Leith Walk

In a Charter in 1456, James II granted land at Greenside in the "valley and low ground lying between the rock commonly called Cragingalt (ie.

Archaeological investigation on Leith Walk in relation to the Trams to Newhaven project uncovered evidence of a cobble-lined roadway thought to be between 900 and 600 years old.

Daniel Defoe, writing in 1725 and recalling his time in Edinburgh in 1706, described the two features, the roadway and the rampart, as "and all along by the road side, the road itself pav'd with stones like a street, is a broad causeway, or, as we call it, a foot way, very firm, and made by hand at least 20 foot broad, and continued to the town of Leith.

In 1779, Hugo Arnot, an Edinburgh historian who was born in Leith, stated that 156 coaches travelled the route daily, each carrying 4 passengers at a cost of 2.5d or 3d per person.

In April 2023, the tramline was completed, connecting Leith and Newhaven to the City Centre and Edinburgh Airport (EDI).

It was once the site of a gibbet known as the Gallow Lee, literally the "field with the gallows" Several infamous executions took place on the site including that of five Covenanters (Robert Garnock, Patrick Forman, David Farrie, James Stuart and Alexander Russel) in 1681,[3] and of Norman Ross, servant and murderer of Lady Margaret Billie, in 1752.

In 1670, Major Thomas Weir, who had admitted to several sex crimes and accused of witchcraft, was garroted and burnt at the stake at nearby Greenside.

Also named Shrubhill House, the building was occupied by the city council's social work department until 2007, then quickly becoming derelict until its eventual demolition in 2015.

In 1898 a major tram depot with extensive workshops and a power station was built to run a new cable-tram system being rolled out by Edinburgh and District Tramways which began operating in 1905.

Some of the tramworks' exteriors now form part of a new residential-led mixed use development called The Engine Yards, and a new student accommodation block now occupies the old council offices site, with retail units on Leith Walk.

On Leith Walk this terminated at Pilrig Church and passengers had to change to Edinburgh's cable-drawn cars.

A pair of Victorian-era tram cable wheels discovered during the line excavations, were installed in 2023, as a monument to the site at the pedestrianised junction with Iona Street.

[4] Edinburgh Corporation Tramways took over Leith's trams in 1920, however they did not smooth out the problem of the muddle until 1925 when they electrified their own network.

Leith Walk was intended to be part of the Edinburgh Trams light rail route, which opened in 2014.

The Alhambra Cinema, which stood at the end of Springfield Street, was replaced by a Tyre and Exhaust Centre (now a wine warehouse).

It has a fine interior, including early examples of stained glass by Daniel Cottier and a historic organ by Forster and Andrews (1903).

The main college structure stood to the rear and contained a fascinating combination ranging from stained glass to stables.

Leith Walk terminates (in colloquial terms at least) at the Omni Centre and St James Quarter at its southern end.