Cottage to move brick by brick

A HISTORIC cottage is to be dismantled and moved brick by brick to a new home less than two miles away, under plans to preserve a piece of the city's botanical history.

The small house on Haddington Place, which was home to the head gardener when the city's Royal Botanic Garden was based in Leith, was designed by renowned architect John Adam and built in the late 1700s.

It has stood there ever since but is now in the way of a major new hotel and retail development. Developers are planning a major operation to preserve the cottage by relocating it to the current Botanic Garden on Inverleith Row. A survey is set to be carried out to explore the feasibility of the move, although no cost has yet been attached to the project.

James Simpson, a member of the working group which runs Simpson & Brown architects, said: "Everyone accepts that this building has lost its context and it is not sensible keeping it in its current location.

But it is still a very important cottage and needs to be preserved. There was another monument on the site which was dismantled and rebuilt at Inverleith some years ago and we are very keen to see the same happen with this."

Glasgow-based company Leith Walk Developments have included the move as part of their plans to build a 175-room hotel on the site of a former petrol station and garages on Haddington Place.

Henry Noltie, a senior botanist at the Royal Botanic Garden, said: "The cottage has an important place in our history, as it was an integral part of the Garden as built by Professor John Hope in 1764.

"We are concerned about the future of this building and have been in discussion with the Botanic Cottage Working Group. The group is trying to make sure that a careful archaeological survey is made of the building and its surrounding area."

The plans are expected to be discussed by councillors within the coming months. If approved, the building will have to undergo a full archeological survey before any work can begin on the site.


Capi

tal's changing places
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TANIC Cottage is not the only building restored to a different local location.

The most famous example is the Edinburgh Brass Rubbing Centre on Chalmers Close. Originally the Trinity College Church, Hospital and Apse, it was demolished in 1848 to make way for Waverley Station before being rebuilt at its current location in 1872.

The architect, John Lessels, was able to incorporate about a third of the original stones from the church.

Other examples include the Old Tollhouse on Morningside Road - relocated at the entrance to Hermitage Park, by Braid Road

and the Portobello Tower, erected in 1785, from Old Town rubble.

More recently, the arch from the former Fat Sam's restaurant in Fountainbridge was earmarked for the entrance of a new street in the area.