History of Leith, Edinburgh

We know that a real tennis court existed on the edge of the Holyroodhouse site just next to Queen Mary’s Bathhouse, historian Dennis Gallagher told me yesterday, because it appears on seventeenth century maps by people like Edgar and Slezer. It’s also visible on the famous Rothiemay map of 1647. for more click here

For many centuries horse racing was a favourite pastime in Scotland. In 1552 there was an annual race at Haddington. (more…)

This building was known as “The Ark” or as it appears in some early maps of Leith as “John Knox’s House” was the meeting house of South Leith Church in the 17th century. It later became a warehouse for Davidson and Pirie who were fish curers.

Between 1847 and 1895, the Ordnance Survey mapped some 61 Scottish towns at the most detailed scales in their entire history. The resulting maps are not only a comprehensive snapshot of urban Scotland, but also a rich information resource on the history and geography of all the larger populated places in Scotland. This introduction provides a brief background to the maps, their scales and details shown, as well as their colouring and sheet lines. Each individual town plan page is linked to a short essay (from the ‘Background Information’ button) which provides an historical context. for more click here

This map was done in approximately 1530 and is based on the memory of Alexander Alesius who left Scotland because of his Protestant beliefs. The map appears in the Cosmologue of approximately 1550 (more…)

It was later moved to Great Junction street and demolished in the 1960′s

Town Plan of Edinburgh (north east part) Surveyed: 1849-53

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Town Plan of Edinburgh (north east part) Surveyed: 1849-53

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This photograph shows the cementing in of the Leith Coat of Arms above the doorway of the new Leith poorhouse in 1907 which developed later into the Eastern General Hospital. South Leith?s poorhouse was on Taylor Gardens in Great Junction Street from 1850.

Town Plan of Edinburgh (north east part) Surveyed: 1849-53

source-nls

Town Plan of Edinburgh (north east part) Surveyed: 1849-53

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