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The
Town Council and Established Church ministers were named as Trustees.
The overseer and supervisor was Heriot's friend, Dr. Walter Balcanquall
D.D. Master of the Savoy, Dean of Rochester and later of Durham. Balcanquall
was one of the courtier chaplains to both James and Charles I. He
was a man of considerable culture, vision and energy, and is believed
to have had great influence in the early development of the Hospital.
He was instrumental in selecting a field of  eight
and a half acres – part of the 'Hie Riggs' – to the south
of the Castle and Grassmarket, for the site of the building, and he
is thought to have advised the master masons on the original design.
He was also responsible for the drawing up of the original Statutes,
whose influence remains evident in the constitution of George Heriot's
Trust and School to this day.
According to Sir John Summerson, in giving "the
paterne" to the Hospital, Balcanquall probably indicated the Palace
described by Sebastiano Serlio in his "Seventh Book of Architecture"
of about 1550. The records make it clear, however, that the architect
of Heriot's Hospital was the royal master mason, William Wallace,
after whose death in October 1631 the work was carried on by his assistant
and successor William Aytoun. Both were experienced Scottish masons
who had been involved in working on and studying the construction
of other notable buildings in Scotland. It is clear that the main
features of the design were laid down at the outset in the ground
plan and were adhered to, more or less closely, throughout the undertaking.
The result - according to W. Douglas Simpson "as thoroughly a Scottish
Building as anything could be" - not only satisfied the practical
requirements of a hospital school of its time but has remained as
attractive as it is functional to this day.
The Foundation Stone
on the north-west tower is inscribed 1 July 1628 and the date is confirmed
by contemporary record.
At first, the work of construction progressed rapidly.
Stone came from the freestone quarries at Ravelston; lime from Kirkliston
and Westhouses; and timber mainly from Dalkeith. Large joists and
other commodious timber were imported from Norway, as was not unusual
in Scottish building work of this period.
The promising pace of early development was not
able to be continued, however. George Heriot's estate had included
large sums of money owed to him by the Crown and others, and much
delay was encountered in collecting these debts. Further difficulties
were caused by the outbreak of the Civil War. By 1650 the building
was habitable at last but in that same year it was commandeered by
Cromwell's military government in Scotland and converted into an army
hospital.
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