Hermits and Termits

The name appears to be connected with the two crofts of the Hospital of St Leonard, which, in its foundation charter of 1493 are referred to as "Le Terraris Croft" and "Le Hermitis Croft". Together, these formed an area of 5.5 Scots acres (2.8ha). "Le Hermitis Croft" may refer to hermits in a generic sense, common before the Reformation; to a specific but now anonymous local hermit; to the inhabitants of the hospital; or to Saint Leonard himself. Alternatively, prior to the construction of the hospital, St Leonard's Hill may have been the site of a hermitage to shelter travellers who arrived from the south after the nightly closing of the town gates. "Le Terraris Croft" refers to the terrarius or terrar: a manager of the lands of Holyrood Abbey on behalf of its monks. By 1578, the two crofts were one unit, which would become known as "Hermits and Termits". In 1995, the crofts gave their names to two newly developed nearby streets: Hermits Croft and Terrars Croft. == History ==

and initials of William and Mary Clifton: the house's first occupants The ancient crofts of the hospital of St Leonard were leased shortly before the Reformation and were in possession of the Robeson family by the end of the 16th century. From the Robesons, it passed to the Reid family in 1690. The house must have been completed by November 1736, when all the houses of Hermits and Termits except Clifton's were sold. In 1739, the house passed to the Cliftons' son, also called William, vicar of Embleton, Northumberland. The younger Clifton rented out the property until its sale in 1757. The property was sold again in 1780. In 1826, the house and lands were bought by the Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway and the Scotts vacated the building soon after. The railway company used Hermits and Termits as offices then as a station master's house. The railway's main cargo was coal and Hermits and Termits was soon enclosed by the boundary wall of the coalyard. In this period, it became known as "Coalyard House". It continued in use as railway accommodation until 1968, when the St Leonard's rail depot closed. In the same year, its last railway tenant, a retired engine-driver, died. In 1970, the City of Edinburgh Council purchased Hermits and Termits and its surrounding lands as the site for an interchange in a proposed diversion of the A1, which would take the road through the west side of Holyrood Park. At this point, the demolition of the house seemed, in David J. Black's words, "a foregone conclusion". A campaign, led by Moultrie Kelsall, David Black, Denis Mollison, and the Cockburn Association prevented the house's demolition. In this period, the house was falling into dereliction. Its chimneys shortened in 1972 and its windows were later bricked up; it became the target of vandalism and metal theft. In 1980, Lothian Regional Council declared the highway plan redundant. The house was put on the market, asking for both proposals and offers and Benjamin Tindall was successful in both. Charles McKean describes this as an "act of faith when St Leonard's was still derelict". After the restoration, the house became the office of Tindall's architectural practice before returning to use as a private residence. == Description ==

t with a chimney at the apex and scrolled skew-putts Exterior The house has a simple oblong plan and contains a cellar and three upper storeys. The exterior walls are harled rubble with chamfered dressings and scrolled skew-putts. The narrower east and west ends are gabled while, in the south front, a central gablet containing a chimney stack at its pinnacle rises above the eaves. The front elevation follows a "pyramidal" plan, forming five bays on the ground floor and three on the first floor, rising to the single bay of the gablet in the attic storey. Above the front door is a stone plaque, which was found broken inside the house at its restoration, having been removed in 1971 after the house's abandonment. During the restoration, it was restored, painted, and reinstated in its original position. The plaque depicts William Clifton's crest along with the initials C W M (for Clifton, William, Mary) and the date 1734, the year in which the Cliftons took possession of the lands of Hermits and Termits. The blazon of Clifton's crest is: "Out of a ducal coronet gules a demi-peacock per pale argent and sable, the wings expanded, counterchanged". In the plaque, however, the coronet is that of a baron rather than a duke. The arched garden gate, with a design imitating hosta and nasturtium, was designed by Benjamin Tindall. It evokes a gate shown in a similar position in one of William Bell Scott's drawings of the house. It was forged in steel in 1983 by blacksmith Alan Dawson. Dawson also forged the bannisters of the front steps, which use a similar design. Two stone rams' heads are built into the boundary wall. These were recovered from West St Giles' Church in Marchmont, which was demolished in 1974. Interior The front door opens into a panelled hallway containing a Georgian geometric staircase with twisting mahogany balusters. On the ground floor, there are two rooms, one on each side of the hallway: a dining room and a kitchen. Prior to the house's dereliction and restoration, the Royal Commission on the Ancient Monuments of Scotland found original pine panelling in all but two of the rooms. When the restoration of the house began, much original woodwork and plasterwork was found to have survived. This has been retained, including a plaster scallop detail above the staircase. David J. Black refers to the dining room as "one of the best examples of its kind now left in Edinburgh". On the first floor are three rooms with a further three and a box room in the top floor. == References ==