Trinity, Edinburgh

Last updated

Trinity
TrinityParkHouse.jpg
Trinity Park House, now demolished
Scotland location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Trinity
Location within Scotland
OS grid reference NT248765
Council 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
List of places
UK
Scotland
55°58′38.92″N3°12′9.01″W / 55.9774778°N 3.2025028°W / 55.9774778; -3.2025028

Trinity is a district of northern Edinburgh, Scotland, once a part of the burgh of Leith (part of the city since 1920). It is one of the outer villa suburbs of Edinburgh mainly created in the 19th century. It is bordered by Wardie to the west and north-west, Newhaven to the north-east, Victoria Park to the east and Bangholm to the south.

Contents

Origin

The plaque from Trinity Mains Farm, Newhaven Main Street The plaque from Trinity Mains Farm, Newhaven Main Street.jpg
The plaque from Trinity Mains Farm, Newhaven Main Street

The name derives from Trinity House in Leith, which formerly held these lands and had a large estate farm, Trinity Mains, in the area. The coat of arms from the farm is preserved on the gable of a modern block on Newhaven Main Street.

Although having some buildings from the 18th century, the area was largely developed in the early 19th century, as a mansion house district, broadly comparable in style to The Grange area of Edinburgh (Trinity is sometimes referred to as Leith's Grange). Many buildings were "second homes" to rich families in the New Town and were treated as a "country retreat".

The style of housing is now very mixed, as the area has always been seen as desirable, and developers have accordingly been keen to build, usually in the preferred architectural style of their period.[ citation needed ] Victoria Park adds to the area's amenities as do many cycle paths and walkways derived from the city's disused northern suburban railway lines. East Trinity Road is typical in having property types ranging from original mansions, Victorian terraces and tenements, cottages to modern developments. Craighall Crescent has a Victorian crescent on one side of the street with much later houses on the other side.

Buildings of interest

The remnant northeast wing of the 15th century Wardie Castle (later Wardie House) survives on Wardie House Lane. This was rebuilt in 1780 by Sir Alexander Boswall who gives his name to Boswall Road.

Numbers 17 to 23 Boswall Road were built in 1815. The westmost wing (containing a telescope viewing area to the harbour) was his own house. The central and east blocks were built as the Pollock Missionary School. The doorpiece on number 21 seems a later addition to embellish this otherwise plain block.

The most notable building on Boswall Road was Wardie Lodge, later renamed Challenger Lodge by Sir John Murray in 1914, after his Challenger Expedition investigating abyssal lifeforms in the deep oceans. After use as a children's home, it was converted to St Columba's Hospice, providing care for the terminally ill, in 1977. [1] Although still extant, the original lodge is now subsumed by modern buildings for the hospice.

11 Boswall Road, East Cottage, dates from the 17th century and was a part-time summer home for Professor John Wilson pen-named "Christopher North".

From 1821 to 1898 the Trinity Chain Pier was used by ferries and latterly swimmers. The booking office survives as a pub. Trinity railway station still survives, up a lane opposite, but is converted to residential use.

Wardie Parish Church is one of several Church of Scotland churches in Trinity.

Trinity Academy (originally called Craighall Road Public School) was built in 1894 and is one of the older schools of the city but has large modern extensions on its east side. [2]

Trinity Cottage (the home of Christian Salvesen) was demolished in 1969) [3] and replaced by National Health Service (NHS) offices. It in turn was demolished in 2008 and replaced by modern townhouses. Only the enclosing wall and small south lodge exist from the original structure. [4]

Notable residents

See also

Related Research Articles

Dean Village is a former village immediately northwest of the city centre of Edinburgh, Scotland. It is bounded by Belford Road to the south and west, Belgrave Crescent Gardens to the north and below the Dean Bridge to the east. It was formerly known as the "Water of Leith Village" and was a successful grain milling area for more than 800 years. At one time there were no fewer than eleven working mills there, driven by water from the Water of Leith.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Newhaven, Edinburgh</span> Suburb of Edinburgh, Scotland

Newhaven is a district in Edinburgh, Scotland, between Leith and Granton and about 2 miles (3.2 km) north of the city centre, just north of the Victoria Park district. Formerly a village and harbour on the Firth of Forth, it had a population of approximately 5,000 inhabitants at the 1991 census. Newhaven was designated a conservation area, one of 40 such areas in Edinburgh, in 1977.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ocean Terminal, Edinburgh</span> Shopping mall in Scotland, UK

Ocean Terminal is a shopping centre in the Leith area of Edinburgh, Scotland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Newington, Edinburgh</span> Human settlement in Scotland

Newington is a neighbourhood of southern Edinburgh, Scotland. Developed from the early 19th century, it is an affluent, predominantly residential area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Piershill</span> Human settlement in Scotland

Piershill is a suburb of north east Edinburgh, Scotland, in the shadow of Arthur's Seat. It is mainly residential, with local amenities including a large supermarket and filling station, bank, public library, optician, pharmacy, several takeaway restaurants and specialist retailers along with public houses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Granton, Edinburgh</span> Edinburgh suburb

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bonnington, Edinburgh</span>

Bonnington is a district of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. The area centres upon an original village which grew up around a ford on the Water of Leith, on the old boundary between Edinburgh and the port of Leith. Before the creation of Leith Walk, the road via the villages of Broughton and Bonnington, or Wester Road as it appears on some old maps, was one of two roads formerly connecting Edinburgh to Leith; the other being Easter Road. The district lies between the districts of Pilrig and Newhaven.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canonmills</span>

Canonmills is a district of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. It lies to the south east of the Royal Botanic Garden at Inverleith, east of Stockbridge and west of Bellevue, in a low hollow north of Edinburgh's New Town. The area was formerly a loch which was drained in three phases in the 18th and 19th centuries, disappearing finally in 1865.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pilrig</span> Suburb of Edinburgh, Scotland

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Restalrig</span> Human settlement in Scotland

Restalrig is a small residential suburb of Edinburgh, Scotland. It is located east of the city centre, west of Craigentinny and to the east of Lochend, both of which it overlaps. Restalrig Road is the main route through the area, running from London Road, at Jock's Lodge, to Leith Links. It is in the ward of Lochend.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Coates</span>

West Coates or Wester Coates is a residential district of central Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. It is on the A8, in proximity to Haymarket railway station and Roseburn, west of the city centre, bounded by the Water of Leith on its north side.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leith Walk</span> Street in Edinburgh, Scotland

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trinity Academy, Edinburgh</span> School in Edinburgh, Scotland

Trinity Academy is a state-run secondary school in the north of Edinburgh, Scotland. It is located on the border between Trinity and Leith, next to Victoria Park, and a short distance from the banks of the Firth of Forth at Newhaven.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edinburgh, Leith and Newhaven Railway</span> Former railway line in Scotland

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.

Trinity Academicals RFC, nicknamed "Trinity" or "Trinity Accies" is a rugby union club based in Leith, Edinburgh, Scotland, originally for the former pupils of Trinity Academy, Edinburgh. Trinity Accies competes in the East Division 2.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Henderson (architect)</span> Scottish architect (1804-1862)

John Henderson was a Scottish architect operational in the mid-19th century. He is chiefly remembered as a church architect, with his early work being in the Gothic revival and tractarian style, before developing his own distinct style.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trinity Chain Pier</span>

Trinity Chain Pier, originally called Trinity Pier of Suspension, was built in Trinity, Edinburgh, Scotland in 1821. The pier was designed by Samuel Brown, a pioneer of chains and suspension bridges. It was intended to serve ferry traffic on the routes between Edinburgh and the smaller ports around the Firth of Forth, and was built during a time of rapid technological advance. It was well used for its original purpose for less than twenty years before traffic was attracted to newly developed nearby ports, and it was mainly used for most of its life for sea bathing. It was destroyed by a storm in 1898; a building at the shore end survives, much reconstructed, as a pub and restaurant called the Old Chain Pier.

George Craig JP EGS (1852-1927) was a Scottish architect and amateur geologist. He created a very high proportion of the 19th century public buildings in Leith.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Victoria Park, Edinburgh</span>

Victoria Park is a district in north Edinburgh south of Newhaven and lying between Trinity and Leith. The area was given Conservation Area status in March 1998.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Forth (Edinburgh ward)</span>

Forth 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. Its territory covers communities in the north of the city between Ferry Road and the coast on the Firth of Forth, including Granton, Newhaven, Pilton, Trinity, Victoria Park and Wardie, some of which historically fell within the boundaries of Leith. A 2017 boundary change caused the loss of the Muirhouse neighbourhood, but housebuilding elsewhere meant the overall population increased slightly. In 2019, the ward had a population of 31,823.

References

  1. St Columba's Hospice: http://www.stcolumbashospice.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3&Itemid=73
  2. Further Traditions of Trinity and Leith by Joyce Wallace ISBN 0-85976-282-3
  3. PDF document covering the history of the Scottish NHS Information Services Department
  4. Trinity Gardens website
  5. Biographical Index of Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783–2002 (PDF). The Royal Society of Edinburgh. July 2006. ISBN   0-902-198-84-X.