Alexander Laing (architect)
Alexander Laing | |
|---|---|
| Born | 13 June 1752 |
| Died | 10 September 1823 (aged 71) Portobello, Edinburgh, Scotland |
| Nationality | Scottish |
| Known for | Designing Scottish houses and castles |
Alexander Laing (13 June 1752 – 10 September 1823)[1] was a Scottish architect who was mainly involved in house and castle design.
Life[edit]
He appears to be the son of Thomas Laing (d.1774), a knife- and tool-maker who lived near the Theatre on Edinburgh's Royal Mile.[2]
Laing trained as a stonemason, and (as was typical in that age) was also styled "architect", and was based in Edinburgh;[3] He is first listed in Williamson's Edinburgh Directory of 1774 as a "Mason" living at Theatre Row (on the south side of the Royal Mile near the now Museum of Childhood).[4]
Laing married three times: first to Charlotte Polson in 1772, then to Margaret Turnbull in 1786, and finally to Beatrix Currie in 1789.[1]
He had a son, Francis (1 May 1773 – 24 November 1861),[5][6] with Charlotte. He also had a daughter, Jane, who married Captain Alexander Robertson in 1808.[7]
In 1795, Laing purchased the James Adam-designed 7 York Place, the manse for the adjacent St George's Chapel in Edinburgh, where he lived until 1818.[8]
He left York Place in 1818.[9] He moved to 6 Gayfield Place (a house of his own design) at the top of Leith Walk and was still living there in 1823.[10]
Laing died in Portobello in 1823, aged 71.[5][1]
Known works[edit]
Laing's works include:[11]
- Archers Hall, Edinburgh (1776)
- High School, Edinburgh (1777)
- Retreat House, Abbey St Bathans (1778)
- House for Sir James Hunter Blair, 1st Baronet and his new wife (1781)
- Wings on Dalmahoy House (1785)
- Bridge at Dalmahoy (1787)
- Steeple, Town House, Inverness (1789)
- Inverness Royal Academy (1790)
- Dunnikier House (1791)
- Two villas at Gayfield Square (1791/2) 6 Gayfield Sq and 6 Gayfield Pl[12]
- Remodelling of Brechin Castle (1795)
- Over Rankeillor House, Fife (1795)
- Remodelling of Darnaway Castle (1796 to 1802)
- South Queensferry Harbour (1797)
- House at 8 York Place, Edinburgh (1798)
- Langton Church, Gavinton (1798)
- Royal Northern Infirmary, Inverness (1799)
- Dysart Church (1802)
- Remodelling of Invermay and estate buildings, Forteviot (1802)
- Parish Church, Huntly, Aberdeenshire (1804)
- Peterhead Parish Church (1804)
- Drumsheugh House, Edinburgh (1808)
- Extension to Dysart House (1808)
- Manse at Dunfermline Abbey (1814)
- Manse at Grange, Banffshire (1814)
- Manse at Aberdour (1822)
References[edit]
- ^ a b c Alexander Laing at ScottishArchirects.org.uk
- ^ Williamson's Street Directory 1773
- ^ A Treatise on the Law of Scotland, respecting the Erection, Union, and Disjunction of Parishes; the Manses and Glebes of the Parochial Clergy, and the Patronage of Churches - Sir John Connell (1818)
- ^ Williamson's Street Directory 1774
- ^ a b The Snell Exhibitions: From the University of Glasgow to Balliol College, Oxford - J. MacLehose & Sons (1901)
- ^ Francis Laing - University of Glasgow
- ^ The Scots Magazine, Volume 71 (Sands, Brymer, Murray and Cochran; 1809)
- ^ Edinburgh, 7 York Place - Canmore.org.uk
- ^ "7 York Place". Canmore. Retrieved 15 February 2021.
- ^ Edinburgh Post Office Directory 1820
- ^ Alexander Laing - Scottish Architects
- ^ HES listed buildings in Edinburgh
External links[edit]
- Alexander Laing - ScottishArchitects.org.uk