2 Montgomery Street Lane, Edinburgh

Montgomery Street Lane, Edinburgh

This mews lane was laid out by W H Playfair in 1819, with construction beginning in the early 1820s. It is a long, straight lane lined with two-storey terraced buildings of rectangular plan on both sides. Access is via a basket-arched pend from Montgomery Street. The lane is cobbled with a central gully.

The buildings are constructed predominantly of squared snecked coursed rubble with droved margins, and display irregular fenestration throughout.

On the south-west side of the lane (the principal north-west elevation), the buildings are numbered 1 to 8. Number 1 is a 2-bay building with out-of-character render to the right bay; the ground floor has a heightened and widened opening with a modern metal roller-door to the left and 4-leaf timber-boarded garage doors to the right, while the first floor has a timber-boarded window to the left bay. Number 2 is a rendered single bay with a timber-boarded garage door to the ground floor. Numbers 3, 3a, 3b and 3c are single-bay units with various modifications including timber-boarded walls, doors, and openings at both storeys. Number 4 is a 2-bay building with a boarded cart entrance to the ground floor left, a timber-boarded door with 2-light fanlight to the right, and a small barred 2-pane window; the first floor has a boarded-up opening to the left and a modern glazed window in a timber frame to the right. Number 5 is a 2-bay building with a blocked timber-boarded cart opening and a metal garage roller-door to the ground floor right; the first floor has a 4-pane top-hopper timber window to the left and a single-pane timber window to the right. Number 6 is a 3-bay building with 2-leaf metal garage doors to both right and left of the ground floor and a metal door to the centre; the first floor has a 4-pane top-hopper timber window to the left and timber-boarded openings to the centre and right. Number 7 is a 3-bay building with 2-leaf timber-boarded doors to the ground floor left and centre, and a blocked cart opening; the first floor has a central timber-boarded opening breaking the eaves. Number 8 is a 3-bay building with a large blank wall area to the left; the ground floor has a mesh-infilled opening to the left, a timber door to the centre, and 2-leaf metal garage doors to the right; the first floor has single-pane timber-frame windows to the centre and right.

On the north-west side of the lane (the principal south-east elevation), the buildings are numbered 9 to 18. Numbers 9 to 11 form a continuous 4-bay elevation with 2-leaf timber-boarded doors to the ground floor at the 1st, 2nd and 4th bays from the left, and a timber-boarded door to the 3rd bay; the first floor has a blocked opening (stone to bottom, timber to top) in the outer left bay and a timber-boarded opening in the 3rd bay from the left. Number 15 is a 3-bay building with a timber-boarded door and barred window to the ground floor left and centre, and 2-leaf timber-boarded garage doors to the right; the first floor has a timber-boarded opening to the centre. Number 16 is a single-bay building with 2-leaf timber garage doors in a widened ground floor opening and a timber-boarded opening to the first floor. Number 17 is a 6-bay elevation with out-of-character ventilation fan and large metal flues; the ground floor has blocked windows with remaining astragals for 6-pane glazing at the 1st, 4th and 6th bays from the left, a timber-boarded door to the 2nd bay, and 2-leaf timber-boarded garage doors to the 3rd and 4th bays; the first floor has timber-boarded openings to the 2nd and 5th bays from the left. Number 18 is a 4-bay building with a complex ground floor arrangement: the outer left bay has a cart opening blocked by timber-boarding with 2-leaf doors and a small blocked window with remaining astragals for 6-pane glazing to the right; the 2nd bay from the left has a cart opening blocked with stone; the 3rd bay has 2-leaf timber-boarded garage doors; the outer right bay has a widened altered cart opening blocked by timber-boarding with a stone pier and timber-boarded door to the right; the first floor has timber-boarded openings to the outer left and right bays. To the right of Number 18 is a boundary wall with a timber-boarded door.

The buildings have pitched roofs predominantly covered in graded grey slate, with felt covering to Numbers 9 to 11. Stone skews and skewputts are present. Numerous rooflights are visible, particularly on the rear pitches.