4 Great Stuart Street, Edinburgh is a Grade A listed building in the City of Edinburgh local planning authority area, Scotland. First listed on 14 December 1970. 5 related planning applications.

4 Great Stuart Street, Edinburgh

WRENN ID
forgotten-alcove-laurel
Grade
A
Local Planning Authority
City of Edinburgh
Constituency
Edinburgh North and Leith MP: Tracy Gilbert (Lab)
Country
Scotland
Date first listed
14 December 1970
Address
4 Great Stuart Street, Edinburgh, EH3 6AW
OS grid reference
NT 245 740
Coordinates
55.95376, -3.20928
Source
Historic Environment Scotland listing

Also on this page: related consents · flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

This is a substantial 1822 terrace designed by James Gillespie Graham, with later additions. It comprises a predominantly four-storey and basement building, featuring a thirteen-bay classical design, incorporating a five-bay linking terrace flanked by a pair of four-bay terminal pavilions. The building is constructed from polished ashlar sandstone, with V-jointed rustication at the principal floor level. The facade includes a base course, a band course between the basement and principal floor, and a corniced frieze at the impost level of the terminal pavilions. Cill courses are present at the first and second floors, along with a cornice and blocking course at the third floor, and at the second floor of the linking block to the left of centre. Ashlar steps and entrance platts project beyond the basement level.

The principal (northwest) elevation of the linking terrace (number 2) features an added storey to the three bays on the right. A four-panel timber door with a plate glass rectangular fanlight is centrally positioned at the principal floor, with regular window arrangements above. The first-floor windows have architraves with cornices, while the second and third floors feature architraved windows. A flagged basement area is also present.

The northwest elevation of the terminal pavilions presents a pair of four-bay structures. Doric pilasters flank the bays at the first and second floors, with panelled pilasters on the third floor. A four-panel timber door with radial semicircular fanlights, now blind, is located at the fourth bay from the outer left and right. Windows are recessed in round arches in the remaining bays at the principal floor, and some are blind. Regular fenestration is found on the upper floors, with blind windows in the centre bays of number 2 and in the bay to the outer right of number 6. A flagged basement area is also present.

The return elevation to Ainslie Place, which connects to 25 Ainslie Place (listed separately), is four bays wide. Similarly, the return elevation to Moray Place, connecting to 37 Moray Place (listed separately), is four bays wide.

The rear elevation has not been inspected since 1998.

Various timber sash and case windows are incorporated throughout, including a six-light small pane bow window to the outer right at the third floor of number 4. Decorative anthemion and palmette window guards are found on the first-floor bays, except at number 2, in the left bays of number 4, and in the bay to the outer right of number 6. The roof is covered with grey slate and features an M-shaped profile, with cast-iron rainwater goods. A variety of broached and rendered ridge stacks are present, topped with coped details and circular cans.

Interior details are not currently known, but evidence suggests the presence of working panelled shutters. The front of the property is bordered by ashlar copes surmounted by cast-iron railings with fleur-de-lis finials. Cast-iron railing-mounted lamps with glass globes illuminate the streetscape.

Local climate

4 Great Stuart Street, Edinburgh sits in a wetter-than-average part of the UK, with an average of 970 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 76% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 53% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 43 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 81% of listed buildings. Of these, 25 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.

Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.

More on this building

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  • No EPC on record for this property
  • No sale records on file
  • Related listed building consents — 5 applications
  • Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
  • Flood risk assessment
  • Radon risk assessment
  • Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
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Nearby listed buildings

  1. 2 Great Stuart Street, Edinburgh Grade A 10 m
  2. 6 Great Stuart Street, Edinburgh Grade A 11 m
  3. 25 Ainslie Place, Edinburgh Grade A 16 m
  4. 37 Moray Place, Edinburgh Grade A 17 m
  5. 38 Moray Place, Edinburgh Grade A 18 m
  6. 24 Ainslie Place, Edinburgh Grade A 25 m
  7. 39 Moray Place, Edinburgh Grade A 27 m
  8. 23 Ainslie Place, Edinburgh Grade A 37 m
  9. 40 Moray Place, Edinburgh Grade A 38 m
  10. 3 Great Stuart Street, Edinburgh Grade A 43 m