Edinburgh's New Town:

The original New Town in Edinburgh was constructed in the Georgian style between 1767 and 1820, principally comprising the area bordered by Princes Street to the south, Queen Street to the north and St. Andrew Square and Charlotte Square to the east and west respectively. The area was extended in periods up until the mid 19th century to encompass York Place, Picardy, Hope Estate, Claremont, a 2nd New Town to the north of Queen Street, the Raeburn Estate, Walker Estate/Western New Town, Stockbridge/Saxe-Coburg/Canonmills, Calton Estate/Eastern New Town and The Moray Estate.

Buildings constructed since the 1830's were generally regarded as the 'Victorian Extension,' being to the north of the Dean Bridge as far as Comely Bank and west/south towards Haymarket/Donaldson's School/north towards Belford. The latter included Drumsheugh Gardens, named after the Earl of Moray's home, Drumsheugh, which originally stood at the junction of Great Stuart Street and Randolf Crescent surrounded by over 5 hectares of parkland (since developed as The Moray Estate).

The Victorian buildings in Drumsheugh Gardens, arranged in the 'terraced' form of the original New Town areas, surround a triangular private garden area. The properties are occupied in the main as private residences with commercial businesses peppered around the area. There have been a number of medical uses over the years; private clinics, GP surgeries, hospitals and homes occupied by doctors. The Bonham Hotel at number 35, for example, was a private clinic up until 1951 when the site was sold to The University of Edinburgh as student accommodation. The properties are 4-storey (plus basement) mainly comprising rooms with classically high ceilings meaning that top floor occupants may find themselves with over 80 steps to climb and not all have the benefit of a lift (some still have bed-sized lifts...a throwback from medical usage). Very few of the properties are single owner-occupier today, most having long-since been converted into flats.

The Gardens:

The Drumsheugh Gardens Upkeep Committee was originally established in 1878 with the remit to preserve and maintain the quality of the Gardens for the benefit of owners/residents/occupiers and is guided by a constitution, reference to which can be made upon request using the Contact page on this website.

T

The South-facing facades