Trinity Conservation Area Character Appraisal Trinity Conservation Area Character Appraisal
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Trinity Conservation Area Character Appraisal Trinity Conservation Area Character Appraisal Content LOCATION AND BOUNDARIES 3 DATES OF DESIGNATION/AMENDMENTS 4 STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE 4 CONSERVATION AREA CHARACTER APPRAISALS 4 HISTORICAL ORIGINS AND DEVELOPMENT 5 STRUCTURE 8 SPATIAL STRUCTURE MAP 8 TOWNSCAPE MAP 12 KEY ELEMENTS 14 MANAGEMENT 21 OPPORTUNITIES FOR DEVELOPMENT 27 OPPORTUNITIES FOR ENHANCEMENT 27 2 É 1:2,864 Trinity Conservation Area Character Appraisal Location and Boundaries The Trinity Conservation Area is situated approximately two miles north of Edinburgh City Centre with outlooks over the Firth of Forth. The northern boundary of the Conservation Area is formed by the Firth of Forth; to the south, the boundary follows East Trinity Road cutting in at enclaves of residential development; to the east, a clear line is drawn following Laverockbank Road and to the west, Netherby Road and Boswall Road form the main boundary. Dates of Designation/Amendments Reproduced from the Ordnance Survey mapping with permission of the Controller of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office © Crown Copyright. Unauthorised reproduction infringes Crown Copyright and may lead to prosecution or civil proceedings. Licence Number 100023420. City of Edinburgh Council 2008. 3 É 1:2,864 Trinity Conservation Area Character Appraisal The Trinity Conservation Area was originally designated in 1975. The original boundary included villa developments on Russell Place, York Road, and Laverockbank Road, including Starbank Park. The boundary was substantially extended west of Trinity Road in 1986 to include the Lomond Park development and Boswall Road. A boundary change was implemented in 1998 to include villa areas between Boswall Road and Lower Granton Road and at East Trinity Road and Netherby Road; these shared the character of the existing Conservation Area and contributed to the enhancement of the setting of the area. Tenements on Lower Granton Road at the north edge of the Conservation Area were also included to create a more rational boundary. A boundary change was implemented in 2001 to include 127-137 and 143 East Trinity Road, the west side of Clark Road to the junction with Denham Green Avenue, Denham Green Place and 54-82 South Trinity Road within the Conservation Area. Statement of Significance The Trinity Conservation Area is characterised by a wealth of high quality stone built detached and semi-detached residential villas of restricted height, mainly in traditional building materials, set in substantial gardens with mature trees and generous spacing to their neighbours. CONSERVATION AREA CHARACTER APPRAISALS Purpose of Character Appraisals Conservation Area Character Appraisals are intended to help manage change. They provide an agreed basis of understanding of what makes an area special. This understanding informs and provides the context in which decisions can be made on proposals which may affect that character. An enhanced level of understanding, combined with appropriate management tools, ensures that change and development sustains and respects the qualities and special characteristics of the area. “When effectively managed, Conservation Areas can anchor thriving communities, sustain cultural heritage, generate wealth and prosperity and add to quality of life. To realise this potential many of them need to continue to adapt and develop in response to the modern-day needs and aspirations of living and working communities. This means accommodating physical, social and economic change for the better. 4 É 1:2,864 Trinity Conservation Area Character Appraisal Physical change in Conservation Areas does not necessarily need to replicate its surroundings. The challenge is to ensure that all new development respects, enhances and has a positive impact on the area. Physical and land use change in Conservation Areas should always be founded on a detailed understanding of the historic and urban design context.” From PAN 71, Conservation Area Management. www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2004/12/20450/49052 How to Use This Document The analysis of the Trinity Conservation Area’s character and appearance focuses on the features which make the area special and distinctive. These are considered in terms of: • Historical Origins and Development; • Structure, which describes and draws conclusions regarding the overall organisation and macro-scale features of the area; and • Key Elements, which examines the smaller-scale features and details which fit within the structure. • Management: The Management section outlines the policy and legislation relevant to decision-making in the area. Issues specific to the area are discussed in more detail and recommendations or opportunities identified. This document is not intended to give prescriptive instructions on what designs or styles will be acceptable in the area. Instead, it can be used to ensure that the design of an alteration or addition is based on an informed interpretation of context. This context should be considered in conjunction with the relevant Local Development Plan policies and planning guidance. HISTORICAL ORIGINS AND DEVELOPMENT The Trinity Conservation Area occupies the former Wardie Muir, an area of wasteland between Inverleith and the sea. It was the location of Wardie Castle, a large and ancient house, which was in a ruinous condition by the mid-seventeenth century and from which stones were used to build Cromwell's Citadel in Leith. It was later rebuilt as a mansion house and was the property of Sir Alexander Boswall in 1780. A relic of the original Castle survives at the end of the cul-de-sac formed by Wardie House Lane. Trinity was part of the lands granted by David I to his new Abbey of Holyrood in about 1128. In 1505, James IV purchased 143 acres from Holyrood, in order to establish a naval base or New Haven; and it was the western part of this Crown land that was acquired in 1713 by Trinity Hospital and developed as Trinity Mains farm. Part of the old farmhouse at Trinity Mains was used to form Hay Lodge 5 É 1:2,864 Trinity Conservation Area Character Appraisal on East Trinity Road, which was subsequently demolished. The origin of the place name is, therefore, based on the dedication of Leith's charitable institutions to the Holy Trinity. Trinity had ‘all the makings of a fine healthful holiday resort’, and the development of Trinity reflected changes in the settlement pattern and the suburban expansion which occurred in Edinburgh in the mid-nineteenth century. A large part of Trinity was developed around 1830 for the benefit of the growing number of merchants and professionals who were seeking a more secluded environment. Trinity had the advantage of physical separation from the overcrowded medieval city core and offered individual dwellings in a predominantly suburban setting, in contrast to the terraces of the Georgian New Town. The convenience of its situation to the neighbouring port of Leith also presented advantages for the wealthy ship-owners and merchants as an attractive place of residence 1851 – Christian Salvesen, of the Leith based Salvesen & Co. whaling company, lived at Mayfield House in East Trinity Road. The area was developed with villas from the late eighteenth century. Building plots on a large site to the north of Ferry Road were advertised in the Edinburgh Evening Courant to a plan 'constructed in a new and beautiful manner as an assemblage of villas, bounded upon the outer line by a plantation of forest trees and the internal boundaries of each lot by a continuation of flowering shrubs; and each Villa situated in such a manner as not to overlook another.' This scheme of large villas in substantial garden grounds was not completed and following the initial start to the development, most of the land was subdivided into smaller plots on which an extraordinary variety of mid- to late-Victorian villas were built, the density 1868 increasing with time. Trinity Lodge on Stirling Road is the only surviving building from the original feuing plan. The house was built in 1774 by Robert Johnston, an Edinburgh Merchant, but is now divided and a modern house has been built within its much-reduced grounds. Detached and semi-detached houses with their own private gardens bounded by high stone walls provided an attractive contrast to the communal living of the central area, and the fashions and desires of the property owners are reflected in the profusion of architectural styles and idiosyncratic features. About 1835, Trinity House began feuing the ground at Laverockbank Road, but the short line of villas and gardens at the south east end was not completed. 1888 6 É 1:2,864 Trinity Conservation Area Character Appraisal Trinity Station, on the Edinburgh, Leith & Granton Railway, opened in 1846 as part of a mixed rail and ferry service from Edinburgh to Dundee and further north. The introduction of a rail link to Trinity was an added incentive to the development of the area. The railway was still in position in 1969, but the tracks were lifted soon afterwards. Much of the route is now a footpath and cycleway and the Station building, at the end of Trinity Crescent, has been converted into a pair of dwellings. The Chain Pier, situated opposite the Georgian porticos of Trinity Crescent, feued about 1824, was opened on 14 August 1821. The Chain Pier was used by small steam driven boats that plied up and down the river Forth but, as it did not accommodate larger vessels, was soon abandoned for Granton Harbour. This was also a period when sea bathing was becoming popular at Trinity and the Chain Pier was the site of 'Great Swimming Competitions'. The Chain Pier was destroyed in a severe storm on 17 October 1898. The Chain Pier Bar now occupies the building that was once the booking office for the pier. The spatial layout of Trinity was well established by the end of the late nineteenth century, affording little opportunity for new development.