CIVIL ARCHITECTURE. 





It**. 



UMpttlL 



>4r at Kiag'i College and Westminster, but with 



ppier effect, bectow in a purer style. 



uc wa* begun in 1881, and com- 

 expence of L. 11,600. The 

 . limilar, in many respects, to that of Heriot'* 

 HiMpiult nd therefore, probibly a dcign of Inigo 

 lone*. Its front to the iqiiarc was plain, but respccta- 

 blr } it had hanging squire turret* at the extreme an- 

 gle*, with a round tower at the interior angle of the 

 tquare. Some of the window* had pointed pediments ; 

 otScr* Hat cornices, with sculptured ornament* over 

 them. The principal entrance had pilaster*, and a flat 

 entablature. There were statues over the pilasters, and 

 a tablet, with a pediment over it. in the middle between 

 the pilasters. The parapet, along the front was a sort 

 of fret wtjrk. The preat hall i. 1-22 by 49 feet, with a 

 ttatue of Lord President Forbes, by Roubilliac. This 

 edifice i* now considerably changed, to receive the new 

 courts of justice. 



Heriot's Hospital is known to be a design of Inigo 

 Jones. It was begun in July 1628; it was interrupted 

 national disturbances in 1639; was again proceed- 

 ed with in 164-2, and completed in 1650, at an expencc 

 of about L. 30,000. It consists of one square court, en- 

 compassed with buildings ; it has projecting turrets at 

 the extern. 1 angles, and a square tower over the entrance, 

 which is carried up to double the height of the rest of 

 the building, and finished with a cupola. Belts or string 

 courses divide the several stories. The windows have 

 pediment* over them ; some of these are pointed, some 

 circular, and open in the middle. The entrance arch- 

 way has coupled Doric columns with fully enriched en. 

 tablature ; but this is broken by heavy trusses, having 

 grotesque Gothic ornaments. The mouldings round the 

 arch terminates in a scroll ; and there are pinnacles over 

 the coupled columns. Immediately above the archway 

 are twisted Corinthian columns : the whole frontispiece 

 i* crowned and surrounded by minute sculptures. The 

 interior of the square, which is about 32 yards by 30, 

 ha* arcade* on two sides, and towers at the four angles, 

 in which are stairs. The windows of three sides have 

 pilasters and regular sculptured ornaments over them. 

 In the upper row, on the north or entrance side, in the 

 middle of the sculpture over the windows, there are small 

 nichts, with busts in them ; this produces a fine effect. 

 On the south nide is the chapel, with very large Gothic 

 windows ; but the entrance door has small coupled Co- 

 rinthiaa columns, with a circular pediment over each 

 pair, and both these surmounted by a strange sort of 

 circular open pediment. 



We know of no other instance, in the works of a man 

 of acknowledged talents, where the operation of chan- 

 ging style* i* to evident. In the chapel windows, al- 

 though the general outline* are fine Gothic, the mould- 

 ing* are Roman. In the entrance archways, although 

 the principal members are Roman, the pinnacles, trusses, 

 ud minute sculptures partake of the Gothic. The out- 

 tone* of the whole design have evidently been modelled 

 on the latter style, of the baronial castellated dwelling. 

 It form* one of the most magnificent features of this 

 ngulir city, and is a splendid monument of the munifi- 

 cence ot one of its citizens, George Heriot, a goldsmith 

 . the reign of James the VI. 



lloiyrood- We have no direct evidence at what period the palace 

 of Holyroodhouse was fir*t built. The north-west 

 tower* were erected by James V. The palace was burnt 

 by the English, in the minority of Queen Mary, but 

 speedily repaired. It then consisted of five separate 

 court*. Some tmall alteration* were, it ia said, made by 



Clung* of 



Inigo Jones, at the time lie re'nrni'd from Denmark witk 

 the queen of James 1. Great part of i c was 



burnt by Cromwell'* soldiers. The pr- -;,t idifice was 

 designed by Sir William Bru-T, a c- 1 Sr.ard architect 

 in the time of Charles II. and executed by Alexander 

 Mylnc, a mason, t i whom a monument has been < i 

 near the Old Abbey. It consists of OIIL- square, three 

 sides of which have three stories, composed of the Do- 

 ric, Ionic, and Corinthian orders. Round the interior 

 of the square, there is an arcade. The west tide, in 

 which U the entrance, ia only two stork.-, high. It* ex- 

 ternal facade is a mixed architecture, having a round 

 castellated tower at each extremity. Tin- entrance is 

 ornamented by a fully enriched Roirun Doric, with a 

 whimsical shaped open pediment, over the centre of 

 which there is a cupola, with very small Corinthian co- 

 lumns, having its covering or roof in t'le shape of an 

 imperial crown. Had the whole of the entrance front 

 corresponded with the towers at the extremities, it would 

 have been expressive of strength and protection ; as it 

 is, we can hardly wish them exchanged tor features of 

 Roman architecture. The external front eastward has 

 a distinct order to each of it . >'rie? ; the enta- 



blature being contirued alon^ the whole front without a 

 break, lias a line effect ; thereof is after the French fashion, 

 very hi^h and concave. Thoug .le of the square, 



by the introduction of three orders, has the parts ren- 

 dered minutely t>mall, yet the outlines b"ing free of un- 

 necessary projections and recesses, and the two upper 

 rows of windows bung large and plain, the whole exhi- 

 bit - a correctness and simplicity not frequently met with. 



The Royal Exchange, situated on the north side of the 

 High Street, was begun the 19th of Ji.i.e 1754, and 

 cost L. 31,457. It is in the form of a square. The 

 north side is 1 1 1 feet in length ; in the centre of thi* 

 aide, there arc four Corinthian pillars. The south, or 

 side next the street, is composed of an arcade, and is on- 

 ly one story high. 



Of a more recent date, the College, which formerly 

 consisted of mean buildings, was begun to be entirely re- 

 built from a design by Robert Adam. It is yet far from 

 being completed ; but the street front, and the south- 

 western part of the square, have been roofed. We do 

 not consider the site of the edifice as favourable. The 

 noisy streets by which it is surrounded must be equally 

 obnoxious to the professors and students. The justly 

 celebrated architect has added nothing to his fame by 

 the street front. The projections in the centre and at 

 the extremities destroy simplicity. The large semicir- 

 cular openings near the base of the extreme breaks, ap- 

 pear to weaken those parts which ought to appear strong- 

 est. The large semicircle over the entrance is ubj. ction- 

 able. beinjj too glaring a feature. The portico is to 

 small tor the front, and it is also unnecessarily broken 

 by projections and recesses. In the interior of the square, 

 the rich Ionic ,'rcade in the angle accords but ill with 

 the meanness of the other par' which has been executed. 



In the new Courts uf Justice now building in the Par- 

 liament Square, the Ionic screens of columns arc raised 

 upon too high a basement ; and a number f breaks de- 

 stroy the unity of the design. Indeed, we much doubt 

 if any arrangement of Greek or Roman architecture 

 could, in this situation, produce an effect equally fine 

 with that of the style which lias been superseded. 



The buildings we have hitherto noticed are all situa- 

 ted in the old part of the city of Edinburgh ; and, be- 

 side then-, there are sever.,, < -thers f no inconsiderable 

 merit, but our limiis preclude all attempts at describing 

 them. For farther information we must therefore refer 



3 



Hi.'lorr. 





Ea*t frout. 



Inside of 

 the square. 



Royal Ex 



College. 



Court! * 

 justice. 



General 



remark;. 





