' attempts 'to find sensitive ways of "opening out" interior spaces within the existing street block in order to create more healthful courts and quadrangles. These re-designed interior spaces needed to be accessible (or in current architectural terminology "permeable") from the bounding streets...' On the same page (114) they quote Geddes himself advocating the letting of 'light and air' into 'slums and closes'.

The images above are all from Wardrop's Court, of which Johnson and Rosenburg write (p.115):

The treatment of Wardrop's Court is a particularly complex example of 'conservative surgery'. Geddes was given delegated responsibility for the supervision of property acquisition on Council's behalf and for the preparation of a detailed renewal plan. The physical solution for Wardrop's Court is more difficult to appreciate than the iconic Ramsay Garden development, but in many respects it provides a better indication of the subtle creativity that Geddes was able to apply to the mediaeval fabric of the Old Town.

The site containing Wardrop's Court occupies a key location along the Royal Mile, where Bank Street and the Mound are linked to George IV Bridge. Within the official boundaries of the designated site, there was a dense warren of dilapidated buildings behind the main frontages on the north side of the Lawnmarket and the west and north sides of the curving North Bank Street. Four narrow wynds provided access to the crowded interior 'backlands' via openings in the Lawnmarket facade. Two ancient merchant's houses - Gladstone's Land dating from around 1550 and Lady Stair's House dating from 1622 - were also located within the official boundaries of the improvement site. These historic buildings were scheduled for retention with varying degrees of modification.

Another of Geddes' courts, nearby, is Riddle's Close, harder to photograph in any way which gives a proper sense of the space. I will however put up some of my photographs from this locale in a future post.