Teviot Row House

Teviot Row House, home of Edinburgh University Union, was opened on 19 October 1889. It is the oldest purpose built student union in the world.

Fundraising

Following its formation in 1884, the Students' Representative Council set as its first priority the opening of a University Union, to provide recreational and social facilities for students and staff. It launched a campaign of public fundraising with letters sent to prominent figures in Edinburgh and public subscription lists opened. £5000 was raised in this manner, and further contributions were received from the Senatus Academicus (£500) and Town Council (£100). In November 1886, a Fancy Fair at Waverley Market brought in a further £10,000. Funds were now sufficient to engage an architect Sydney Mitchell (1856-1930) and to begin construction on a site adjoining the newly opened Medical School.

Opening

Teviot Row House (in a distinctive fifteenth-century palace-block style) was very much designed on the lines of a Victorian gentleman's club. It initially included a restaurant, library (with books donated by academics and former students), a gymnasium (converted into a billiards room in 1894), and a debating hall, which would become both a meeting place for many university societies and a venue for dances and other social events. Membership was male only, and by subscription, and at first only a small minority of students joined. Unsurprisingly, given the proximity of the Union to their classrooms, these were preponderantly medical students.

Early Years and First Extension

1896 saw the introduction of Thursday afternoon concerts in the Debating Hall, to which Union members were encouraged to bring female guests. These were to prove a most useful source of funding for maintenance of the building and repairs. In the same year, Teviot Row was connected to the telephone exchange and a barber's shop was opened which remained a fixture of the Union building for nearly 75 years. In 1900, Friday night dances or 'Cinderellas' were introduced for the first time and became a permanent ritual of student life.

The introduction of in-house catering in 1897-98 led to a great increase in use of the Union. While bringing in welcome income, this proved a great strain on the existing premises. By 1902, the Debating Room and East Reading Room had been pressed into service as adjuncts to the Dining Hall, leaving precious little seating accommodation elsewhere in the building. A new campaign was launched to fund an extension. Again subscriptions were collected from students, staff, and from prominent Edinburgh figures and businesses. A sum of £20,000 was raised, permitting the Union to re-employ Sydney Mitchell. In 1902, two extra floors were added on top of the service block to the east of building. These contained a Committee Room and one further new room for building management. By 1903, a new billiard hall had been completed, and the size of dining accommodation doubled. A further extension was funded in 1905 by borrowing funds on security of the existing building and by doubling both the annual Union subscription fee and the Life Membership fee. This permitted an expansion of the library, the creation of new reading room space, and the fitting of electric lights throughout the building. The complete extension was officially opened on 19 October 1906.

Between the Wars

By the 1920s, the Student Union building was the vital centre of all university activities. Besides debates and dances, it hosted club meetings, evening entertainments, and tournaments in billiards, chess, golf, bridge, and whist. Union members made of use of the building to entertain guests, use the library or reading rooms, and enjoy bar and dining facilities. The 1930s saw the installation of a gramophone and Milk Bar.

Post-War Boom

The post-war years saw a huge increase in student numbers. By the 1950s, the Friday night dance, now known as the 'Union Palais' was among the most popular entertainments in the city, attracting crowds of over 1400 (and requiring significant strengthening of the Debating Hall floor by the middle of the decade!). A television set was installed in 1953, and in the same year a union shop opened, selling tobacco, stationery, and newspaper. At the same time, the Union building was increasingly used for hosting conferences, congresses, and formal dinners. Its popularity, however, was again placing excessive demands on the available space. In 1955-56, the West Reading Room was transformed into a supplementary dining room but there was still insufficient seating and catering accommodation.

Second Extension

The provision of a much needed extension necessitated the transfer of ownership of the Teviot Row building to the University itself, as the University Grants Committee would not permit funds that it supplied to be used for improving a building the University did not own. The transfer took place in 1961 after eight arduous years of negotiation between the Union's Committee of Management and the University Court. The sticking point had been the Court's plan for a Composite Matriculation Fee which would entitle all male matriculated students to membership of the Union. According to this plan, the University would give funds to the Union to replace the previous subscriptions. The Union had argued, however, that a subscription fee was necessary to remain the club-like nature of the organization and, more pressingly, because the Union building could not cater for the full male student population. A compromise was finally reached whereby he subscription fee was replaced by a £1 deposit (returnable on graduation) to be paid by all matriculated students wishing to join the Union.

A major extension project was completed late in 1963, involving the following modifications:

• Basement - new joiner's shop, increased storage facilities, and conversion of Billiard Room into extension of Smoke Room
• Ground Floor - renovation and redesign of Entrance Hall, new Billiard Room, and new office
• First Floor - annexe to Snack Bar with balcony, reversion of West Reading Room to use as Reading Room
• Top Storey - Debating Hall adapted for use as Dining Hall, with kitchens extended into Sun Lounge

Further modifications were required in 1964 when new regulations necessitated the installation of fire exits and fire doors.

The late 1960s saw the installation of coffee and milk machines, fruit machines, and the first soft drink vending machine in Scotland (1967).

Record lending section added to library, and coffee and milk machines installed, soft drink vending machine in Scotland (1967). First fruit machine (1968)

1964 the Offices and Shops Act and the Building Standards (Scotland) REgulations A1963 meant that fire exits and fire doors had to be installed

debate in 1960s over whether the university intended to build a new Student Centre to replace the Union, or want the Union to move there; transpired that the university wished to replace union on same site within 20 years (1968) up to p 78

Union Palais peaked in 1950s (up to 1400 attending); declined to more like 300 in 1968 and continuing to drop

suggestion that the Teviot row building be more of student/postgraduate/staff club dealing more with the Dining Room than Snack Bar market

Conversion of the old Billiard Room into an amusements arcade in 1970 and erection of balcony in Smoke Room, 1966

In March 1970 a jukebox was installed in the snack bar and a contraceptive machine in the toilets

also in 1970 shop was enlarged, but also the Barber's shop was closed

same year East Reading Room into mixed bar or function room.

New Downstairs Bar officially named the Park Room (a mixed bar) was opened in 1973, with finance secured by opening Union to women. The Sportsman's Bar was also set up in the room next to the Park Room. (this is before eUSA)

After creation of EUSA, the Chambers Street House was amalgamated into the Edinburgh University Union, and Student Centre House added as a third building. Still the Union but with two additional buildings. Renamed officially as Teviot Row House

Following the accumulation of £200,000 from an Appeal Fund, a complete reburbishment took place 1979-80, carried out by Gordon Duncan Sommerville, Architect involved complete re-building and refurbishment of the kitchens, stores, servery, and food preparation room. Restoration of Debating Room, Dininig Room Middle REading Room, and other public areas of the building

In 1981, Teviot Row House became venue for the Festival Fringe Club It is possible to sample shows before committing to a full performance. For many years, the Fringe Club (variously in the High Street from 1971 and at Teviot Row Student Union from 1981) provided nightly showcases of Fringe fare to allow audiences to sample shows. The Fringe Club closed down in 2004, and various venues still provide "the Best of the Fest" and similar.

Ceilidh Culture claims to “build on the legacy of the Edinburgh Folk Festival”, formerly a flagship fixture on this calendar, running from 1979 as a ten-day event over Easter, and featuring such legendary names as Planxty, Alan Stivell, Silly Wizard, Richard Thompson and Ossian. During the 1990s, it did much to consolidate Edinburgh’s leading role in the then-burgeoning Scottish folk renaissance, but increasing financial difficulties towards the end of the decade saw it firstly split into two long weekends, renamed Shoots & Roots, in April and November, before finally going bust in 1999. Given how the rest of the scene was thriving, charges of mismanagement and ill-judged programming were hard to avoid, but significant blame was also apportioned to inadequate public funding.

See Also

• Foundation of Students' Representative Council, 1884
• Opening of University Union, 1889
• Foundation of Edinburgh University Students' Association, 1973

Sources

• Robert D. Anderson, 'The Construction of a Modern University', in Robert D. Anderson, Michael Lynch, and Nicholas Phillipson, The University of Edinburgh: An Illustrated History (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2003), pp. 103-207.
• Iain Catto (ed.), 'No spirits and precious few women': Edinburgh University Union 1889-1989 (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Union and Iain Catto, 1989)
• Sir Thomas Henry Holland, 'Introduction', in A. Logan Turner (ed.), History of the University of Edinburgh 1883-1933 (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1933), pp. xiii-xxx.