Assessment Against the Listing Criteria* Assessments are carried out against the Listing Criteria published in the Scottish Historic Environment Policy (SHEP) 2011, pp74-76: www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/shep-dec2011.pdf Proposal Type: Review of an existing listing as part of SFT Hospitals Review Proposed Action: Suggest separating the building from the existing category B Main Hospital listing and altering the category to A Building Name: Mortuary Chapel, Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Sciennes Road, Edinburgh Existing Statutory Listing Address: Sciennes Road, Royal Hospital for Sick Children Including Mortuary and Mortuary Chapel. Proposed Statutory Listing Address: Mortuary Chapel, Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Sciennes Road, Edinburgh Images proposed for inclusion in online Listed Building Record Principal elevation to South and Detail of Decorative Frieze (29-04-2014) Crown copyright 1
Details of Decorative Frieze and Chapel Ceiling (29-04-2014) Crown copyright Council Area: City of Edinburgh Council National Grid Reference: NT 325850 672368 HB Number: Existing 30480 Existing Listing Category: B Proposed Listing Category: A Other designations: Conservation Area File Reference No(s): HGH/B/LA/370 Listing Background The Royal Hospital for Sick Children (RHSC) was listed in 1992 as part of Sciennes Ward resurvey with no known review since. The RHSC is in the ownership of NHS Lothian and was reviewed as part of the Scottish Futures Trust Hospitals Review 2014. The review also included the four separate listings of 19 th century terraced houses to the rear of the main hospital building also in the ownership of NHS Lothian. The Mortuary Chapel is currently listed as part of the main hospital block listing although it is intended to remove it from the existing listing and to list it separately. Development Proposals The RHSC is scheduled to move to new premises circa 2017. Once vacated the current hospital site will likely be marketed for sale and reuse. There are no current development proposals for the hospital site. Summary Description George Washington Browne, 1895, as part of design for the Royal Hospital for Sick Children Main Hospital Building (see separate listing) including outstanding mural by Phoebe Anna Traquair, 1885, and re-sited in purpose-built chapel building 1895. Single storey, 4-bay, rectangular-plan stone mortuary chapel with asymmetrical elevations sited in a small plot to the rear north east corner of the main hospital building. Pair of shouldered arched stone doorways to left in slightly advanced double bay. Piended roof with lower mansard to the front elevation with box dormers. Mullioned leaded bipartite windows, tripartite and quad-partite to east gable. Plainer brick construction to rear, slate roof and leaded pane timber windows. Formerly detached and now linked to the rear of the east wing of the main hospital buildings by a later 20 th century link building (not included in the listing). MORTUARY CHAPEL INTERIOR: interior was seen in 2014. Very fine decorative scheme with richly symbolic Arts and Crafts murals by the artist Phoebe Traquair, first executed 1885 at Meadowside House and transferred to the new site under her supervision in 1895. Mural panels above timber boarded dado rail depicting angels singing the Sanctus set against 6 horizontal friezes with doves, flowers, and rams which represent the six days of creation. Inset panel depicting annunciation and crucifixion. Coombed ceiling painted with the cross and circles, symbols of eternal life. Associated people: George Washington Browne, Architect and Phoebe Traquair, Artist. Building type(s): Mortuary Chapel 2
Listing Criteria* (SHEP, 2011) pp74-75 Criteria for determining whether a building is of special architectural or historic interest for listing under the terms of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997 [www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1997/9/contents] *To be listed, a building need not meet all the listing criteria. The criteria provide a framework within which judgement is exercised in reaching individual decisions. Age & Rarity Architectural or Historic Interest The first Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh was founded in 1860 at Meadowside House, 7 Lauriston Lane and it was granted Royal Charter in 1863. In 1892 Meadowside House was redeveloped to form part of the expanding Royal Infirmary and a new hospital was designed on the south side of Meadows Park for the care of children. It was built on the site of a former villa (Rillbank House) which itself had been used as the Trades Maidens Hospital from 1855. The new hospital building was designed by George Washington Browne and opened on 31 st October 1895. The earlier hospital of 1860 was pioneering as the first children s hospital in Scotland. Other cities did not build hospitals of this specialised type until later, such as Aberdeen in 1877 and Glasgow and Dundee in 1883. The Mortuary Chapel at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children was designed in 1895 as a small separate building sited to the rear of the main block, although it is now linked to it by a later extension. The chapel houses an outstanding example of a painted decorative scheme by the artist Phoebe Anna Traquair which was moved from the earlier hospital building. It is possible that George Washington Brown designed the chapel building around the murals which were to be installed within it. Mortuary Chapels are a common building type found at most large hospital complexes across Scotland however the inclusion of a decorative mural in a building of this type is very rare. The mural scheme is the first of only 5 commissions Traquair ever carried out (see below) and is a rare painted work of this quality in a building in Scotland. Interior The Mortuary Chapel has wall and ceiling murals which are the earliest example of only 5 highly decorative Arts and Crafts style mural schemes executed by the important Scottish artist 3
Phoebe Anna Traquair (1852-1936). The scheme depicts angels singing the Sanctus against 6 horizontal bands which represent the six days of creation. The murals were created in 1885 for Meadowside House on Lauriston Lane (the former children s hospital) and relocated to the mortuary in 1895 under Traquair s direct artistic supervision. Traquair s subsequent mural works in Scotland were the Song School at St Mary s Cathedral (1888-92) and The Catholic Apostolic Church (now Mansfield Traquair Centre) (1893-1901) both of which are in Edinburgh. Both buildings are listed at category A with the murals making a strong contribution to the buildings interest. Her subsequent two mural schemes were in churches in Nottinghamshire, England and relatively small scale. The decorative scheme at the RHSC is small compared to the other major commissions in Edinburgh however it is very significant and nationally important as her first major decorative scheme commission. Plan form The Mortuary Chapel is a small rectangular plan building linked to the main hospital block by a later linking building. Technological Excellence or innovation, material or design quality A richly symbolic and outstanding example of Arts and Crafts mural design in Scotland. Phoebe Anna Moss (1852-1936) was born near Dublin and married palaeontologist Dr Ramsay Traquair in 1873, moving to Edinburgh with him in 1874. She was a trained artist who was inspired by the Celtic Illuminated manuscripts and Pre- Raphaelite Art. Her first works were to illustrate her husband s palaeontologist papers. The bulk of her earlier career from 1890-1902 consisted of illustrating illuminated manuscripts which she continued until watercolours became more commonly used for printed manuscripts. She later moved towards murals, enamelling and tapestry. Traquair created three mural schemes in Scotland (see above), there are references to a fourth which is the earlier incarnation of the Mortuary Chapel work in its earlier building at Lauriston Place. Traquair was the first important professional female artist in Scotland, an eminent figure in the Arts and Crafts movement, and her importance was recognised as the first woman honorary member of the Royal Scottish Academy. 4
The commission for the new hospital was won in competition by architect George Washington Browne (1853-1939) and was one of his first large public commissions having had recently set up his own private practice. Browne had already completed the Edinburgh Public Library in 1887 for which he had received notable acclaim however the largely Jacobean/Renaissance styled Royal Hospital for Sick Children can be recognised as the building that fully established his reputation as a prominent and well respected architect in Scotland. A subsequent partnership which ran from circa 1896-1907 with John More Dick Peddie (1853-1921) brought him a large amount of commissions particularly for commercial buildings (including banks) throughout Scotland. The main hospital has high quality stonework throughout and some exceptional detailing in parts (for example the arched Baroque entrance porch). The mortuary chapel has a proportional lower level of exterior detail when compared with the main block which is commensurate to its secondary position to the rear. Although originally separate from the main building, the mortuary is highly significant example of Scottish Arts and Crafts interior decoration and now forms part of the wider hospital complex. Setting The Mortuary Chapel in a small confined corner plot to the rear of the Royal Hospital for Sick Children and is not visible from the wider area. It was clearly designed to only be viewed by the principal elevation when approached from the main hospital block, the rear elevation utilitarian and built in plain brickwork. Regional variations There are no known regional variations. Close Historical Association Working with the Principles of Listing (SHEP 2011, p76) Edinburgh s Hospital for Sick Children was the first institution of this kind established in Scotland. In choosing buildings within the above broad headings particular attention is paid to: a. special value within building types b. contribution to an architecturally or historically interesting group c. the impact of vernacular buildings d. authenticity When working with the principles of listing The Royal Hospital 5
Summary of assessment against the listing criteria for Sick Children Mortuary Chapel has particular interest under: a. The Mortuary chapel is highly significant as it contains the first of only 3 complete interior mural schemes to be designed in Scotland by the internationally renowned artist Phoebe Traquair. b. The Mortuary Chapel is functionally associated with the Royal Hospital for Sick Children Main Hospital Block. Externally the chapel is a small subsidiary building when compared to the main block however the quality, rarity and survival of the interior decorative scheme makes an important grouping. d. The chapel retains an authentic interior decorative scheme dating to the time it was built. The Mortuary Chapel at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children contains an outstanding and very rare example of a richly symbolic Arts and Crafts style interior decorative scheme by an internationally renowned Scottish Arts and Crafts artist. The exterior is relatively plain and was designed by a prominent Scottish architect of the time as a subsidiary building to the main hospital block which has fine Free Renaissance and Baroque detailing. Category of Listing Categories of listing are non-statutory and buildings are assigned a category (A, B or C) according to their relative importance following the assessment against the criteria for listing. Category definitions are found at: www.historicscotland.gov.uk/heritage/historicandlistedbuildings/listing It is suggested to remove the mortuary chapel from the existing category B hospital listing and raise the category to A in recognition of the nationally important interior decorative scheme. Other information Select Bibliography and References Royal Commission on Ancient and Historic Monuments of Scotland CANMORE ID 120073: http://canmore.rcahms.gov.uk/en/site/120073/details/edinburgh+sciennes+road+royal+hospital +for+sick+children Ordnance Survey. (Published 1893) 2 nd Ed. London: Ordnance Survey Gifford, J, McWilliam, C and Walker, D (1984) Buildings of Scotland: Edinburgh. London: Penguin. p.596. Cant, M. (1990) Sciennes and the Grange. Edinburgh: John Donald Publishers. p69 Historic Scotland (2010) Building up our Health: The Architecture of Scotland s Historic 6
Hospitals. Edinburgh The Dictionary of Scottish Architects. Royal Hospital for Sick Children at http://www.scottisharchitects.org.uk/building_full.php?id=202015 (accessed on 14/10/14) http://digital.nls.uk/traquair/artist.html (accessed on 2/12/14) Listing and Designed Landscapes Team D 2014 7