Moray Estate
The Moray Estate, also known as the Moray Feu, is an early 19th century building venture attaching the west side of the New Town, Edinburgh. Built on an awkward and steeply sloping site, it has been described as a masterpiece of urban planning.
History
The ground, extending to 5.3 hectares, was acquired in 1782 by the 9th Earl of Moray from the Heriot Trust. The land contained Drumsheugh House, Moray House and its service block, and large gardens lying between Charlotte Square and the Water of Leith.In 1822 his son, Francis Stuart, 10th Earl of Moray, commissioned the architect James Gillespie to draw up plans to build over 150 huge townhouses on the land. The houses were set on large plots, even by surrounding New Town standards, and were complemented by a series of private gardens, most notably on the slopes of the Water of Leith.
The scheme was curtailed on its south side due to the proposed new road and bridge, which culminated in the construction of Dean Bridge 1829/31. Land south of this road line, including the Drumsheugh House section, were not developed until later.
Sales were begun by auction on 7 August 1822. Over and above the cost of the plot, purchasers agreed to a build cost of £2000 to £3000 and an annual fee of £30. A "penalty clause" also imposed a fine of £100 on buildings not completed within 30 months. If comparing these prices to the norm, even for the affluent New Town this was perhaps ten times more than might have been expected. While the houses were among the largest ever built, this clearly guaranteed an exclusivity from the outset.
While the majority of plots sold well and quickly the scheme as a whole was completed in 1858. The final phase included a central section on Great Stuart Street on the east side between Ainslie Place and Randolph Place, and the two corner blocks on Ainslie Place flanking the access to St Colme Street/Albyn Place.
As one of the most affluent areas in Edinburgh, it set a trend. Glazing was changed to one-over-one format over almost the entire estate by 1950, but when architectural conservation came to the fore in the 1970s, it was one of the first areas to almost wholly restore windows to their original form.
Most basements throughout the estate are now separate properties and many of the blocks are divided into flats.
The entire scheme was designed as a residential enclave with the exception of Wemyss Place, which had ground floor commercial properties and a church in its centre. This church, by John Thomas Rochead does not look like a church and blends with the street. It was originally St Stephen's Free Church created in 1847 for Rev Gillies. Whilst intended as residential many properties became commercial through the years and by the 1970s these commercial uses exceeded 50%. This has reversed in recent years.
The street lights were originally individual tallow lamps. A unified gas lighting design and system was introduced by John Kippen Watson in the 1860s and this was converted to electric around 1910. However, the original lamps were mainly removed and replaced by modern lamp-posts in the 1960s. Edinburgh's New Town Conservation Area Committee restored electric versions of the original lamps in the 1980s. For some reason Forres Street was omitted from this upgrade and that street still has two 1960s lamp-posts.
Form
The general form of the estate is as four storey and basement houses, set back behind the front basement area, and with a private garden to the rear. The continuous form necessitates a different solution on the corner blocks: these generally have a ground floor and basement duplex unit accessed from the more important street and flats above accessed from the secondary street. These either have no garden or a detached garden. From the pavement a flight of steps gives independent access to the basement, generally a service area. A short flight of steps rise to the main entrance, usually supported on a stone arch.The buildings are constructed of local Craigleith sandstone with roofs of Scots slate with lead flashings.
The typical interior has a grand open staircase built in stone topped by an ornate cupola giving it daylight, and often embellished with ornate plasterwork. The main room for public entertainment was usually the first floor front room.
Spaces
Gardens
The gardens form part of the collection of New Town Gardens. The Bank Gardens between the estate and the Water of Leith extend to 4.1 acres and slope steeply and were raised further to level the estate. A virtually inevitable landslip occurred at the back of the Ainslie Place feus in 1825 and had to be rectified by the addition of structural arches by James Jardine. A further landslip in the south-west corner in 1837 required further arches and these were then re-invented as a high level walkway leading to Dean Bridge. However the southern section of the Bank Gardens did not become fully operational until 1840.Over and above the Bank Gardens two other substantial private gardens were created: Moray Place Gardens and Ainslie Place Gardens. Of these Moray Place Gardens is sufficiently large and sufficiently screened to provide picnic areas and croquet lawns.
The several garden areas remain the private joint property of the Moray Estate owners.
The pavements around the gardens are of "horonised" form. This is created from a series of vertical slivers of granite, created by the squaring of the granite setts on the vehicle surface, thereby making full use of the material.
Mews
The Moray estate is the only set of New Town buildings which do not have ancillary mews to the rear. Instead the mews were located remotely: on Gloucester Lane and on Randolph Lane. The mews are fewer in number than would be expected for the number of houses on the estate.Moray Place
Appearing as a circle but actually a duodecagon this is the largest and grandest space within the plan. Technically it is symmetrical around its northwest/southeast axis, but the scale of the form and central gardens makes this impossible to interpret on the ground, and this is only visible from above. Although rear mews were standard at the time of building, the layout did not allow this.Lord Moray took one of the largest and most prominent houses: 28 Moray Place. Other notable residents included Alexander Kinnear, 1st Baron Kinnear, George Deas, Lord Deas, Sir David Baxter of Kilmaron, Charles Dundas Lawrie, John Learmonth, John Sinclair, 1st Baron Pentland, Thomas Buchanan , Charles Hope, Lord Granton, Robert MacFarlane, Lord Ormidale and his son George Lewis MacFarlane, John MacGregor McCandlish, John Hope, Lord Hope, Francis Brown Douglas , Bouverie Francis Primrose, Francis Jeffrey, Lord Jeffrey, John Trayner, Lord Trayner, George Young, Lord Young, Andrew Coventry and his son George Coventry FRSE, Thomas Charles Hope, John Hope, Sir James Miles Riddell, John Fullerton, Lord Fullerton, Baron Hume, James Adam, Lord Adam, Robert Kerr, Lord Kerr, Robert Christison and his sons Sir Alexander Christison and David Christison, William Thomas Thomson and his son Spencer Campbell Thomson, Thomas Jamieson Boyd , James Skene, Sir James Wellwood Moncreiff, 9th Baronet, John Corse Scott, James Buchanan and Rev George Coventry
Ainslie Place
Named after the Earl's wife, Margaret Jane Ainslie, daughter of Col. Sir Philip Ainslie of Pilton, Ainslie Place stands in the centre of the scheme. The format is an oval circus laid on a south-west to north-east axis, between the two halves of Great Stuart Street.The scheme has always been popular with Scottish law lords and eminent physicians. Notable residents include John Millar, Lord Craighill, William Blackwood, Edward Maitland, Lord Barcaple, John MacWhirter , John Cowan, Lord Cowan, Mark Napier , Reginald Fairlie, John Duncan , Alexander Bruce , James Ivory, Lord Ivory, Sir Thomas Dawson Brodie WS, James Gregory and his eminent sons Donald, William, Duncan and James all at 10, Sir William Edmonstone, George Cranstoun, Lord Corehouse, John Hay Forbes, Lord Medwyn, James Spence and George Burnett, Lord Lyon, Neil Kennedy, Lord Kennedy, Francis Cadell and his actress sister Jean Cadell, John Rankine , Dean Edward Ramsay and his brother Admiral Sir William Ramsay in later life, Very Rev James Robertson
Randolph Crescent
This street forms the entrance into the estate from the south. Randolph Crescent Garden was originally retained by Lord Moray and Graham's plan showed a large mansion in the centre, probably as a replacement to Drumsheugh House. It was ultimately decided this was not a good location to build.The elevated ground level in the central garden may be the original ground level or may be due to the placing of excess soil here during original construction. It facilitated a large air raid shelter being constructed here during the Second World War.
Notable residents include Edward Gordon, Baron Gordon of Drumearn, William Mackintosh, Lord Kyllachy, Robert Smith Candlish, Erskine Douglas Sandford, William Campbell, Lord Skerrington, James Stevenson and his daughters Flora and Louisa, the final Lord Tredegar, and later his sister, Avis Gurney..
Randolph Cliff
The dramatic entrance to the Moray Estate from Dean Bridge begins with Randolph Cliff, which stands dramatically over the Water of Leith far below. It was one of the final sections to be completed and is laid out as flats rather than houses. The corner block has a complex stair to access the main stair, unlike any other block on the estate.Randolph Place
Somewhat detached from the rest of the estate, Randolph Place never had the same allure for housing and from the outset seems to have attracted office use. This may be because the rear of West Register House was never developed to the same standard as the front, creating a less attractive setting. Robert Adam's original plan for the building included a grand rear entrance onto Randolph Place. However, when the funds could not be found for Adam's design, architect Robert Reid was called in to modify the plan. The modified plan placed attenuated pavilions flanking a Diocletian window above a Venetian window at the rear of the building overlooking Randolph Place, and although architect David Bryce later drew up plans to add towers to the pavilions, this work was never carried out. Randolph Place therefore became a comparatively unimpressive entrance from the West End's Melville Street, into Charlotte Square and on to George Street. City of Edinburgh Council have undertaken a number of public consultations on possible ways to improve Randolph Place in recent years, including potentially resurfacing it or the addition of green space and public art, and the possibility of a cycle route from Melville Street, to George Street via Randolph Place, but as of 2022 nothing has been agreed.Two famous architects had their offices here: Alexander Hunter Crawford at 10 and Reginald Fairlie at 14.