Bernard Street is a thoroughfare in Leith, Edinburgh, Scotland. It runs west north westerly from the junction of Constitution Street and Baltic Street to meet the Water of Leith at The Shore. It forms the northern boundary of what was known in the 19th century as 'Old Leith'. [1]
It is thought that Bernard Street takes its name from Bernard Lindsay of Lochhill, a courtier to James VI and I, who was granted the King's Wark in 1604. An early name for the area was "Bernard's Neuk". [2]
In 1780, the first public sewer in Scotland was built in Bernard Street, flowing into the Water of Leith. The iron seal of the sewer is still visible by the bridge at the end of Bernard Street.
At the east end of the street is a statue of Robert Burns by David Watson Stevenson erected in 1898. [3] Other buildings include the premises of Leith Merchants Club and the former home of the Leith Banking Company. [1] Today, the buildings of Bernard Street have been converted to use as pubs, cafes and the offices of media, marketing and publishing companies.
From the mid-18th century, a stagecoach service ran from Bernard Street to the city's Old Town. Bernard Street forms part of the main coastal route around north Edinburgh. From the 1970s until the 1990s a Bernard Street bypass was proposed, Taking traffic northward through the docks and closing the street to through traffic at its east end. This was then to preserve Bernard Street as a historic enclave. [4]
Bernard Street was a stop on Leith's electric tram line from 1905 until 1955 [1]
With the completion of the Edinburgh Trams light rail line extension to Newhaven in 2023, a new tram stop opened at the junction of Bernard Street and Constitution Street.
The decision was made to name the stop The Shore due to the area's close proximity.
Leith is a port area in the north of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith and is home to the Port of Leith.
Edinburgh Trams is a tramway in Edinburgh, Scotland, operated by Edinburgh Trams Ltd. It is an 18.5-kilometre (11.5 mi) line between Newhaven and Edinburgh Airport, with 23 stops.
Stockbridge is a district of Edinburgh, located north of the city centre, bounded by the New Town and by Comely Bank. The name is Scots stock brig from Anglic stocc brycg, meaning a timber bridge. Originally a small outlying village, it was incorporated into the City of Edinburgh in the 19th century. The current "Stock Bridge", built in 1801, is a stone structure spanning the Water of Leith. The painter Henry Raeburn (1756–1823) owned two adjoining estates, Deanhaugh and St Bernard's, which he developed with the assistance of the architect James Milne. Milne was also responsible for the fine St Bernard's Church (1823) in Saxe Coburg Street. Ann Street, designed by Raeburn and named after his wife, is a rare early example of a New Town street with private front gardens.
Edinburgh is a major transport hub in east central Scotland and is at the centre of a multi-modal transport network with road, rail and air communications connecting the city with the rest of Scotland and internationally.
Granton is a district in the north of Edinburgh, Scotland. Granton forms part of Edinburgh's waterfront along the Firth of Forth and is, historically, an industrial area having a large harbour. Granton is part of Edinburgh's large scale waterfront regeneration programme.
Pilrig is an area of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. The name probably derives from the long field (rig) on which a peel tower (pil/peel) stood. There is evidence of a peel tower situated on an area of higher ground above the Water of Leith.
The Edinburgh Suburban and Southside Junction Railway was a railway company that built an east-west railway on the southern margin of Edinburgh, Scotland, primarily to facilitate the operation of heavy goods and mineral traffic across the city. The line opened in 1884. Although its route was rural at the time, suburban development quickly caught up and passenger carryings on the line were buoyant; the passenger service operated on a circular basis through Edinburgh Waverley railway station.
Silvermills, once an ancient village, has been part of Edinburgh since 1809.
Great Junction Street is a street in Leith, on the northern outskirts of Edinburgh, Scotland. It runs southeast to northwest following approximately the southwestmost line of the old town walls around Leith.
Leith Walk is one of the longest streets in Edinburgh, Scotland, and is the main road connecting the east end of the city centre to Leith.
Edinburgh Corporation Tramways was a Scottish tram network that formerly served the City of Edinburgh, Scotland. The city used four-wheeled double-decked trams painted dark red (madder) and white – a livery still used by Lothian Buses and the modern light rail Edinburgh Trams.
The Edinburgh, Leith and Newhaven Railway was a railway company formed in 1836 to connect the city of Edinburgh with the harbours on the Firth of Forth. When the line connected to Granton, the company name was changed to the Edinburgh, Leith and Granton Railway. It opened part of its route in 1846, but reaching the centre of Edinburgh involved the difficult construction of a long tunnel; this was opened in 1847. It was on a steep incline and was worked by rope haulage.
Constitution Street is a thoroughfare in Leith, Edinburgh, Scotland. It runs north from the junction of Leith Walk, Great Junction Street and Duke Street to the Albert Dock in Leith Docks.
Trams operated in Edinburgh from 1871 to 1956, and resumed in 2014. The first systems were horse-drawn, while cable-haulage appeared in the city in 1888. Electric trams first ran on systems in neighbouring Musselburgh (1904) and Leith (1905), meeting the Edinburgh cable-trams at Joppa and Pilrig respectively. Electrification meant cable trams last ran in 1923, with through running now possible to Leith and as far east as Port Seton. The various systems were operated by different private and municipal entities over the years; the Edinburgh and Leith systems had been merged under Edinburgh Corporation by 1920, but it wasn't until 1928, after the partial closure of Musselburgh line, that all trams operating in Edinburgh were in the sole control of the corporation. The last electric trams ran in 1956, but electric trams returned in 2014 with the opening of Edinburgh Trams. Many of the trams from the horse/cable/first electric era were built in Shrubhill Works. Two trams have been preserved, a horse tram and an electric tram, built by Shrubhill in 1885 and 1948 respectively. A 1903 Dick Kerr cable-tram has also been purchased for preservation. Remnants of the cable-tram system can be seen in Waterloo Place and Henderson Row, and of the Musselburgh line at Morrison's Haven.
Edinburgh Street Tramways operated a horse-drawn tramway service in Edinburgh between 1871 and 1896, and Leith between 1871 and 1904.
Various studies, from 1989 onwards, considered the reintroduction of trams to Edinburgh. In 2001, a proposal for a new Edinburgh Trams network envisaged three routes across the city, Lines 1, 2 and 3. Line 1 was a circular route running around the northern suburbs, with the other two forming radial lines running out to Newbridge in the west and to Newcraighall in the south respectively. All lines would run through the city centre.
The King's Wark in Leith was a building on the Shore of Leith, at the mouth of the Water of Leith into the Firth of Forth. The King's Wark was the Scottish royal arsenal where cannon used on royal ships were kept and maintained, and where supplies shipped to Leith for the royal household were stored. To the north east of the King's Wark the Shore was extended into the sea by a pier known as the "Bulwark". To the west was the Broad Wynd, and on the south, there was a walled yard. An inn on the site was documented in 1623. The site on the Shore includes a public house and restaurant called "The King's Wark" on the corner of the Shore and Bernard Street.
The Caledonian Railway lines to Edinburgh started with the main line that reached Edinburgh in 1848 as part of its route connecting the city with Glasgow and Carlisle. The potential of the docks at Granton and Leith led to branch line extensions, and residential development encouraged branch lines in what became the suburbs of Edinburgh. In 1869 a line was opened from Carfin through Shotts giving the Caledonian a shorter route between Glasgow and Edinburgh.
James Simpson (1830–1894) was a 19th century Scottish architect. He is particularly associated with Leith. He served as the Burgh Assessor and Town Architect of Leith and created and oversaw the Leith Improvement Plan of 1888.
TheShore is a historic and picturesque street in the centre of Old Leith, the harbour area of Edinburgh.
