Granton, Edinburgh
Granton | |
---|---|
City of Edinburgh | |
Lieutenancy area | |
Country | Scotland |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | Edinburgh |
Postcode district | EH5 |
Dialling code | 0131 |
Police | Scotland |
Fire | Scottish |
Ambulance | Scottish |
UK Parliament | |
Scottish Parliament | |
Granton is a district in the north of
Name
Granton first appears on maps in the seventeenth century relating to the now-demolished Granton Castle.[1] The name also appears in Granton Burn, which now runs through Caroline Park down to what was Granton Beach. The name is presumed to come from Grant's Town or Grant's Dun (hill). However, the OED entry for the word grindle[2] states that Granton is first recorded as Grendun, around 1200CE, which would make the Burn a boundary marker.
Granton Castle
Granton Castle is first documented in 1479, as a building owned by John Melville of Carnbee, Fife. It stood to the north-west of the current mansion, Caroline Park. On John's death it passed to his son, also John Melville, who was one of the many Scottish nobility killed at the Battle of Flodden. In 1592 it was sold by the Melville family to John Russell but by 1619 was acquired by Sir Thomas Hope, the Lord Advocate, who greatly altered and extended the castle. On his death it passed to his son, Sir John Hope, Lord Craighall.[3]
The building fell derelict by the 18th century. At the end of the 19th century the architectural historians MacGibbon and Ross did a survey and created scale drawings of the remnants. This showed a standard L-plan Scottish tower house with a courtyard to the north side. This was accessed by a gateway on the west side, on the outer side of which was a loupin stane, a set of steps to aid a person to mount a horse.
In 1928 a quarrying firm, Bain and Brown, bought the site to excavate the rock outcrop beneath the castle. The majority of the castle was lost due to this exercise. The exercise itself was largely redundant as the steeply angled rock bed quickly meant excavation became too deep to be economic. Now only small fragments of the castle remain.[4]
The walled garden of the castle survives. For many years it was the home of a small scale commercial market garden. It was threatened by housing development proposals but was saved by a local campaign and is now maintained as a community resource by the Friends of Granton Castle Garden.[5]
Granton Harbour
In 1834 Edinburgh debated the need for a larger harbour. James Walker in his capacity as President of the Institution of Civil Engineers oversaw a committee, also including Admiral David Milne, to choose between three options: an extension to the existing Leith Docks; a new harbour at Trinity or a new harbour at Granton. The initial bid for Trinity did not receive parliamentary consent and in 1836 a second Bill promoting Granton was agreed. It received Royal Assent on 21 April 1837.[6]
Construction began in June 1837 and the initial central pier was opened on 28 June 1838, coinciding with the coronation of Queen Victoria. The entire project was funded by the
Lighthouse engineer Robert Stevenson oversaw the later construction of the outer breakwaters, which were completed in 1863. Thereafter the Resident Engineer was John Howkins, followed by his son, also John Howkins.[8] The original concept to create two large wet docks on the landward side was abandoned as this proved impractical.[9]
Granton became a successful port for the export of coal, and import of
The foreshore area between Granton and Newhaven is a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) aimed at encouraging and preserving the resource of fossils in the area.From 3 February 1850, the world's first
In 1884,
During the
From 1942 to 1946, Granton harbour was home of shore-based minesweeping training establishment HMS Lochinvar. As the scale of the harbour restricted ship size, it became a site for scrapping former Royal Navy ships, including HMS Newport and HMS Hedingham Castle.[15]
Today two boat clubs jointly run the Edinburgh Marina: the Forth Corinthian Yacht Club and the Royal Forth Yacht Club.
Industry
Granton
.The oldest surviving car factory building in Britain is located in Granton. The Madelvic Motor Carriage Company works were built in 1898 for the manufacture of electric cars. Like the gasometers, the factory is also a listed building. However, approval has been granted for its demolition as part of wider redevelopment of the area.[16] In June 2017, planning permission was granted for a community garden on the site.[17] In November 2021, a Red Wheel plaque was unveiled at the site. Red Wheel plaques are installed by the National Transport Trust to identify sites of significant transport heritage.[18]
Granton Gasworks were formerly one of Edinburgh waterfront's most prominent landmarks, comprising three blue
Development during World War Two included the construction of the works of Bruce Peebles (later Parsons Peebles), that made high voltage electrical equipment, including transformers for electricity power stations. The works burnt down in a huge fire in 1999, and is now part of the waterside redevelopment. The firm continues in business as Parsons Peebles Generation Limited, Wood Road, Royal Dockyard, Rosyth. Ferranti's factory on Ferry Road was built to make electronics for aircraft, including gyro-based gunsights for the Supermarine Spitfire.
Transport
Buses
Bus services are mainly provided by Lothian Buses. Buses that Terminate in Granton either stop at Granton Square or the Scottish Gas HQ, the Scottish Gas HQ journeys will have West Granton, Pilton or Muirhouse as their destination blinds.
8 Muirhouse - Granton - Pilton - Canonmills - North Bridge - Newington - Moredun - Royal Infirmary
14 Muirhouse - Granton - Pilton - Ferry Road - Elm Row - North Bridge - Newington - Prestonfield - Niddrie
16 Colinton - Oxgangs - Morningside - Tollcross - Princes Street - Leith - Newhaven - Granton - Muirhouse - Silverknowes
19 Granton - Pilton - Western General - West End - Princes Street - Meadowbank - Lochend - Portobello
24 West Granton - Muirhouse - Drylaw - Western General - Stockbridge - West End - The Meadows - Blackford - Royal Infirmary
32 Granton - Muirhouse - Davidson Mains - Drum Brae - Sighthill - Wester Hailes
38 West Granton - Western General - Craigleith - Ravelston - Murrayfield - Gorgie - Morningside - Blackford - Kings Building - Royal Infirmary
47/X37 Granton - Western General - West End - Lothian Road (47) Princes Street (X37) - Newington - Liberton - Straiton - Penicuik Ladywood (47) Penicuik Deanburn (X37)
N16 Torphin - Colinton - Oxgangs - Morningside - Tollcross - Princes Street - Leith - Newhaven - Granton - Muirhouse - Silverknowes
Railways
On development of the harbour, the Duke needed a railway connection to make a profit. He became an investor in the
From 1846-1890,
. In 1890 when the Forth Bridge opened, the long distance trains started using it and after that the line to Granton was just used by local passenger and goods trains. Passenger trains ran until 1926, when the tram and omnibus services became fully integrated. Goods services ran until 1986, when the lines were lifted.In 1861, the Caledonian Railway opened a line to Granton from Dalry, providing a goods service to Granton harbour. They agreed a contract to run passenger services to the new gas works from central Edinburgh; the Granton Gasworks railway station was built for this purpose. In 1864, the Caledonian built a line to Leith, with stations at Newhaven Road (near Trinity Academy), Granton Road, East Pilton, Craigleith, Murrayfield and Dalry Road running to Edinburgh Princes Street. One of the two connections between the Caledonian and the North British networks was on Granton Square. Passenger trains ran until 1962, and goods trains until 1968, when the lines were removed.
The railway embankment, which separated Lower Granton Road from the Forth, was removed in the late-1980s.
Trams
In 1909, Leith Corporation ran trams from Leith to Granton. They were joined in 1923 by trams from the Edinburgh Corporation, resulting at one point, having seven tram routes to the area: four from Leith via Lower Granton Road (services 2, 14, 16 and 17); three via Granton Road (services 8, 9 and 13). Trams to Granton were withdrawn in stages, from 1952 to 1956, and replaced by buses.
Proposed to be part of the new
Inter War to Present
From 1932, the Council developed Granton as a major 150 acres (61 ha) housing scheme. Over 1,700 residential units, mainly tenement flats, were built from east to west in three tranches, Granton, Wardieburn and Royston Mains. They were designed by City Architect Ebenezer MacRae and his team, including GC Robb who laid out the latter stages and designed feature terraces in Royston Mains. The majority of these properties are still in use.
Dr. Charles Munro had developed a general practice in the area, and when he was called up for national service in World War Two, his locum was pioneering German Dr. Ekkehard von Kuenssberg. Post-war Kuenssberg developed "The Care Trust" that integrated all local government services into one group, becoming one of the first cases of primary care in what was the newly launched National Health Service.
Much of West Granton housing was demolished from 1995 onwards.
The
Notable residents
- Henry Bellyse Baildon FRSE (1849–1907) poet and author
- James Hope of Hopetoun
- John Roxburgh, footballer
- The Exploited
References
- ^ "Edinburgh Waterfront - Granton Castle". www.edinphoto.org.uk. Archived from the original on 25 April 2018. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
- ^ "Home : Oxford English Dictionary".
- ^ Stranger on the Shore, James Gracie, p.21
- ^ Janet Brennan-Inglis, A Passion for Castles: MacGibbon and Ross (Edinburgh: John Donald, 2022), pp. 108–110.
- ^ "History of the Garden: Scotland's Urban Past". 4 January 2019.
- ^ ISBN 1-902831-535
- ^ The new statistical account of Scotland. Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood and Sons. 1845. p. 433. Retrieved 8 April 2017.
- ^ "John Howkins". www.gracesguide.co.uk. Archived from the original on 25 April 2018. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
- ^ Stranger on the Shore, James Gracie, p.14/15 (map)
- ISBN 978-0-901702-68-5.
- .
- ^ "Subterranea Britannica: Sites:Scotland Street Tunnel". www.subbrit.org.uk. Archived from the original on 24 September 2017. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
- ^ "Scottish Marine Institute from The Gazetteer for Scotland". scottish-places.info. Archived from the original on 25 April 2018. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
- ^ The War at Sea: WW100 Scotland
- ^ "HMS Hedingham Castle (ii) (K 529) of the Royal Navy - British Corvette of the Castle class - Allied Warships of WWII - uboat.net". www.uboat.net. Archived from the original on 30 March 2006. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
- ^ Historic Madelvic car factory set to be demolished after Edinburgh Council U-turn – Edinburgh Evening News 12 January 2010 Archived 15 January 2010 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Madelvic Motor Factory - Edinburgh". National Transport Trust. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
- ^ Stephen, Phyllis (29 November 2021). "Three new transport wheels unveiled in Edinburgh". The Edinburgh Reporter. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
- ^ Purdie, Una. "Milestone reached in transformation of Granton's historic gasholder". Edinburgh Reporter. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
- ^ "Funding concerns for tram project". BBC News. 24 April 2009. Archived from the original on 27 April 2009. Retrieved 11 January 2010.
- ^ Johnson, Simon (19 November 2008). "Edinburgh tram network falls victim to credit crunch". London: Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 5 May 2013. Retrieved 11 January 2010.