Acheson House

Acheson House is a 17th-century house in the Old Town of Edinburgh, Scotland. It was built in 1633 for Sir Archibald Acheson, 1st Baronet, Secretary of State of Scotland for King Charles I. It did not stay in the Acheson family, and during the 19th century it declined like much of the Old Town. Slum clearance led the city council to acquire the building in 1924, but the Marquess of Bute bought it to have it restored during the 1930s. It was later used by church and arts groups, but was vacant between 1991 and 2011. In November 2011, Acheson House became the base for the Edinburgh World Heritage Trust. The ground floor of the building will become part of the Museum of Edinburgh, based in the adjacent Huntly House. The house is on the Canongate, the lower part of the Royal Mile, and is protected as a category A listed building as an "outstanding example of a large, early 17th century Scottish townhouse."

1. History

Sir Archibald Acheson (c.1580–1634) was a Scottish lawyer who emigrated to Ireland in 1610. He maintained his position in Scotland however, serving as a member of the Parliament of Scotland in 1625, and being appointed a Lord of Session in 1627. Some time before 1634 he held the office of Secretary of State, Scotland in the government of Charles I. Sir Archibald and his wife, Margaret Hamilton, built Acheson House in 1633, but he may never have lived there, dying the following year. In 1636 the house was sold to Edinburgh merchant Patrick Wood. It passed through many owners, including the Incorporation of Bakers in 1784. The house was subdivided in the 18th century. A brothel had been established in the house by the early 19th century. Between 1830 and 1924 it was owned by the Slater family. In the 20th century, declining living standards in the Old Town prompted widespread slum clearance. In preparation for this, Acheson House was bought by the city council, but the house came to the attention of the 4th Marquess of Bute, a keen antiquarian who also supported the restoration of Gladstone's Land and houses on Charlotte Square. Lord Bute purchased the house in 1935, and commissioned architect Robert Hurd to carry out an extensive but sympathetic restoration. In 1938 it was suggested that the house could become the official residence of the Secretary of State for Scotland, but the following year it was acquired by the Canongate Kirk and was used by the Iona Community, an ecumenical group. Between 1947 and 1951 an educational book publisher and his wife and five children used it as their family home. From 1951 it became the Scottish Craft Centre, a showcase for contemporary Scottish craftwork. The Craft Centre closed in 1991, and the building was empty for 20 years. It was added to the Buildings at Risk Register for Scotland in 2000. By 2007 plans had been prepared to incorporate the building into the Museum of Edinburgh, located in Huntly House, next door to Acheson House on the Canongate. During 2011 the house was renovated, and in November the Edinburgh World Heritage Trust moved into the building from its previous base at 5 Charlotte Square.

1. Description

The three-storey L-plan house faces the Canongate to the north, and Bakehouse Close to the west. The house is set back from the Canongate, with a small forecourt entered via a timber door. Formerly located in Anchor Close, the stone lintel above this door is inscribed "O Lord In Thee Is All My Traist". The gateway from Bakehouse Close was brought from Carberry Tower in East Lothian in the 1930s restoration. Above the door to the stair-tower the date 1633 is carved, together with the initials of Archibald Acheson and Margaret Hamilton, and the Acheson family crest: a cock and trumpet. The forecourt garden is to be restored as part of the renovation of the house.

1. References


1. External links

Acheson House, EdinPhoto Acheson House, Royal-Mile.com

Nearby Places View Menu

Museum of Edinburgh

The Museum of Edinburgh, formerly known as Huntly House Museum, located at 142-146 Canongate, is a museum in Edinburgh, Scotland, housing a collection relating to the town's origins, history and legends. Exhibits are described as a maze of history with more rooms than one can imagine. From decade to decade down the timeline, rooms include an original copy of the National Covenant signed at Greyfriars Kirk in 1638 and a reconstruction of Field Marshal Earl Haig's headquarters on the Western Front during the Great War, the latter exhibiting items bequeathed to the Museum. Situated in the late 16th-century Huntly House on the Canongate, the museum is maintained by the City of Edinburgh Council. The museum sits three stories tall with a unique yellow exterior. The museum is within the heart of Edinburgh for all locals and tourist to find. In 1570, the Museum of Edinburgh was constructed for notable members of Clan Gordon who resided in Huntly Castle. The Earl who resided here was known as George Gordon, 1st Marquess of Huntly. His residency is controversial, being considered erroneous by the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. Subsequently, the Incorporation of Hammermen, a group of metalsmiths, purchased Huntly House in 1647 as their new headquarters and had the building expanded by architect Robert Mylne during their ownership. In 1924, when the building was under threat of destruction, the city purchased it and it became the Museum of Edinburgh. Present day, the locals still refer to it as Huntly House. The museum was featured in Season 3 of the show Outlander. The Museum houses spectacular collections of decorative art which reveal a history of Scottish craftsmanship, from cut and engraved glass and intricately made silver from Edinburgh and Canongate, costume, longcase clocks, along with Scottish pottery and Scottish porcelain dating from the 1760s. The Museum of Edinburgh's collections total around 220,000 items related to Edinburgh across all of its venues, and has four collections recognized by the Scottish government for National Significance. The building encapsulates the story of the city from beginning to present day. James Craig's original plans for the "New Town" reside within its walls to give every detail.

Historic Site Landmark

The People's Story Museum

The People's Story Museum is located in the historic Canongate Tolbooth, and features collections that narrate the story of the working-class people of Edinburgh from the late 18th century to the present day. The museum achieves this through the use of oral history, reminiscence, and written sources.

Museum

The Canongate

The Canongate is a street and associated district in central Edinburgh, the capital city of Scotland. The street forms the main eastern length of the Royal Mile while the district is the main eastern section of Edinburgh's Old Town. David I of Scotland, by the Great Charter of Holyrood Abbey c. 1143, authorised the Abbey to found a burgh separate from Edinburgh between the Abbey and the city. The burgh of Canongate which developed was controlled by the Abbey until the Scottish Reformation, when it came under secular control. In 1636 the adjacent city of Edinburgh bought the feudal superiority of the Canongate but it remained a semi-autonomous burgh under its own administration of bailies chosen by Edinburgh magistrates, until its formal incorporation into the city in 1856. The burgh gained its name from the route that the canons of Holyrood Abbey took to Edinburgh—the canons' way or the canons' gait, from the Scots word gait meaning "way". In more modern times, the eastern end is sometimes referred to as part of the Holyrood area of the city. The burgh of Canongate had a sometimes turbulent relationship with its neighbour, Edinburgh. The main reason for this was the continual battle over their exact boundaries up until their unification in 1856, an event which proved unpopular with the former's townsfolk. The Canongate contains several historic buildings including Queensberry House, now incorporated in the Scottish Parliament Building complex, Huntly House (now the Museum of Edinburgh), the Canongate Tolbooth (now housing the People's Story Museum) and the Canongate Kirk, opened in 1691 replacing Holyrood Abbey as the parish church of the Canongate. The church is still used for Sunday services as well as weekday concerts.

Church Historic Site

Canongate Tolbooth

Canongate Tolbooth is a historic landmark of the Old Town area of Edinburgh, built in 1591 as a tolbooth, that is, the centre of administration and justice of the then separate burgh of the Canongate which was outside the Edinburgh town walls. It ceased to be a municipal building in 1856 and it is now occupied by The People's Story Museum and is protected as a category A listed building.

Historic Site Landmark