Canongate Kilwinning Lodge, Canongate, Edinburgh

Canongate Kilwinning Lodge, located in Canongate, Edinburgh, is a Masonic Lodge built between 1735 and 1736, incorporating a 17th century wing and later additions. The building is a three-storey rectangular structure with a central gable on the south side and a narrow, L-plan wing from the 17th century to the north. The main entrance is located on the north side, along with a remnant of a former turnpike stair entrance at the northeast re-entrant angle.

The southern section features a three-storey rectangular design with a piended roof, which was extended east to St John Street in the 20th century in a style reminiscent of the 17th century. The exterior is constructed of squared and snecked rubble with ashlar dressings. The principal elevation on the east side has a central gable with a blind oriel window, a hexagonal oculus above, and dodecahedral finials. This is flanked by pedimented dormerheads that break the eaves and have timber shutters. To the far left, there is a door with a basket-arch moulded architrave, and two small stair windows above. The northern section is made of rubble with chamfered openings and features modern crowstepped dormerheads, along with stuccoed stair jambs that incorporate earlier 17th century fabric and later re-entrant turrets towards the southeast.

Inside, the 17th century section includes a former kitchen on the first floor, which has a wrought-iron range and a moulded lintel inscribed with 'TEMORW NE SORW BE HEIR'. A timber turnpike stair leads to a small octagonal chamber below. Fluted Corinthian columns on the south side flank the entrance to the windowless Lodge Room, built in 1735-36. This room features a recess for the Master's chair, dating from around 1780, in the east wall, topped with an ogee-arched and pinnacled semi-octagonal Gothic canopy. There is an organ chamber in the south wall housing an organ by John Snetzler from 1757, and a curved recess in the west wall with a late 20th century mural. Trompe l'oeil paintings of statues of Burns and Shakespeare, as well as Byron and Scott, adorn the north and south walls. The coved ceiling is decorated with further trompe l'oeil work and features an ornate brass chandelier with a dove at the center. Below, on the ground floor, there is a windowless refectory with a timber beamed ceiling that displays shields depicting the emblems of various trades, a Master's chair to the east, and a recessed bar area to the north. The Master's room and library on the second floor have a vaulted ceiling.