Longmore House

Quick facts

Date

Main block completed 1880; east wing 1886–1891; west wing 1899; later additions in the 1920s and 1993–1994

Architect / designer

J. M. Dick Peddie; later work by Dick Peddie and J. & F. Johnston

Type

Former long-term-care hospital, later converted to public-body offices

Designation

Listed building, Category B (LB30273)

OS grid reference

NT 26426 72212

A hospital composed as a civic institution

The principal Salisbury Place frontage is a two-storey-and-attic classical composition in cream sandstone. Polished ashlar gives the public face a formal finish, while the side and rear elevations use more textured, squared stonework. The original 1880 centre is symmetrical: an eleven-bay entrance block is grouped 3–5–3 and flanked by lower ward ranges. A bold Grecian porch marks the entrance, above which Roman Doric columns and pilasters organise the first-floor windows. A pediment rises over the central bay, giving the hospital the presence of a civic building rather than a domestic charitable home.

The long elevation is the product of repeated expansion. The east and west wings project from the original block and present pedimented end bays to Salisbury Place, with full-height canted windows intended to bring light into the wards. The west ward range was extended by four bays. Grey slated roofs, strong cornice lines and repeated pilasters hold the different phases together, so the additions read as a planned institutional ensemble.

Behind the main frontage, the listed complex includes the former mortuary chapel and carriage houses, built around 1890. The chapel has a tripartite window set in a round-arched panel and a round-headed doorway with decorative iron hinges. A tunnel linked it to the hospital basement. Original gatepiers, iron railings and boundary walls continue the formal treatment along Salisbury Place.

Interiors and later adaptation

The principal staircase retains elaborate cast-iron balusters, a timber handrail and a coved plaster ceiling lit by a lantern. Historic Environment Scotland’s designation also draws attention to the unusual colour scheme of the entrance hall and stair, derived from an earlier Peddie and Kinnear interior at Belmore in Cupar. Benefaction boards formerly displayed on the stair were moved to a west corridor during the office conversion.

A plain classical doctor’s residence and link block were added to the east in the 1920s. During conversion to offices in 1993–1994, removed wallhead chimneys were reinstated and J. & F. Johnston added a three-storey U-plan rear range to form an enclosed courtyard. The adaptation introduced a Ledmore marble floor in the principal stair hall while retaining major elements of the hospital plan and fabric.

From charitable hospital to public offices

The Edinburgh Association for Incurables was founded in 1874 to care for people then described as incurable and needing constant medical supervision. The historical name reflects nineteenth-century medical language and should not be treated as appropriate terminology today. Its patients required continuing care that the Royal Infirmary was not equipped to provide.

The association opened its first premises in a villa on Salisbury Place in February 1875. Trustees of M. J. A. Longmore contributed £10,000 towards a larger building fund, and the villa was demolished for J. M. Dick Peddie’s new hospital, completed in 1880. Expansion followed quickly: the east wing was added between 1886 and 1891, and the west wing in 1899.

A Royal Charter followed in 1903. When a second hospital opened at Liberton in 1906, the two institutions together became the Royal Edinburgh Hospital for Incurables. The organisation entered the National Health Service in 1948. Longmore continued in hospital use until 1991, after which the complex was converted for Historic Scotland. Since the creation of Historic Environment Scotland in 2015, it has served as one of that public body’s head offices.

Why it matters

Longmore House illustrates how Victorian philanthropy, institutional planning and architectural dignity were combined in a specialist hospital. Its long, well-lit ward wings express the practical needs of sustained care, while the formal entrance, stone detailing and surviving interiors gave the charity a visible civic identity. The designation includes not only the main former hospital but also the mortuary chapel, carriage houses, boundary walls, gatepiers and railings, making the record significant as a surviving complex rather than a single façade.

Its later conversion is also part of the story. Reuse as the headquarters of the national body responsible for Scotland’s historic environment has kept the building in active public-sector use, although its office function differs fundamentally from a visitor attraction.

What to notice

• The central Grecian porch and the pediment breaking the skyline above it.
• The Roman Doric columns and pilasters dividing the first-floor windows.
• The projecting end bays of the later wings, with tall canted windows and pediments.
• The contrast between polished stone on the public front and more textured masonry at the sides and rear.
• The gatepiers, original railings and boundary walls that define the Salisbury Place frontage.
• The separate chapel and carriage-house group within the listed complex, not readily visible from every public viewpoint.

Access

Longmore House is an operational Historic Environment Scotland head office, not a monument with routine public visiting hours. The exterior can be appreciated from the public realm on Salisbury Place, but visitors should not assume access to the offices, staircase, chapel or other interiors. Anyone attending for official business should use current Historic Environment Scotland contact information and confirm arrangements in advance.

Timeline

1. 1874 The Edinburgh Association for Incurables is founded.
2. February 1875 The first Longmore Hospital opens in a villa on Salisbury Place.
3. 1880 J. M. Dick Peddie’s new purpose-built hospital is completed.
4. 1886–1891 The east wing is added; the associated mortuary chapel and carriage houses date from about this period.
5. 1899 The west wing is completed.
6. 1903 The association receives a Royal Charter.
7. 1906 Liberton Hospital opens; the two hospitals operate together as the Royal Edinburgh Hospital for Incurables.
8. 1920s A doctor’s residence and link block extend the complex.
9. 1948 The hospital enters the National Health Service.
10. 1991 Longmore closes as a hospital.
11. 1993–1994 The buildings are converted to offices and a new rear range encloses the courtyard.
12. 2015–present Longmore House serves as a head office of Historic Environment Scotland.

Evidence and uncertainty

The statutory designation gives precise dates for the principal architectural phases and identifies the listed components. The health archive securely documents the institution’s foundation, Royal Charter, combined operation with Liberton and entry into the NHS. Published sources are less detailed about the final transfer of individual clinical services before closure, so this account does not assign a specific destination without stronger evidence.

Sources & further reading

• Historic Environment Scotland: Longmore House, former Longmore Hospital, LB30273 — designation category, listed extent, exact grid reference, architecture, interiors, development phases and historical statement.
• Historic Environment Scotland: contact — current head-office use and postal address.
• Lothian Health Services Archive: Royal Edinburgh Hospital for Incurables — foundation, purpose, institutional development and NHS history.
• Lothian Health Services Archive: LHB34 collection catalogue — contemporary institutional records and collection chronology.