Gazetteer of Scotland

EDI
164
EDI
Infirmary, on south side of Lauriston Place
adjacent to the New University Buildings,
was founded in 1870 and opened in 1879 ;
cost about £380,000 ; is on the pavdion
system, and in the old Scottish baronial
style ; extends in long narrow ranges south-
wards to the Meadows ; occupies an area
of llj acres, yet covers only 3J by the
aggregate of its buddings ; presents to
Lauriston Place an imposing main front
with the ends of four pavdions at the sides
and a massive three-storey steepled eleva-
tion in the centre ; is all so constructed as
to secure the freest possible circulation of
air around and within ad its parts ; com-
prises eight pavilions and twenty-four
wards ; and contains beds for a dady
average of 600 patients. Chalmers' Hos-
pital, at south side of west end of Lauriston
Place, was erected in 1861-64; is a large
edifice in plain Italian style ; ministers to
the sick and hurt ; and in 1879 treated
202 in-door and 1806 out-door patients.
The Maternity Hospital, at corner of
Lauriston Place and Lauriston Park, was
erected in 1877-78 at a cost of about £10, 500 ;
is in modified domestic Gothic style ; and
contains eight delivery wards. The Royal
Edinburgh Lunatic Asylum, at south end
of Morningside, comprises a large neat
edifice of 1810, an extensive addition of
1850, and enlargements and improvements
of 1866 ; includes fine enclosed garden
grounds ; and has a daily average of about
740 patients, and an annual income of
about £43,500. The Asylum for Blind
Males, on east side of Nicolson Street,
comprises two houses originally private,
refitted in 1806 and 1822, and subsequently
improved. The Asylum for Blind Females,
in "West Craigmillar suburb to the south
of Mayfield, was erected in 1874-77 at a
cost of about £13,000 ; is an edifice of
centre and wings in light French style ;
and has ornamental grounds of about 4
acres. The Institution for the Deaf and
Dumb, to the north-west of Henderson
Bow, sprang from an initial school of
1810 ; was erected by subscription ; and is a
neat, spacious, weU-arranged edifice.
The Victoria or General Assembly Hall,
in a sharp angle at foot of Castle Hill and
Johnstone Terrace toward Lawnmarket,
was erected in 1842-14 at a cost of about
£16,000 ; is the meeting - place of the
General Assembly of the Church of Scot-
land ; is a large oblong edifice in decorated
Gothic style ; and has a beautiful steeple
241 feet high, figuring conspicuously in
most views of the city. St. Giles' Church,
blocking part of High Street from most of
Parliament Square, dates from 9th century,
but retains no portion of earlier date than
the 14th ; became a collegiate church in
1466, and a cathedral in 1633 ; underwent
division into assembly hall and three par-
ochial churches ; was originally cruciform,
but lost that shape by both additions and
curtailments ; measures now 206 feet in
length and from 76 to 129 feet in breadth ;
is surmounted by a unique crown-shaped
spire 161 feet high ; was shorn of most of
its old exterior architectural features by a
modernizing renovation effected in 1829-32
at a cost of about £10,000 ; underwent
tasteful interior renovation of its eastern
or High Church section in 1872-73 at a
cost of £4990 ; underwent renovation of
the transepts in 1879 at corresponding
cost; was designed to undergo similar
renovation of its nave in or after 1881, at
a cost of about £10,500 ; and figures pro-
fusely in the history of the Scottish Re-
formation, and of the persecuting times of
the Stewarts. Tron Church, at corner of
High Street and South Bridge, was erected
in 1637-63 at a cost of about £6000 ; is in
the Scottish Renaissance style ; and under-
went improvements in 1828 and 1872.
Greyfriars Churches, Old and New, at
head of famous old cemetery near west
end of Chambers Street, were erected
in respectively 1612 and 1721, and have
both been burnt and renovated. Trinity
College Church, on south side of Jeffrey
Street, was erected in 1871-72 in lieu of
a celebrated church of 15th century on
ground now covered by North British
Railway station, and includes much re-
production of that church in both feature
and material. St. Cuthbert's Church,
between West Princes Street Gardens and
Lothian Road, succeeded a large ancient
cruciform edifice on site of a Culdee cell ;
was erected in 1775, without a steeple, at
a cost of £4231 ; presented so very bald an
appearance that a steeple was afterwards
adjoined to it ; and is so capacious as to
contain about 3000 sittings. St. George's
Church, on west side of Charlotte Square,
was erected in 1811-14 at a cost of £33,000 ;
forms a square of 112 feet each way, with
lofty Ionic portico on east front ; and is
surmounted by successively a circular
Corinthian colonnade, a massive dome, a
lantern cupola, and a cross, the last at a
height of 160 feet from the ground. St.
Stephen's Church, at foot of St. Vincent
Street, was erected in 1826-28 at a cost of
£21,000, and is an octagonal edifice in
mixed Roman style, with balustraded
tower 165 feet high. St. Andrew's
Church, on north side of easternmost
section of George Street, was erected in
1785 and 1789, and is a plain oval edifice
with Corinthian portico and very fine
steeple. St. Mary's Church, in Bellevue
Crescent, was erected in 1824 at a cost of
£14,000, and has a handsome Corinthian
portico and a beautiful three-storey tower,
successively Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian,
crowned with cupola and smad cyclostyle
lantern. 21 other Established churches
are within the city and suburbs.
The Free Church Assembly Had, on
Castle Hill, opposite Victoria Hall, was
erected in 1858-59 at a cost of £7000 ; is
plain but spacious ; and occupies the site
of Mary of Guise's palace. St. John's
Free Church, in south-eastern vicinity of