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Edinburgh Assay Office

1457 establishments in ScotlandCategory B listed buildings in EdinburghPrecious metalsProduct-testing organizationsUse British English from February 2017
Edinburgh Assay Office, Broughton Street geograph.org.uk 1346747
Edinburgh Assay Office, Broughton Street geograph.org.uk 1346747

The Edinburgh Assay Office is the last remaining Assay Office in Scotland and one of four which remain in the United Kingdom. The history of hallmarking at the Edinburgh Assay Office can be traced back to 1457 when the first hallmarking act of Scotland was created. It is an independent privately run business, owned by the Incorporation of Goldsmiths of the City of Edinburgh. Since 1457, the deacon, or leader of the craft, assayed and marked the members' wares, but in 1681 a separate Assay Master was appointed to oversee this task. The first Assay Master was John Borthwick. The incorporation's importance in the life of the city and country was confirmed in 1687 when King James VII granted it a royal charter. The Edinburgh Assay Office is housed in a category B listed building, Goldsmiths Hall in Broughton Street. It is a former church, built in 1816, which was fully refurbished and opened as the assay office in 1999 by Princess Anne. The assay office primarily tests and hallmarks precious metal. In 1973 the Hallmarking Act was passed, then in 2010 palladium became the fourth precious metal to be assayed.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Edinburgh Assay Office (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Edinburgh Assay Office
Broughton Street, City of Edinburgh New Town/Broughton

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Geographical coordinates (GPS)

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N 55.9573 ° E -3.1888 °
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Alba Science

Broughton Street 24
EH1 3RH City of Edinburgh, New Town/Broughton
Scotland, United Kingdom
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call+441315572066

Website
albascience.com

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Edinburgh Assay Office, Broughton Street geograph.org.uk 1346747
Edinburgh Assay Office, Broughton Street geograph.org.uk 1346747
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St Oran's Church
St Oran's Church

St Oran's Church was a Gaelic-speaking congregation of the Church of Scotland in Edinburgh. Originating in the early 18th-century, the congregation continued until 1948, latterly meeting at Broughton Street. Gaelic public worship in Edinburgh began in the early 18th century and culminated with the opening of the first Gaelic Chapel at Chapel Wynd near the Grassmarket in 1769. This was the first Gaelic-speaking congregation in the Scottish Lowlands. A second, larger chapel opened at Horse Wynd in 1813 and the two congregations united in 1815, following which the Chaepl Wynd building was sold. In 1835, the chapel was raised to the status of a parish quoad sacra. The Disruption of 1843 saw all the church's office holders and almost all of its congregation depart the established church to join the Free Church, creating another Gaelic-speaking congregation in Edinburgh: the Gaelic Free Church. Civic improvements in the Old Town forced the congregation to vacate Horse Wynd in 1870. It settled in the former Catholic Apostolic Church on Broughton Street in 1875. In 1900, the congregation adopted the name "St Oran's". The former Gaelic Free Church – by then known as "St Columba's" – had rejoined the Church of Scotland in 1929 due to denominational unions. The General Assembly concluded the maintenance of two small Gaelic-speaking congregations in Edinburgh was unnecessary and, in 1948, St Oran's and St Columba's united to form the Highland Church, using the St Columba's buildings. Greyfriars Kirk maintains St Oran's tradition of Gaelic worship in Edinburghto the present. The first Gaelic Chapel was a simple T-plan building with seats for 800. It was demolished in the 1830s. The Horse Wynd building stood on a rectangular plan and was executed in a plain neoclassical style. It was swept away in the public improvements that created Chambers Street. The Broughton Street building – the only building occupied by the Gaelic congregation that still stands – is a neoclassical, temple-like building of 1843–1844, attributed to John Dick Peddie. It is now in commercial use.