Letter: New Town grace

It is should be remembered that Adam's brief from the town council was to design only the front elevations of the buildings in the square. He did so in 1791 but died the following year.

The first house in the square was completed before the end of 1792 but building progress was otherwise slow and the south side, which is the subject of the present controversy, was the last to be built, between 1811 and 1820.

In his authoritative work, The Makings of Classical Edinburgh, published in 1966, Professor A J Youngson notes that departures from Adam's plan were numerous, the principal one being the town council's scrapping of his plan for the church on the west side of the square in favour of the "cheaper but very much inferior" design by the later architect, Robert Reid.

The front elevation of the south side, including the roof line, is well preserved and follows closely the original plan; presumably it is not likely to change as a result of the proposed development. It seems unlikely that Adam had any interest in the design of the much more modest buildings in the mews lane or in the layout of the back gardens.

Their development in the way that is suggested would seem unlikely to conflict with his original concept but could well be key to the restoration of the square to its former glory.

Resolving traffic management issues in the square may be a much greater problem.

Tom Drysdale

Dirleton

East Lothian