Mcgregor And Co Ltd Quayside Mills, Quayside Street, Leith, Edinburgh

Mcgregor And Co Ltd Quayside Mills, Quayside Street, Leith, Edinburgh

This complex of buildings forms an internal court open at the east end, comprising a manse, church remains, tenement, granary and mill buildings dating from the 16th century to the late 19th century.

The manse is a four-storey L-plan building in sandstone rubble with a staircase tower in the re-entrant angle, corbelled out at the second stage and terminating in a square timber arcaded belfry dated 1675. The roof is lead-covered Dutch-style with leaded ogival form and decorative ridge crestings. To the east stands a two-storey brick office range, stone-faced to the road.

On the north (Quayside Street) elevation, a later two-storey rubble and ashlar wall with a door adjoins the west wall of the tower. The tower's first stage contains windows at ground and first floor; the second stage is corbelled out with a blank face to the pilastered and arcaded timber belfry above, topped by a two-tier ogival roof. To the right rises a four-storey two-bay front with a crowstepped gable. A two-leaf panelled door with later moulded architrave stands at ground level to the left, with paired windows at ground in the right bay, a bipartite window to the first floor and single windows above. Various render of different periods remains. The granary adjoins to the right.

The east elevation shows two advanced bays of the two-storey office building to the north. The upper stage of the tower contains a small light and the belfry; the lower panel where a clock face formerly sat is now blank. A single-storey link to the office obscures the ground and part of the first floor of a four-storey two-bay elevation. This elevation features paired windows with heavy moulded reveals to the first floor, two windows to the second floor and a single window under the eaves, formerly with a crow-stepped dormerhead.

The windows are timber sash and case and casement types. The roof is covered with graduated Scotch slates.

The interior is derelict but retains some old panelling, roll-moulded doors and basket-arched chimneypieces.

The tenement is a four-storey two-bay building extending from the south gable of the manse, with a splayed southeast corner (probably to accommodate a former road) and a pend at the centre accessing the church.

The east elevation presents a four-storey three-bay front to the left of the manse with a further bay at the canted angle. A rusticated pend entrance with bold voussoirs stands at ground level, featuring a console and masque to the keystone, with a window to the right. The upper floors have regular fenestration, with windows to the left bay blocked. The angled bay has a door at ground level and windows above. A former lintel above the central first floor window (and pend) is carved with the inscription BLESSED AR THEY YAT HEIR YE VORD OF GOD AND KEIP IT LUK XI 1600.

The windows are timber sash and case type, and the roof is covered with graduated Scotch slates.

The interior is derelict but retains some old panelling, doors and chimneypieces.

The granary, located to the west, is a four-storey L-plan building measuring seven bays by seven bays. It is built in sandstone rubble with droved ashlar margins and employs timber post and beam construction.

The north (Quayside Street) elevation has an irregular ground storey with relieving arches to the openings. The base probably remains from the 16th century church, particularly a blocked basket-arched doorway at the centre and a window to the right. Regular fenestration above shows some alteration.

The west elevation displays irregular ground floor openings with relieving arches, many now blocked. A north loading bay is canted back with a window at ground and doors above, topped by a gabled dormerhead with a hoist. Otherwise the fenestration is regular, with a door to the centre left bay at first floor level. A modern corrugated-iron flat-roofed boilerhouse stands to the right at ground level.

The south elevation is gabled with a canted three-bay end. Openings appear on each floor and in the gablehead. The right bay has an arched opening at ground with slipped voussoirs, now blocked. A cast-iron tie plate sits above the ground floor of the centre bay. The mill adjoins to the east.

The windows are a combination of timber casement, louvre and shutter types. The roof is pitched and piended with an M-profile, covered in graduated Scotch slates.

The interior is derelict. Timber post and beam construction is evident, with voids cut in the floors to accommodate modern machinery.

The mill, located to the south of the group, comprises two and three-storey red brick buildings with cream ashlar margins and cream brick dressings, arranged in eight bays.

The south elevation shows a three-storey six-bay range with bipartite windows, a band course above the second floor and moulded eaves; the upper windows are shorter. The three rightmost bays are slightly advanced. To the right stands a similar two-storey two-bay range with a pagoda roof and tripartite windows at ground and single windows above.

The east elevation displays a two-storey four-bay pagoda-roofed building with a taller range behind.

The windows are metal casements. A modern pitched corrugated-iron roofed building is also present.

The interior features cast-iron post and beam construction.