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[12] Preliminary design for the ground floor of a group of prison buildings for Edinburgh Bridewell, 1791, unexecuted
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Reference number
SM Adam volume 1/271
Purpose
[12] Preliminary design for the ground floor of a group of prison buildings for Edinburgh Bridewell, 1791, unexecuted
Aspect
Sketched ground plan for a group of prison buildings with surrounding yards enclosed by a continuous wall with bastions. At the front of the site is a small lodge with a portico to the front, and a bow to the rear. There are walls connecting the lodge to the main prison building which comprises a D-shaped block, divided into radiating cells, with a deep protruding entrance front and flanking links terminating in large blocks. In the centre of the main building is a circular viewing tower with a series of apertures looking out onto the individual cells, flanked by stairs. The outer blocks comprise a mad house (bedlam) and an infirmary and have segmental-shaped inspection lodges with apertures looking over the cells. To the rear of the main building is a small circular lodge, later designs (SM Adam volume 33/19 & 33/33) show this to be an inspector’s lodge with apertures to survey each yard
Scale
not to scale
Signed and dated
- 1790-91
datable to 1790-91
Medium and dimensions
Pen and pencil on laid paper (176x160)
Hand
Possibly
Adam office hand, possibly Robert Morison, John Robertson, or John Paterson
Adam office hand, possibly Robert Morison, John Robertson, or John Paterson
Verso
some calculations and sketch drawing of part of a section of a building, in pencil
Watermark
crowned cartouche [in half]
Level
Drawing
If you have any further information about this object, please contact us: drawings@soane.org.uk