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| 0074 The Ramsay Garden and the Edinburgh Castle |
The Ramsay Garden is a block of sixteen private apartment buildings developed into its current form between 1890 and 1893 by the biologist, botanist and urban planner Patrick Geddes (the inventor of the term conurbation). Designed by the architect Stewart Henbest Capper, it was build by Sydney Mitchell, who had also taken over as architect, the result being a combination of traditional Scottish domestic architecture and a rather fanciful proliferation of balconies, towers and eaves.
The Ramsay Lodge section of the Ramsay Gardens was originally intended to accommodate students and staff. Murals painted by John Duncan on the walls of the dining and common rooms depicted images from Celtic myth and history. Other parts of Ramsay Garden were available to the public. The buildings stand out for their red ashlar and white harled exteriors, and for their prominent position, most visible from Princes Street.
The Geddes family lived in number 14, a twelve-room apartment on the fourth storey. By all accounts it was an impressive residence. The drawing-room was two rooms connected by an archway, with the whole measuring 20 by 40 feet. Frescoes by Charles Mackie graced the master bedroom. Due to Geddes's financial difficulties, the lease of the apartment was eventually sold to the Town and Gown Association, which also sold it in 1945 to the Commercial Bank of Scotland, that it uses as a residential hostel and training centre.
Ramsay Gardens is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Old and New Towns of Edinburgh, about which I wrote here. About the castle, which is seen in the back, I wrote here.
About the stamp
The stamp is the current Royal Mail 1st Class stamp.
Sender: Colin Conlon
Sent from Edinburgh (Scotland / United Kingdom), on 21.11.2011
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