Free Tolbooth Church, 23 St Andrew Square, Edinburgh

Heritage listing

Category A Date Added 13/04/1965 Local Authority Edinburgh Planning Authority Edinburgh Burgh Edinburgh NGR NT 25555 74185 Coordinates 325555, 674185 — William Chambers, 1770-2; refaced and Telling room added by David Bryce, 1846; Free Tolbooth Church built to rear by David Bryce, 1858; internal alterations by Dick Peddie and Walker Todd, 1929, LA Jamieson, 1932. 3-storey basement and attic, 5-bay Italian Renaissance terraced office. Polished cream sandstone ashlar. Regular fenestration, moulded architraves. At ground, open pedimented Ionic porch to inner right bay; flanked by further doors; windows to 2 left bays with bracketed cills and panelled aprons. At 1st floor, consoled ashlar balcony and balustrade; windows with consoled pediments. Cill course at 2nd floor. Modillioned cornice and balustraded parapet, largely concealing pair of early bowed dormers. Extends back to North St Andrews Lane with stepped pyramidal composition; squared snecked and stugged sandstone. Large flat-arched entrance at ground now filled-in as window. Timber sash and case multi-pane windows. Ashlar coped mutual skews; rendered mutual stacks; grey slates. INTERIOR: 2 distinct blocks, front and rear. Left door gives access directly into front room with dentilled cornice; centre door gives access to main stair and banking hall at rear; right door gives separate access to Actuaries? premises at rear (above banking hall); stair with cast-iron lattice work banister. Former Banking Hall delineated by 2 rows of columns and piers with stylised Greek capitals, trabeated ceiling, 5-light window to rear. Stair with plain square cast-iron banisters, barrel-vaulted cupola with modillioned cornice. At 1st floor, 2- and 3-bay rooms, latter with Greek white marble chimneypiece, ceiling rose and plain double d

From Historic Environment Scotland under OGL v3.