Riddle's Court
Riddle's Court is a Category "A" Listed Building situated at the West End of Edinburgh's Lawnmarket, and lies within the Edinburgh World Heritage Site. The buildings are the remains of two L Plan Houses built by Baillie John McMorran (circa 1590).
  
The building contains a number of fine panelled rooms, one of which contains a painted ceiling by celebrated 19th Century Edinburgh Decorator, Thomas Bonnar.
The City of Edinburgh Council have owned the building since 1947. The Council has been exploring a series of Options for its use for a number of years, culminating in a decision to sell the building to a commercial developer. Late in 2007 the "Friends of Riddle's Court Edinburgh" (FORCE), a communtiy group formed in October 2007, to safeguard the building, identified a possible educational end use for the building.
  
The building has links with significant cultural figures - including - David Hume and Patrick Geddes (1854-1932), the renowned Scottish Urban Planner and Educationalist (who owned the bulding in the late 19th Century).
David Hume, one of the greatest of the 18th Century Philosophers associated with the Scottish Enlightenment, lived here whilst writing "Treatise on Human Nature".
The City of Edinburgh Council has agreed to allow six months to undertake a Feasibility Study. An application was made to the Architectural Heritage Fund for a grant towards this Project. On 13 March 2008 the Architectural Heritage Fund awarded a grant of £12,500 towards the cost of the Options Appraisal for Riddle's Court.
The Cockburn Conservation Trust now wishes to commission a multi-disciplinary team to undertake a fully costed appraisal for the options for re-use and an initial viability assessment; exploring potential options for re-use of the building - including the Workers Educational Association (WEA)/FORCE option of an Adult Learning Centre/Patrick Geddes Centre. The most beneficial option needs to be identified, which is appropriate to the building and can be financially viable.
The building has been under threat of closure/sale for many years and is presently occupied by the WEA who rent office space on the first and second floors. The WEA ia a national, democratic, voluntary sector provider for coummunity based and workplace based adult learning, making a unique contribution to lifelong learning.
WEA's latest initiative has been the research and publication of a book on the "Life and Times of Riddle's Court, 1590-2007", which helps to bring history alive.
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