Middle Pier And Pilot House, Granton Harbour, Edinburgh

The Middle Pier and Pilot House at Granton Harbour in Edinburgh was designed by James Walker and A Burgess of London between 1835 and 1845, based on initial designs by Robert Stevenson. The pier stretches 1,700 feet and features coursed rockfaced sandstone sides that step slightly out towards the base, along with tooled sandstone kerb blocks. A fin-shaped concrete wharf, supported by concrete posts, was added to the north in 1936 by L Mouchel and Partners, with A Hannay Thompson serving as the General Superintendent Engineer.

On the eastern side of the pier, there are two timber wharves, with the southernmost one located next to a stone-built warehouse. These wharves are set within recesses in the pier, which has stugged ashlar sides that also step out towards the base. The western side of the pier is faced with corrugated metal. There are four slipways on the eastern side: the northern slipway has coursed stugged sandstone sides and a surface of stone setts, while the southern slipway features stugged ashlar sides and kerb blocks, with a concreted slipway. A timber wharf is located to the west, and a metal crane sits on a concrete base directly to the north.

Two additional slipways were added to the southeast angle of the pier by Sir Thomas Bouch between 1846 and 1848. The space between these slipways is curved to accommodate the bows and sterns of railway ferries. Both slipways are made of stugged ashlar with droved edges, and the larger slipway has a surface of stone setts and stone flags, while the smaller slipway mainly features uneven stone flags. A curved wall between the slipways has a projecting lip at ground level.

The main section of the pier retains some stone setts and features railway tracks in parts. Various structures are present, including a stone-built warehouse and a leading light (refer to separate listing descriptions). There is also a large mid-20th century warehouse made of brick and corrugated iron, along with a late 20th century circular brick pilot station at the tip of the pier. Parts of the original stugged ashlar dividing wall running north-south remain, as well as a coursed snecked sandstone railway retaining wall opposite.

Additionally, five cast iron gas lamp standards are still present, some intact and mostly on later stone bases. These lamp standards are embossed with 'Granton Pier' and include markings such as 'Alloa Foundry 18–' and 'Shotts'.