Well Court Restoration Project

Edinburgh World Heritage has announced a £1.1m grant to restore Well Court, a hidden architectural gem in the Dean Village area of the UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The funding will be used for essential conservation work to this Category A listed building, described by one architectural historian as “...a picturesque, beautifully composed jumble of crowstepped gables and turrets.”

The building was commissioned in the 1880's by Sir John Findlay, who was then the proprietor of The Scotsman newspaper. He bought the land and had dilapidated tenements cleared away, to allow his new model housing to be built.

The extensive restoration will take up to 18 months to complete, and includes repairs to the stonework, roof, windows, clock tower and communal areas.

The project is part of the new Conservation Funding Programme. EWH is directly funding work to the public areas of the site, such as the central courtyard. Whereas restoration of the main building will be paid for partly by EWH grant, which is re-payable on sale or transfer of each property, and partly funded by the residents themselves.

Well Court

• Well Court was designed by the architect Sydney Mitchell and built in 1883-86. It was originally intended as accommodation for local workers.
  
• Residents were under strict rules and faced being locked out if they stayed out at night too long. They were also expected to attend church services on a Sunday, in a meeting house built as part of the complex.
  
• An advertisement of the period described Well Court as, “providing homes of two and three rooms with conveniences, let to a respectable class of working men at rentals of £7 to £12 per annum”.

The View from Fiona Stewart, Local Resident.