Song School, St Mary's Episcopal Cathedral, Palmerston Place, Edinburgh

The Song School, St Mary's Episcopal Cathedral, Palmerston Place, Edinburgh, was designed by John Oldrid Scott in 1881 and built by Robert Rowand Anderson between 1888 and 1892. It includes murals by Phoebe Anna Traquair, executed between 1888 and 1892. Walpole Hall was added in 1933 by Lorimer and Matthew. A single-storey corridor block connects the two halls at the southwest corner, also dating to around 1933, and a later flat-roofed single-storey addition is present at the east end. The buildings sit on a site adjacent to St Mary's Cathedral.

The Song School is a single-storey, rectangular Scots Baronial church hall constructed of squared and snecked sandstone. Low stone buttresses are present, along with a moulded string course that steps to become the window cill course. Crow-stepped gables punctuate the roofline, with twin gables projecting from the north elevation and a single gable to the south. A steeply pitched roof incorporates a small, louvered, slated fleche at the centre. Prominent stone transomed and mullioned windows have sandstone ashlar cills, lintels, and decorative "rybats". Internally, a small entrance vestibule leads to a large, barrel-vaulted hall, with a library located to the south. A further doorway in the northeast corner accesses a single-storey block linking to Walpole Hall. The murals, based on the Benedictine theme, feature a predominantly red and blue palette depicting choir and clergy, Pentecost, and Christ’s empty tomb on the east wall. Verses from the canticles and portraits of Traquair's contemporaries (including D.G. Rossetti, W. Holman-Hunt, and G.F. Watts) are on the south wall. The north wall displays choristers and birds singing together, alongside a panel of eminent historical figures such as Dante and Blake. Four beasts and seraphs singing "Sanctus" adorn the west wall.

Walpole Hall is a single-storey, four-bay, rectangular hall, also built of squared and snecked sandstone. A corniced eaves course runs along the east and west elevations, and the wallhead is punctuated by tall, shaped dormers. A lower, curved gable is added to the south elevation. A single-storey porch with a moulded surround and carved relief panel sits on the north gable; an oculus with a moulded, keystoned surround is positioned above. The interior features a small entrance vestibule on Chester Street, leading to a large, barrel-vaulted hall. The interior is plain, with a timber floor and panelled timber dado. A raised stage is situated to the south, with flanking doors featuring small glazed panels, providing access to further rooms behind the building. An additional rear entrance grants access to the single-storey block linking to the Song School and the exterior.

Predominantly timber sash and case windows are found throughout, with large 9 over 15-pane windows in the dormers of Walpole Hall. The roofs are steeply pitched and covered in grey slates. A tall, shaped, and buttressed chimneystack with modern clay cans is located on the south elevation of the Song School. Cast-iron rainwater goods are in place.