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The New Club is a private
social club A social club may be a group of people or the place where they meet, generally formed around a common interest, occupation, or activity. Examples include: book discussion clubs, chess clubs, anime clubs, country clubs, charity work, criminal ...
in the
New Town New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...
area of
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 ...
,
Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
. Founded in 1787, it is Scotland's oldest club. The club occupied premises on St Andrew Square from 1809 until 1837, when it moved to purpose-built rooms on
Princes Street Princes Street ( gd, Sràid nam Prionnsan) is one of the major thoroughfares in central Edinburgh, Scotland and the main shopping street in the capital. It is the southernmost street of Edinburgh's New Town, stretching around 1.2 km (three ...
. The 1837 building was replaced with a modern building to a design by Reiach and Hall, which is protected as a
category A listed building Category, plural categories, may refer to: Philosophy and general uses *Categorization, categories in cognitive science, information science and generally *Category of being *Categories (Aristotle), ''Categories'' (Aristotle) *Category (Kant) ...
. Women were admitted in 1970, and offered full membership from 2010. The only stated requirements for membership are that a candidate is over 18 and is " clubbable".


History

The New Club was founded on 1 February 1787, only three weeks after the idea had been conceived at a Caledonian Hunt Ball held at the New Assembly Rooms in George Street. The Club was originally located in Bayle’s Tavern on Shakespeare Square, at the east end of
Princes Street Princes Street ( gd, Sràid nam Prionnsan) is one of the major thoroughfares in central Edinburgh, Scotland and the main shopping street in the capital. It is the southernmost street of Edinburgh's New Town, stretching around 1.2 km (three ...
, which was demolished in the early 1800s. After the death of Jean Bayle in 1802, some thought was given to taking over the tavern, but the purchase of a property in St Andrew Square was the preferred course of action. Having abandoned the tavern in Shakespeare Square, the Club was now obliged to find temporary quarters in Fortune’s Tontine Tavern at 5 Princes Street before finding a new home, in August 1809, at 3 St Andrew Square. Subsequently, numbers 84 and 85 Princes Street were purchased, redesigned and rebuilt, to a design by
William Burn William Burn (20 December 1789 – 15 February 1870) was a Scottish architect. He received major commissions from the age of 20 until his death at 81. He built in many styles and was a pioneer of the Scottish Baronial Revival,often referred t ...
, as a clubhouse into which the Club moved on 15 May 1837. It was the first new building in Princes Street requiring the demolition of the original houses of the James Craig designed New Town. It was enlarged in 1859 to a design by
David Bryce David Bryce FRSE FRIBA RSA (3 April 1803 – 7 May 1876) was a Scottish architect. Life Bryce was born at 5 South College Street in Edinburgh, the son of David Bryce (1763–1816) a grocer with a successful side interest in buildi ...
. Over the years various changes were made to the internal design of the Club, perhaps the major one being the reconstruction of the Coffee Room, or Dining Room, in 1908–1912. It had been decided to increase its size and improve the lighting.
Sir Robert Lorimer Sir Robert Stodart Lorimer, KBE (4 November 1864 – 13 September 1929) was a prolific Scottish architect and furniture designer noted for his sensitive restorations of historic houses and castles, for new work in Scots Baronial and Gothi ...
drew up a scheme to extend the Room by , with new windows being inserted and the walls adorned by oak panelling with inset portraits.
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 1921 – 9 April 2021) was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he served as the consort of the British monarch from El ...
became the Patron of the Club in 1952 and held that position until his death in 2021; in 2012 a large window was installed in the entrance to the Club to mark his sixtieth anniversary as patron and the Queen's Diamond Jubillee. In 1953 the New and University Clubs amalgamated. Whilst extensive alterations and redecoration were carried out, there remained unresolved the intention to create a ladies’ annexe. The Club was completely rebuilt in the 1960s to a modern design by Alan Reiach, Eric Hall and Partners, incorporating the recommendations of the Princes Street Panel which included the aspiration for a continuous first-floor walkway along Princes Street. The new building introduced a Ladies’ "Side" with a Ladies' Bar, Ladies’ Drawing Room and Ladies’ Dining Room. The cost of demolition and re-build was paid for by an insurance company who gained 125 year leases on the three shops below the Club's main floors. The Club negotiated a lease of the St Andrew’s Hotel as a temporary clubhouse whilst the Princes Street building was demolished and rebuilt. On re-building, the Club re-constructed the original Lorimer panelling within the new Dining Room. The new clubhouse opened for lunch on Monday 15 December 1969. Ladies were first admitted as Associate Members to the Club on 25 March 1970 (Lady Day). Only wives of Members could be elected until October 2010, when ladies were permitted full membership and their husbands could join as Associate Members.


The New Club building

Numbers 84–87 Princes Street, incorporating the New Club, were listed by
Historic Scotland Historic Scotland ( gd, Alba Aosmhor) was an executive agency of the Scottish Office and later the Scottish Government from 1991 to 2015, responsible for safeguarding Scotland's built heritage, and promoting its understanding and enjoyment. ...
on 18 March 1996 as a category A listed building. Category A includes buildings which are of national or international architectural significance. Historic Scotland describe the New Club premises as the finest example of a Princes Street Panel building. The Princes Street façade, faced with plate glass and Rubislaw granite and with distinctive
cantilever A cantilever is a rigid structural element that extends horizontally and is supported at only one end. Typically it extends from a flat vertical surface such as a wall, to which it must be firmly attached. Like other structural elements, a canti ...
ed sections, is described as "very carefully composed". The building is one of around 60 post-Second World War listed buildings in Edinburgh.


See also

*
DoCoMoMo Key Scottish Monuments DoCoMoMo Key Scottish Monuments is a list of 60 notable post-war buildings in Scotland, compiled in 1993 by the international architectural conservation organisation DoCoMoMo. The buildings date from the period 1945–1970, and were selected by a ...
*
List of Category A listed buildings in the New Town, Edinburgh This is a list of Category A listed buildings in the New Town of Edinburgh, Scotland. For the main list, see List of Category A listed buildings in Edinburgh. Boundaries The New Town is defined here as the area shown in light brown on th ...
*
List of post-war Category A listed buildings in Scotland __NOTOC__ This is a list of Category A listed buildings in Scotland which date from after 1945 (the post-war period). The majority of these buildings are examples of Brutalist architecture or related modernist architecture which was ambitiously ...
*
Prospect 100 best modern Scottish buildings In 2005, the Scottish architecture magazine ''Prospect'' published a list of the 100 best modern Scottish buildings, as voted for by its readers. See also * DoCoMoMo Key Scottish Monuments DoCoMoMo Key Scottish Monuments is a list of 60 notabl ...


References

*


External links


Official website
{{coord, 55, 57, 07, N, 3, 11, 52, W, region:GB, display=title 1787 establishments in Scotland Clubs and societies in Edinburgh Organisations based in Edinburgh New Town, Edinburgh Buildings and structures completed in 1969 Category A listed buildings in Edinburgh Organizations established in 1787 Listed clubhouses in the United Kingdom