Craigmillar
Craigmillar
| |
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Country | Scotland |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | EDINBURGH |
Postcode district | EH16 |
Dialling code | 0131 |
Police | Scotland |
Fire | Scottish |
Ambulance | Scottish |
UK Parliament | |
Scottish Parliament | |
Craigmillar (
History
Despite the relative modernity of most of the housing in the area, the settlement of Craigmillar itself is very old, and contains Craigmillar Castle. The castle was originally the Barony of Preston, or Prestoun. It was then renamed Gourtoun and then finally Craigmillar. Craigmillar begun in the late 14th or early 15th century, and occupied until the early 18th century. In 1660, the Craigmillar estate was bought by Sir John Gilmour.
The housing scheme at
The late 19th and early 20th centuries saw seven breweries being built in what was open country at Craigmillar/Duddingston, concentrated in a small area beside the railway line and taking advantage of the local aquifers providing excellent water for brewing. The first of these was the Craigmillar Brewery of William Murray & Co. Ltd built in 1886 and followed within a few years by
Historical maps
In 2009 The National Library of Scotland released maps for the Craigmillar Area
- Ordnance Survey 1:10,560 Sheet IV SW, 1909 Shows detail of Niddrie House, Waterfall, Icehouse, Niddrie Stone 1909.
- Ordnance Survey 1:10,560 Sheet IV SW, 1938 Shows the development of Niddrie Main 1938.
- Ordnance Survey 1:10,560 – Air Photos – Sheet NT 27 SE 1946 and NT 37 SW, 1946 Shows the aerial photos from 1946
- Other georeferenced historical maps of Craigmillar from the mid 18th to the mid 20th centuries
Present day maps
OpenStreetMap volunteers completed OpenStreetMap Craigmillar in January 2009.
Facilities
Craigmillar saw riots in the 1980s, amid complaints about the lack of facilities in the area. Both the library and Arts Centre were won by grassroots-based community action trying to tackle the area's social problems. One such venture was the Craigmillar Festival Society, which was active from 1962 until 2002.
The area also had a large concrete sculpture/play-structure, created by artist Jimmy Boyle called Gulliver, The Gentle Giant that cares and shares. It was built for the Craigmillar Festival Society in 1976, and largely demolished in 2011 when the Niddrie Burn was re-routed through Hunter's Hall Park, the remaining portion being listed in 2023.[5] The University of Edinburgh has playing fields in this area, including one of the oldest modern-style shinty fields in Scotland.
Gulliver was considered a geoglyph.
Regeneration of Craigmillar
The area has benefited from many initiatives aimed at tackling the social deprivation that has characterised the area for many years, and a new 'town centre' is being brought back to the main street, Niddrie Mains Road, with a new library, secondary school and shops. The area occupied by the Council housing in Niddrie Mains is gradually being rebuilt with new housing. An ambitious plan to re-develop parts of Craigmillar is underway. The Scottish Government's "Green Quarter Plan" proposes the creation of several new parks and woodland areas throughout the Craigmillar area. The "Green Quarter Plan" is being undertaken by the Parc life development company. They also propose the development of 3,200 affordable houses to rent and improved learning and leisure facilities for young people.[6]
One of the few retained buildings of significance is "The White House" former public house, an Art Deco listed building which was restored with gallery space inside in 2011.
Ethnicity
Craigmillar compared | Craigmillar | Edinburgh |
---|---|---|
White | 92.6% | 91.7% |
Asian | 4.8% | 5.5% |
Black | 1.4% | 1.2% |
Mixed | 0.7% | 0.9% |
Other | 0.5% | 0.8% |
Transport
Craigmillar is served by Lothian Buses service 12 which runs from Portobello to The Gyle Shopping Centre, service 2 from The Jewel, Asda, to Hermiston Gait Retail Park, service 14 from Greendykes to Muirhouse & Service 30 from Queen Margaret University to Clovenstone, Wester Hailes.
The area was once served by a local railway from Duddingston & Craigmillar railway station on the Edinburgh Suburban and Southside Junction Railway. The station closed in 1962, but local pressure groups are campaigning to have the line re-opened, possibly as an extension of the forthcoming Edinburgh Tram Network.[7] Following a petition submitted to the Scottish Parliament in 2007, the proposal was rejected in 2009 by transport planners due to anticipated cost.[8]
Notable people
- Helen Duncan (1897–1956), the last woman to be imprisoned under the Witchcraft Act 1735, lived in Craigmillar.
- The former Craigmillar Primary School building houses a mural by the painter John Maxwell, who was trained by Fernand Léger and was a fellow student of Marc Chagallin Paris.
- There is a fine example of 20th century stained glass by Sadie Maclellan in Robin Chapel, in the Thistle Foundation, a housing complex for disabled people in the centre of Craigmillar.
- Local mother Helen Crummy was instrumental in the founding of the Craigmillar Festival Society in 1962.
- The noted Conservative politician Sir Ian Gilmour was given a life peerage by John Majorin 1992, becoming Baron Gilmour of Craigmillar, of Craigmillar in the District of the City of Edinburgh, of which his family were, for several hundred years, the feudal superiors.
References
- ^ Harris, Stuart (2006) [1996]. The Place Names of Edinburgh. p. 192.
- ^ "Niddrie Marischal House Tombhouse Niddrie Marischal Terrace (Lb28103)".
- ^ Ebenezer MacRae and Interwar housing in Edinburgh by Steven Robb, BOEC Volume 17 (2017)
- ^ "Niddrie Mains Road, Thistle Foundation Estate, the Robin Chapel (Inter-Denominational) with Entrance Gates and Gatepiers (Lb48686)".
- ^ "Remnant of Gulliver Sculpture, Hunter's Hall Park, Niddrie Mains Road, Edinburgh (LB52616)".
- ^ "Regeneration of Craigmillar". Parc Life. Archived from the original on 9 September 2012. Retrieved 6 March 2010.
- ^ "Reopening the South Sub" (PDF). Transform Scotland. March 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 August 2011. Retrieved 8 January 2010.
- ^ "Public Petitions Committee Official Report". Scottish Parliament. 27 January 2009. Archived from the original on 5 June 2011. Retrieved 8 January 2010.