Description

36-40 Newhaven Road is a 3-storey, 14-bay former tannery, built in 1879 and which has been converted to office use. In accordance with Section 1 (4A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997 the following is excluded from the listing: single-storey section to rear.

The building is of squared and snecked rubble with smooth, raised margins and pebbledash render to the sides. There is a cill course and the ground and 1st floor windows have raised scalloped margins. The 2nd floor windows are set in rectangular panels, divided by ashlar jambs and have decorative Moorish-style iron grilles. The windows are predominantly plate glass timber sash and case. The entrance is off-centre with a modern entrance door and pall stones at either side.

The interior was seen in 2015. The interior has been comprehensively altered for the purpose of office accommodation and there are no apparent 19th century features of interest.

Statement of Interest

36-40 Newhaven Road is a good survival of a rare tannery building and is the remaining section of a once extensive complex of tannery buildings on this site called Bonnington Tannery. The decorative iron grilles to the top storey are perhaps a unique decorative response to the more common timber louvres seen on the upper storeys of other former tanneries. The building has been altered to provide modern office accommodation, but the ventilated upper storey is a visual reminder that this was a tannery building. Situated in an area of Edinburgh which once had a great deal of heavy industry, the former tannery building is a good representative of 19th century industrial expansion in Edinburgh and an important link to the district's past.

Tanning animal hides to produce leather is an old industry and there are surviving tanning pits from around the 14th century in Scotland. As the population expanded over the centuries and industrial processes developed, buildings dedicated to tanning were established in all areas of the country. During the course of the 19th century, tanning became a more prominent industry and many new tanneries were built. The tannery at Bonnington dates to this expansion. With the change in tanning processes and the introduction of alternative materials during the 20th century, most tanneries went out of business and many former tannery buildings were demolished. Bonnington tannery closed around 1970.

The process of tanning involved soaking hides in tanning pits for between 9-12 months. After being treated by curriers, the hides were dried, normally in the upper floors of the buildings. This process required ventilation and there were usually timber louvred windows on this level for this purpose; a distinctive feature which set tannery buildings apart from other industrial structures. The long frontage of this building was necessary to accommodate the drying of hides on a large scale. At Bonnington, there were timber louvred windows at the rear of the building and decorative iron ones at the street elevation.

Statutory address and listed building record revised in 2015. Previously listed as '36 Newhaven Road'.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q56631670

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Dorset (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Hertfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Northumberland (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Development and Design of Heritage Sensitive Sites: Strategies for Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas
• 
  Period Property Manual (New Ed)
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)