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. [1]
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. [1]
The park itself was not created until the early 20th century. It was originally smaller, and was mainly based on the former grounds of Bonnington Park House (built in 1789), a still extant villa, now in the north-east corner of the park. A statue of King Edward VII by John Stevenson Rhind dominates the entrance (off Newhaven Road). [2]
Critically, a deep railway cut used to bound the western side of the park. This came in from the south then split in two just before Trinity Academy, linking to the main east west line into Leith Docks. Not until this line was closed (as part of the Beeching cuts) and the cutting infilled, was it possible to increase the park to its current width.
The land west of the railway line was originally proposed as an extension to the Craighall estate but this never came to fruition. [3]
The park is bounded by villas on the Craighall estate to the west and by the flat-roofed terraces of the "Dudleys" to the east.
To the north the area is dominated by Trinity Academy and its eastern extensions, built over a large section which was originally parkland.
An interesting finger of houses on Craighall Bank curve into the park on the line of the former railway.
Bonnington Park House (aka Victoria Park House) operates as a children's centre and hides amid trees on the north side of the park.
On the south side of the park the former Ainslie Park School annexe by Ebenezer MacRae was demolished around 1995 and replaced by New Cut Rigg, flats designed to echo Ramsay Gardens in the town centre. Victoria Park Neuk lines the southern exit of the park alongside the remnant railway line, connecting to the Water of Leith Walkway.
The south-east corner of the park is bounded by mid-19th-century villas on Ferry Road and Newhaven Road.
The park contains bowling greens to the south-east, and tennis courts to the south-west.
A putting green which stood to the north-west no longer exists.
The bowling greens were reduced in scale during the Second World War to provide allotments
The area is served by the nos 7 and 11 buses into the city centre. The former goes via Leith. [4]
Newhaven is a district in the City of 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.
The Edinburgh City Bypass, designated as A720, is one of the most important trunk roads in Scotland. Circling around the south of Edinburgh, as the equivalent of a ring road for the coastal city, it links together the A1 towards north-east England, the A702 towards north-west England, the M8 through the Central Belt towards Glasgow, the A7 through south-east Scotland and north-west England as well as the A8 leading to the M9 for Stirling and the Queensferry Crossing.
Edinburgh North and Leith was a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood). It elected one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the plurality method of election. Also, however, it was one of nine constituencies in the Lothians electoral region, which elects seven additional members, in addition to nine constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.
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 Morrisons supermarket and filling station, bank, public library, optician, pharmacy, several takeaway restaurants and specialist retailers along with public houses.
Sighthill is a suburb in the west of Edinburgh, Scotland. The area is bordered by Broomhouse and Parkhead to the east, South Gyle to the north, the industrial suburb of Bankhead and the Calders neighbourhood to the west, and Wester Hailes to the south. It is sometimes included in the Wester Hailes area, while the Calders, Bankhead and Parkhead are sometimes considered parts of Sighthill. Administratively it has formed a core part of the City of Edinburgh Council's Sighthill/Gorgie ward since 2007.
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.
Trinity is a district of northern Edinburgh, Scotland, once a part of th burgh of Leith. 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.
The Hon. Edward Theodore Salvesen, Lord Salvesen was a Scottish lawyer, politician and judge who rose to be a Senator of the College of Justice.
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.
Easter Road is an arterial road in north Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. The road is so called as it was known as the "Easter (eastern) road to Leith". As maps of Edinburgh in the late 18th century show, it had a counterpart in "Wester Road". Until the creation of Leith Walk in the middle of the 17th century these were the two main routes from Leith to Edinburgh. Historic personages who have ridden up Easter Road have included Mary, Queen of Scots (1561) and Oliver Cromwell.
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.
Christian Salvesen was a Scottish whaling, transport and logistics company with a long and varied history, employing 13,000 staff and operating in seven countries in western Europe. In December 2007, it was acquired by French listed transport group Norbert Dentressangle.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Newhaven railway station served the area of Newhaven, Edinburgh, Scotland, from 1879 to 1962 on the Leith North Passenger Branch.
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