Leith #3 - Lamb's House

The weather turned out better than I expected today and it was sunny for most of the day, which was a nice surprise. Went outside to take pictures of Lamb's house, did some shopping and then I met some friends for lunch.

Lamb's House in Leith is a surviving example of a merchant's house in Scotland. It was probably the finest house in Leith in the 16th and 17th centuries. It used to be a combined dwelling and warehouse. Some of its unique features include turnpike stairs, tall chimneys, crow-stepped gables, massive fireplaces and ogee-arched sinks on the stair with the waste outlet at the bottom.

Nobody knows the exact age of Lamb's house, but some claim it must have been there since the mid-sixteenth century because a contemporary record claims that Mary Queen of Scots remained in Lamb's house for an hour on her arrival from France in 1561. However, the architecture seems to be from the mid-seventeenth century.

Its first recorded resident was someone called Andrew Lamb, although there is a dispute over the identity of Andrew Lamb himself. However, there is no doubt that the Lambs were a prominent family and wealthy landowners. After Andrew Lamb's death, it fell in the hands of different owners. By the early 20th century it was subdivided into homes to cater for eight families, but by 1933 the building had deteriorated and was in danger of being demolished. This almost happened accidentally in 1936-37 when some kids broke into the house and lit a bonfire. The Marquess of Bute bought the house in 1938 and spent thousands of pounds on its restoration.

In October 1958 it became property of the National Trust for Scotland, and in 1961 it was leased to the Edinburgh and Leith Old People's Welfare Council and served as a Day Centre for retired people. In 2010 the Trust sold it to conservation architect Nicholas Groves-Raines.

I have a few things to do this evening, one of them being a translation for a friend.

Thanks very much for your nice comments stars and hearts on my "Leith Docks" shot! I hope you all had a lovely day! :)