Lothian Chambers
| Lothian Chambers | |
|
Midlothian | |
|---|---|
 Lothian Chambers | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | NT25657355 |
| Location: | 55°56’57"N, 3°11’32"W |
| City: | Edinburgh |
| History | |
| Address: | George IV Bridge |
| Built 1904 | |
| By: | James Macintyre Henry |
| Palladian | |
| Information | |
Lothian Chambers, formerly Midlothian County Buildings, is a municipal structure on George IV Bridge in Edinburgh, Midlothian. Once the home of Midlothian County Council, today it accommodates the Consulate-General of France and the French Institute for Scotland,
The building is Category B listed.[1]
History
Following the implementation of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889, which established county councils in every county, it became necessary to find offices for Midlothian County Council.[2] The new county council initially occupied the old county hall which had been built to a design by Archibald Elliot in 1816. However, the building had become dilapidated and the new county leaders decided to demolish the old building and to commission a new structure on the same site.[3]
The new building was designed by James Macintyre Henry in the Palladian style, built in ashlar stone and was completed in 1904.[1][4][5] The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with nine bays facing onto George IV Bridge; the central section of three bays, which projected forward, featured a doorway on the ground floor flanked by pairs of banded Doric order columns supporting an entablature with triglyphs and a segmental pediment. On the first floor, there was a tetrastyle portico formed by Ionic order columns supporting an entablature inscribed with the words "Midlothian County Buildings" and a pediment with fine carvings in the tympanum. The outer bays were fenestrated with sash windows which were augmented by voussoirs on the ground floor and by pediments on the first floor. At roof level, there was a balustrade. Internally, the principal room was a marble-floored assembly hall on the first floor.[1]
An ornate frieze, designed by William Birnie Rhind and depicting the mining, agriculture and fishing industries, was installed high up on the rear elevation of the building which faced St Giles' Cathedral.[3] An extension, which was connected to the main building by a tunnel, was designed by Sir Robert Matthew of Robert Matthew Johnson Marshall in the modernist style and erected on the opposite side of George IV Bridge in 1968.[6]
The council and its successor came and went: it house Lothian Regional Council from 1975 to 1996 (hence the modern name) then passed to the City of Edinburgh Council. It became the local Registrar's Office from 2006 to 2018, after Edinburgh City Council decided that the building was surplus to requirements.[7] The French Consulate-General and the French Institute for Scotland then relocated from their former premises in Randolph Crescent into Lothian Chambers.[8][9][10]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Midlothian County Buildings, George IV Bridge, Edinburgh (Category B) - Listing detail (Historic Environment Scotland)
- ↑ Shennan, Hay (1892). Boundaries of Counties and Parishes in Scotland: as settled by the Boundary Commissioners under the Local Government (Scotland) Act, 1889. Edinburgh: William Green & Sons. https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_meygAAAAMAAJ/page/n5.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Historic Environment Scotland 74024 Retrieved 22 June 2025.
- ↑ "1907: Lothian Chambers, Edinburgh, Scotland". Archiseek. https://www.archiseek.com/2014/1907-lothian-chambers-edinburgh-scotland/.
- ↑ "Midlothian County Council Buildings". Dictionary of Scottish Architects. http://www.scottisharchitects.org.uk/building_full.php?id=200575.
- ↑ "Midlothian County Buildings". Gazetteer for Scotland. https://www.scottish-places.info/features/featurefirst18117.html.
- ↑ "First look: Inside the new marriage suite at the City Chambers". Edinburgh News. 12 March 2018. https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/people/first-look-inside-new-marriage-suite-city-chambers-325485.
- ↑ "Lothian Chambers to become Edinburgh's French Embassy". The Edinburgh Reporter. 7 February 2017. https://theedinburghreporter.co.uk/2017/02/lothian-chambers-to-become-edinburghs-french-embassy/.
- ↑ "Edinburgh landmark to be new 'House of France'". Herald Scotland. 7 February 2017. https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/15075912.edinburgh-landmark-new-house-france/.
- ↑ "Edinburgh's French Consulate set for move to historic Lothian Chambers". The National. 2 February 2017. https://www.thenational.scot/news/15063753.edinburghs-french-consulate-set-for-move-to-historic-lothian-chambers/.