General view of Coliseum, 125 Fountainbridge, Edinburgh, taken from the north-east.

Description General view of Coliseum, 125 Fountainbridge, Edinburgh, taken from the north-east.

Date 13/8/2014

Collection Records of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS), Edinbu

Catalogue Number DP 195089

Category On-line Digital Images

Scope and Content Directly to the east of the Union Canal as it ran north under Fountainbridge, James Learmonth & Co’s Hopetoun Foundry made all sorts of castings such as railings, machine parts and household goods. First appearing in the Post Office Directory in 1838-9, the foundry is first depicted on the Ordnance Survey 1st Edition 1:1056 map of 1852. The layout shows a typical foundry of the period comprising a large courtyard with buildings around for storage and packing, the foundry itself, with pattern store, casting floor, and a finishing shop containing machine tools. The main office and reception would have opened onto Fountainbridge, with entry to the courtyard via the lane to the east. The foundry continued to operate until the turn of the 20th century. Following the closure of the foundry, the site of Learmonth’s foundry fronting Fountainbridge was converted to house the Grand Roller Skating Rink in 1909, before becoming the Coliseum picture house in 1911 and subsequently the renowned Palais de Danse from 1920. Latterly a bingo hall, these buildings were demolished in 2015 as part of the redevelopment of the Fountainbridge area.

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/1436761

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap