Facing the Back
In Gladstone's Land, 481 & 483 Lawnmarket
Property of the National Trust for Scotland. Initials TG (Thomas Gledstanes) and BC (Bessie Cunningham, his wife) and trademark - saltire on vertical stem - on skewputts. Bought in 1617 by Thomas Gladstone, who extended it S, building arcaded shop to ground and ashlar front replacing timber galleries. Acquired by the National Trust for Scotland in 1934, when restoration was carried out by Sir Frank Mears. The 3-storey rubble-built wing to NE is part of a wing added circa 1740, reduced by 2 storeys and given a flat roof by Mears in 1934-6 (original form illustrated by Home). The stone arcaded ground floor was also revealed during Mears' restoration; Grant's illustration shows it concealed behind a later shop-front. The Dean of Guild plan shows alterations, including a window in the lobby and the addition of a WC, in the 1880's, when the 3 back houses were considered 'uninhabitable,' and alterations to the shop The timber booths behind, and the leaded windows and shutters are part of Hurd's restoration for the National Trust of 1978-80, when the house was furnished as a 17th century Old Town house and opened to the public.
[Historic Environment Scotland]
Facing the Back
In Gladstone's Land, 481 & 483 Lawnmarket
Property of the National Trust for Scotland. Initials TG (Thomas Gledstanes) and BC (Bessie Cunningham, his wife) and trademark - saltire on vertical stem - on skewputts. Bought in 1617 by Thomas Gladstone, who extended it S, building arcaded shop to ground and ashlar front replacing timber galleries. Acquired by the National Trust for Scotland in 1934, when restoration was carried out by Sir Frank Mears. The 3-storey rubble-built wing to NE is part of a wing added circa 1740, reduced by 2 storeys and given a flat roof by Mears in 1934-6 (original form illustrated by Home). The stone arcaded ground floor was also revealed during Mears' restoration; Grant's illustration shows it concealed behind a later shop-front. The Dean of Guild plan shows alterations, including a window in the lobby and the addition of a WC, in the 1880's, when the 3 back houses were considered 'uninhabitable,' and alterations to the shop The timber booths behind, and the leaded windows and shutters are part of Hurd's restoration for the National Trust of 1978-80, when the house was furnished as a 17th century Old Town house and opened to the public.
[Historic Environment Scotland]