Matjaz Vidmar

Annie George – Home is Not the Place

 BLM Mural Trail (Edinburgh)  No Responses »
Oct 212020
 

Traverse Theatre, 10 Cambridge St, Edinburgh EH1 2ED

Annie is an Edinburgh-based writer, theatremaker and occasional filmmaker, who was born in Kerala India, and has worked in Scottish theatre since 1991. She was awarded the Ignite Fellowship 2019 (Scottish Book Trust) and the 2016 Inspiring Scotland Bursary.

Recent productions include ‘Twa’, a collaboration with visual artist Flore Gardner, and the solo shows ‘Home is Not the Place’ and ‘The Bridge’. She has worked with numerous artists and organisations including Magnetic North, Mara Menzies and Stellar Quines, and was Actor/Producer in the late ‘90s, with Fringe-First winning CAT. A. Theatre Company

Annie George

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https://anniegeorge.net

Ross Blair – Frederick Douglass

 BLM Mural Trail (Edinburgh)  No Responses »
Oct 212020
 

Lower Gilmore Place, Edinburgh

This mural at Lower Gilmore Place, exhibits a powerful portrait of Frederick Douglass, the former enslaved man who became one of the most prestigious antislavery agents of his time. The building is the location in which Fredrick Douglass resident while in Edinburgh in 1846, eight years after escaping the brutal regime of his enslaver on a plantation in Maryland.

Following his escape, Douglass became a leading light in the US abolitionist movement and was sent to Great Britain on a speaking tour.

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Rudy Kanhye – All Li es Matter

 BLM Mural Trail (Edinburgh)  No Responses »
Oct 202020
 

The Queens Hall, Clerk St, Newington, Edinburgh EH8 9JG

The problem of police brutality in Black and Brown communities has become a very frustrating issue. Part of the reason for exasperation lies with the fact that we are divided as a country when it comes to the notion of responsible policing. This became apparent when the “Black Lives Matter” movement was quickly met by obstinate supporters of police officers, rebelliously retorting chants of “All Lives Matter” and “Blue Lives Matter.”

Playing with the misleading statement “all lives matter” I would like to take off one letter changing the statement to “all li es matter” which I find simple but strong.

Rudy Kanhye is a French Artist, curator and writer. Masters graduate of Glasgow School of Art, Rudy developed his practice around the dialogue between cultures, people, past, present and what the future could be. Working primarily with themes related to identity, history, and popular culture. His work focuses on framing and context.

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High School Yards

 History of Edinburgh Hospitals  No Responses »
Aug 102020
 

High School Yards, Edinburgh EH1 1LZ

surgeon's square
High School Yards with Old Surgeon’s Hall.

The four buildings inside High School Yards have a long history of medicine and surgery within Edinburgh. Old Surgeons’ Hall (OSH), built in 1697 by Scottish architect James Smith, was designed as an anatomy theatre and the first public dissection occurred in 1703. By 1832, the surgeons moved to New Surgeons’ Hall on Nicolson Street and OSH and the New High School building (where the Edinburgh Centre for Carbon Innovation is currently located) were converted to surgical hospitals. The current School of Geoscience was built in 1853 as a surgical hospital. Known as Drummond Street Surgical Hospital, it was built as part of the Royal Infirmary. When the Royal Infirmary moved to Lauriston Place in 1879, the already established surgical hospitals and Chisholm House were converted into medical facilities for contagious patients. Under the control of Sir Henry Littlejohn, Edinburgh’s Medical Officer, this group of buildings became known as the City Fever Hospital. In 1903 the City Fever Hospital moved to a new location on Coliston Mains and the buildings at HSY were sold to the University of Edinburgh.

Postcard of a painting by J Sanderson of the old Royal Infirmary Edinburgh building at Infirmary Street.
An etching (published in 1829) of Old Surgeon’s Hall and adjacent buildings.
Perspective View of the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh at Infirmary Street.

Queensberry House

 History of Edinburgh Hospitals  No Responses »
Aug 102020
 

64 Canongate, EH8 8BS

Queensberry House (2010, CC-SA by Kim Traynor)

Queensberry House is currently part of the Scottish Parliament buildings and contains the office for the Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament. From 1803 until 1996, however, the house was used as a hospital. In 1801, Queensberry House, previously a private residence, was repossessed by the government and used as an emergency hospital. The house then acted as an army base from 1808-1815, with a third storey was added to the house to accommodate army barracks and the pavilions converted into marching areas. The house returned to its use as emergency public hospital between 1815-1833, caring for homeless patients. In 1833, Queensberry House officially became a House of Refuge for the homeless population of Edinburgh. It remained one until the foundation of the NHS in 1948, at which point it became a specialised care facility for the elderly as Queensberry House Hospital. The hospital closed in 1996 and the site was purchased by the Scottish Parliament in 1997 where it became integrated with the Holyrood building.

Trinity House / South Leith Parish Church

 History of Edinburgh Hospitals  No Responses »
Aug 102020
 

99 Kirkgate, Leith, EH6 6BJ

South Leith Parish Church

The Maritime Museum (formerly the South Leith Parish Church and Trinity House), is the site of Leith’s first hospital, St. Anthony’s, founded in 1430 by Sir Robert Logan. The hospital consisted of two parts: hospital and the chapel, and the hospital would have stretched all the way to Henderson Street. In 1560, the Siege of Leith led to the hospital falling into ruin. After the Scottish Reformation, a new hospital, King James’, was erected on the same site in 1614, where it remained until 1822. A memorial stone commemorating the original hospital can be found in the kirkyard, with a small stretch of the original wall from 1614. In 2009 an archaeological excavation of Constitution Street just outside of the church discovered 260 graves, dating from the time of the original hospital on this location. 

Find out more
The collection records for the original seal of St Anthony’s Hospital.
Details of the excavation in 2009.

Chalmers Hospital

 History of Edinburgh Hospitals  No Responses »
Aug 102020
 

45 Lauriston Place/2a Chalmers Street, EH3 9HQ

Chalmers Hospital in the 1960s.

In 1836, George Chalmers, a plumber and burgess of Edinburgh, passed away, leaving the residue of his estate “for the express purpose of founding a New Infirmary or Sick and Hurt Hospital, or by whatever name it may be Designed.” Unfortunately, Chalmers did not leave enough funds to build a hospital, so the total value of his estate was invested in government stock. By 1860 the stocks had increased in value enough to pay for the conversion of Lauriston House into a hospital. Architect J. Dick Peddle designed the hospital to have four separate wards with 48 beds. The first two of these wards opened in February 1864 for free patient care, and in 1872 the second two wards were opened for paying patients. In 1939 the hospital was requisitioned by the government for the care of civilian casualties during WWII. Chalmers Hospital became part of the NHS in 1948 and with it turned its two private patient wards into wards for free hospital care. In 2009 the hospital was redesigned, incorporating the original building with a glass annexe to accommodate a sexual health centre.

Designs for the extension to the Chalmers Hospital.

Royal Public Dispensary of Edinburgh

 History of Edinburgh Hospitals  No Responses »
Aug 102020
 

20 W Richmond St, Edinburgh EH8 9DX

Andrew Duncan

The current MacKenzie Medical Centre was once the site of the Royal Public Dispensary of Edinburgh, Scotland’s first public dispensary. In the early 1770s, Andrew Duncan taught at the University of Edinburgh, using chronically ill patients unable to pay for treatment. As the number of patients at these sessions kept increasing, Duncan proposed a public dispensary that would provide free healthcare in large numbers to the poor. When the dispensary opened in 1783, teaching was a key element of its practice and, as practical experience became a requirement in medical education, from 1890 onwards it was compulsory. In 1963, the dispensary building was donated to the University of Edinburgh. It is now a GP training practice, where students still have the opportunity for hands-on experience.

Mackenzie Medical Centre in 2017 (CC-SA by David Hawgood)

Royal Hospital for Sick Kids

 History of Edinburgh Hospitals  No Responses »
Aug 102020
 

9 Sciennes Rd, Edinburgh EH9 1LF

Royal Hospital for Sick Kids (2017, CC-SA by Kim Traynor)

The Royal Hospital for Sick Children (RHSC), also known as ‘Sick Kids’ was established at this location on Sciennes Road in 1895. At that time, the life expectancy for children under 5 was particularly low. In response, Dr. John Smith campaigned for a designated children’s hospital to be run by volunteers and used to train new doctors. In 1863, the hospital was opened in Meadowside House and was the first in Scotland dedicated to the care of only children. Despite having a purpose-built fever room, an outbreak of typhoid in 1890 required the hospital’s patients and staff to be moved to a temporary location. After further inspection Meadowside House was deemed unsuited to house patients again and was closed. The current location, previously a maternity hospital designed by Scottish architect George Washington Browne, was then acquired. Dr Joseph Bell, who was Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s inspiration for Sherlock Holmes, was the first appointed surgeon at the hospital in 1887 and remained there until his retirement.

Royal Edinburgh Hospital for Sick Children in 1960.
Photo of the MacKay Smith Ward from the Royal Edinburgh Hospital for Sick Children, c.1935.

Longmore Hospital

 History of Edinburgh Hospitals  No Responses »
Aug 102020
 

Longmore House, Salisbury Place, EH9 1SH

Longmore House is now the head office of Historic Environment Scotland.

Longmore Hospital (now Longmore House) was the first hospital for “incurables” in Edinburgh. Opened in 1875, the hospital took on patients requiring long-term care that the Royal Infirmary was not equipped to provide. In 1891, a new east wing opened with two 14 bed wards, nurses’ quarters and kitchens and a two-storey west wing was added with a basement in 1899. The top two floors housed a new kitchen, laundry room, chapel and mortuary while the basement was reserved for tuberculosis patients. In 1903, the hospital received a royal charter from King Edward VIII and officially became the Royal Edinburgh Hospital for Incurables. It joined forces with Liberton Hospital on Lasswade Road in 1906, to allow for even greater capacity. Longmore remained a hospital until 1991, when its services were moved to the General Western Hospital. In 1994 the building was converted into office space for Historic Environment Scotland. Liberton Hospital is still in operation as a hospital for geriatric care.

Longmore Hospital image from a pamphlet.
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