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Comely Bank ( /ˌkɒmɪliˈbæŋk/ ; Scottish Gaelic : Bruach Cheanalta, IPA:[ˈpɾuəxˈçɛnəɫ̪t̪ʰə]) is an area of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. It lies southwest of Royal Botanic Garden and is situated between Stockbridge and Craigleith. It is bound on its northernmost point by Carrington Road and on its southernmost point by Learmonth Terrace. [1] The area is covered by Stockbridge and Inverleith Community Council. [2]
The ground was originally part of Sir William Fettes' estate. The original development was a terrace of Georgian town-houses built to face the main east–west road leading to Stockbridge. This was designed by Thomas Brown (architect) in 1817 and still stands today. [3]
The Victorian writer Thomas Carlyle lived at 21 Comely Bank Road from 1826 to 1828 with his wife Jane Carlyle. At that time, the terrace at the western end of the road was the last row of houses in Edinburgh before the village of Blackhall.
In 1894 the builder Sir James Steel bought the then empty 33-acre (13.5-hectare) site between Comely Bank and Queensferry Road and developed it as high density but high quality four storey tenements. He later served as Lord Provost of Edinburgh. Construction continued after his death in 1904. It ceased altogether during the First World War and was not completed until the 1930s.
The area has a number of buildings of architectural or historical interest:
(taken from Grant's Old and New Edinburgh [4] )
Nearly all of the street names in Comely Bank begin 'Comely Bank' or 'Learmonth'. The City of Edinburgh Council's current street naming policy no longer permits this type of naming strategy. Some of the street names have changed over the years, for example Learmonth Grove was known as Comely Bank Loan until the early 20th century.
The cemetery was begun in 1896 and laid out by George Washington Browne.
The cemetery has lost its original southern entrance and its ornate gate piers now lead only into a modern housing estate. It is now only accessible from its north-east corner, on Crewe Road. There has been much vandalism in the cemetery.
It is notable largely due to an abnormally high number of war graves, due to its juxtaposition to two of the city's hospitals in WW2. This includes Britain's youngest in-service death: Reginald Earnshaw only 14 years old.
There are relatively few graves of note:-
The Dean Cemetery is a historically important Victorian cemetery north of the Dean Village, west of Edinburgh city centre, in Scotland. It lies between Queensferry Road and the Water of Leith, bounded on its east side by Dean Path and on its west by the Dean Gallery. A 20th-century extension lies detached from the main cemetery to the north of Ravelston Terrace. The main cemetery is accessible through the main gate on its east side, through a "grace and favour" access door from the grounds of Dean Gallery and from Ravelston Terrace. The modern extension is only accessible at the junction of Dean Path and Queensferry Road.
John Faed, R.S.A. was a Scottish painter.
Thomas Faed RSA (1826–1900) was a Scottish painter who is said to have done for Scottish art what Robert Burns did for Scottish song.
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.
Inverleith is an inner suburb in the north of Edinburgh, Scotland, on the fringes of the central region of the city. Its neighbours include Trinity to the north and the New Town to the south, with Canonmills at the south-east and Stockbridge at the south-west.
The Grange is an affluent suburb of Edinburgh, just south of the city centre, with Morningside and Greenhill to the west, Newington to the east, The Meadows park and Marchmont to the north, and Blackford Hill to the south. It is a conservation area characterised by large early Victorian stone-built villas and mansions, often with very large gardens. The Grange was built mainly between 1830 and 1890, and the area represented the idealisation of country living within an urban setting.
James Faed was one of three famous Scottish brother painters/artists.
William Grant Stevenson, was a Scottish sculptor and portrait painter.
John RhindARSA (1828–1892) was a Scottish sculptor, based in Edinburgh. He was born in Banff the son of a master mason. He was trained under Alexander Handyside Ritchie (1804–1870). He served this apprenticeship in a yard at 4 East Broughton Place.
John Kinross was a Scottish architect. He was particularly skilled in traditional styles and was highly involved in the restoration of historic buildings, researching his subjects well before any project.
Henry Snell Gamley (1865–1928) was a Scottish sculptor specialising in war memorials and sculpture on tombs. He was however also responsible for other figurative sculpture on prominent Edinburgh buildings such as the Usher Hall and works at Holyrood Palace.
David Watson Stephenson was a Scottish sculptor, executing portraits and monuments in marble and bronze.
Thomas Brown was a Scottish architect in the early 19th century based in Edinburgh. He is best known for St. Mary's Church, Bellevue, Edinburgh, usually known as Bellevue Church.
Charles McBride was a Scottish sculptor active in the second half of the 19th century.
Robert Noble RSA PSSA was a Scottish artist specialising in landscapes. He was the first President of the Society of Scottish Artists.
The Dean Gardens are private communal gardens near the Stockbridge suburb of the New Town area of Edinburgh, EH4. The gardens lie over a 2.9 hectares sized site on the steep north bank of the Dean Valley through which runs the Water of Leith. A public view of the gardens can be seen from the Dean Bridge, under which the gardens lie. The gardens have been listed on the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes as part of the New Town Gardens heritage designation since March 2001.
Sir James Steel, 1st Baronet (1829–1904) was a Scottish builder and businessman who served as Lord Provost of Edinburgh from 1900 to 1903.
Inverleith is one of the seventeen wards used to elect members of the City of Edinburgh Council. Established in 2007 along with the other wards, it currently elects four Councillors.
The Smashers Club was a drawing club created in Edinburgh in 1848 by a small group of artists, almost all of whom went on to national fame and recognition.
Thomas Carlyle's house, Comely Bank is a Category B listed building in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was once the home of Scottish essayist, historian and philosopher Thomas Carlyle. He lived there with his wife Jane Carlyle from October 1826, the time of their marriage, to May 1828, when they moved to Craigenputtock.
