Colony Houses
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Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
were built between 1850 and 1910 as homes for artisans and skilled working-class families by philanthropic
model dwellings companies Model dwellings companies (MDCs) were a group of private companies in Victorian Britain that sought to improve the housing conditions of the working classes by building new homes for them, at the same time receiving a competitive rate of return o ...
. The first development was the Pilrig Model Buildings, near
Leith Walk Leith Walk is one of the longest streets in Edinburgh, Scotland, and is the main road connecting the centre of the city to Leith. Forming most of the A900 road, it slopes downwards from Picardy Place at the south-western end of the street to the ...
. Later developments across the city were built by the Edinburgh Cooperative Building Company Limited, founded in 1861. The founders of this company were influenced by the Reverend Dr.
James Begg James Begg (31 October 1808 in New Monkland, Lanarkshire, Scotland – 29 September 1883) was a minister of the Free Church of Scotland who served as Moderator of the General Assembly 1865/66. Life He was born in the manse at New Monkla ...
and the Reverend Dr.
Thomas Chalmers Thomas Chalmers (17 March 178031 May 1847), was a Scottish minister, professor of theology, political economist, and a leader of both the Church of Scotland and of the Free Church of Scotland. He has been called "Scotland's greatest nine ...
, ministers of the
Free Church of Scotland Free Church of Scotland may refer to: * Free Church of Scotland (1843–1900), seceded in 1843 from the Church of Scotland. The majority merged in 1900 into the United Free Church of Scotland; historical * Free Church of Scotland (since 1900), rema ...
, who campaigned to improve the housing conditions of the poor.


Description

Streets with colony houses are found in ten locations within Edinburgh: *
Abbeyhill Abbeyhill is an area of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Abbeyhill is one of the oldest parts of the city, taking its name from Holyrood Abbey, a major historic religious site. The main east-west thoroughfare through the area is London Roa ...
* Dalry Place,
Haymarket Haymarket may refer to: Places Australia * Haymarket, New South Wales, area of Sydney, Australia Germany * Heumarkt (KVB), transport interchange in Cologne on the site of the Heumarkt (literally: hay market) Russia * Sennaya Square (''Hay Squ ...
*
Leith Links Leith Links ( gd, Fìghdean Lìte) is the principal open space within Leith, the docks district of Edinburgh, Scotland. This public park is divided by a road into two main areas, a western section and an eastern section, both being largely flat ...
,
Leith Leith (; gd, Lìte) is a port area in the north of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith. In 2021, it was ranked by '' Time Out'' as one of the top five neighbourhoods to live in the world. The earliest ...
* Lochend Road, Lochend * North Fort Street, Leith * Rosebank Cottages,
Fountainbridge Fountainbridge ( gd, Drochaid an Fhuarain) is an area of Edinburgh, Scotland, a short distance west of the city centre, adjoining Tollcross with East Fountainbridge and West Port to the east, Polwarth to the west and south, Dalry and Haymark ...
* Shaw Colonies,
Pilrig Pilrig is an area of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. The name probably derives from the long field (rig) on which a peel tower (pil/peel) stood. There is evidence of a peel tower situated on an area of higher ground above the Water of ...
* Shandon *
Slateford Slateford ( gd, Àth na Sglèata) is an area of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. It is east of the Water of Leith. The former village of Slateford lies on the Lanark Road where it crosses the Water of Leith, south west of Slateford Stati ...
* Stockbridge The developments at Stockbridge, Dalry, Shaw Colonies, and Rosebank Cottages are category B
listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
s. Characteristically, each flat originally had four rooms, a separate external toilet and a garden. Colony houses were built as double flats, upper and lower, with the upper flat's front door on the opposite side to the lower flat's front door, allowing each flat to have a front garden. In some areas, many upper
Cottage Flat Cottage flats, also known as four-in-a-block flats, are a style of housing common in Scotland, where there are single floor dwellings at ground level, and similar dwellings on the floor above. All have doors directly to the outside of the buildi ...
owners have converted their attic space in to additional living accommodation resulting in the property being more reminiscent of colony houses. In some residential areas such as Colinton Mains, in Edinburgh, a majority of such accommodation has now been converted due to high property prices comparative to the cost of conversion.


History

In 1849, the Pilrig Model Dwellings Company was formed by the Rev.
William Garden Blaikie William Garden Blaikie FRSE (5 February 1820, in Aberdeen – 11 June 1899) was a Scottish minister, writer, biographer, and temperance reformer. Life His father James Ogilvie Blaikie was the first Provost of Aberdeen following its reformed ...
, minister for
Pilrig Pilrig is an area of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. The name probably derives from the long field (rig) on which a peel tower (pil/peel) stood. There is evidence of a peel tower situated on an area of higher ground above the Water of ...
, to build housing for the working classes. The scheme of 44 houses in four blocks was developed by architect
Patrick Wilson Patrick Joseph Wilson (born July 3, 1973) is an American actor and director. He began his career in 1995, starring in Broadway musicals. He received nominations for two Tony Awards for his roles in ''The Full Monty'' (2000–2001) and ''Oklahoma ...
, and built between 1850 and 1851. Originally known as the Pilrig Model Buildings, the streets were renamed Shaw's Place, Shaw's Street and Shaw's Terrace in 1896. The second development was at Rosebank Cottages, and was designed by architect Alexander MacGregor for Sir James Gowans. The 36 houses in three rows were based on the Pilrig model, though they added the external stair which is characteristic of the later colonies. In 1861, a group of builders found themselves locked out of their building sites due to a dispute about working hours. Their three-month ban led to the formation of The Edinburgh Co-operative Building Company Ltd (ECBC). This group comprised many different trades - stonemasons, plasterers, plumbers and others sympathetic to their aims. Central to its mission was a co-operative spirit that was reflected in its adoption of the beehive motif. The company's first site was at Glenogle Park, by the
Water of Leith The Water of Leith (Scottish Gaelic: ''Uisge Lìte'') is the main river flowing near central Edinburgh, Scotland, and flows into the port of Leith where it flows into the sea via the Firth of Forth. Name The name ''Leith'' may be of Britto ...
near Stockbridge, where the foundation stone was laid on 23 October 1861. The layout of 11 terraces took the Rosebank development as its prototype, and was mostly complete by 1872. While the building lock out provided the opportunity for tradesmen to form a company, it was the poor state of housing in the old town which was the underlying stimulus for the foundation of the ECBC, whose stated intention was to build houses for sale to working people. A newspaper from 1870 reports: ECBC also constructed the Dalry Colonies at Haymarket, from 1868 to 1870, largely to house the employees of the
Caledonian Railway The Caledonian Railway (CR) was a major Scottish railway company. It was formed in the early 19th century with the objective of forming a link between English railways and Glasgow. It progressively extended its network and reached Edinburgh an ...
. By 1911 over 2,000 houses had been constructed on eleven sites. Many were owned by the artisan classes in an era when mortgages did not exist. The earliest residents of the colonies were skilled workers and artisan builders and this remained the largest occupational group for much of the 20th century. The Abbeyhill colonies in particular had a number of railway workers due to the proximity of the area to the line. Persistence of inhabitants was also a key feature of colony life, which made for stable neighbourhoods. The design of the buildings did result in a certain amount of overlooking and gossiping, but this feature has also contributed to a sense of identity and community that is quite unique in Edinburgh.


See also

*
Cottage flat Cottage flats, also known as four-in-a-block flats, are a style of housing common in Scotland, where there are single floor dwellings at ground level, and similar dwellings on the floor above. All have doors directly to the outside of the buildi ...
* Rutherglen#Farme Cross, examples of same building style *
List of existing model dwellings Model dwellings were buildings or estates constructed, mostly during the Victorian era, along philanthropic lines to provide decent living accommodation for the working class. They were typically erected by private model dwellings companies an ...


References

* Richard Rodger (1999) ''Housing the people: the colonies of Edinburgh''. City of Edinburgh Council in association with
RCAHMS The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS) was an executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government that was "sponsored" inanced and with oversightthrough Historic Scotland, an executive ...
.


External links

*
Edinburgh Colonies
- edinburgharchitecture.co.uk {{Residential buildings in Edinburgh Category B listed buildings in Edinburgh Housing estates in Edinburgh Houses in Edinburgh House styles House types in the United Kingdom