St Leonard's is the site of the University of Edinburgh's Pollock Halls of Residence, including the Confucius Institute of Scotland.

The last building on St Leonard's Hill was erected in 1493: the date of its re-foundation charter from James IV to Robert Bellenden, Abbot of Holyrood.

[10] In the mediaeval period, the Lands of St Leonards formed part of the Barony of Broughton, which was gifted to the monks of Holyrood Abbey by David I.

[7] From this time until 1737, the lands were known as Heriot's Croft and St Leonard's; in that year, the city council itself took the feu in order to provide ground for George Watson's Hospital.

[16] After the Battle of Dunbar, David Leslie placed cannon on St Leonard's Hill to protect his men against Oliver Cromwell's advance into Edinburgh.

By this time, St Leonard's Hill had become a prominent site for duels: a notable example was that of Robert Aumuchty, who, on 2 April 1600, killed James Wauchope.

[17] An estate north of St Leonard's Lane was developed by the Montgomery family as a market garden in the late 17th century.

Though originally called Huntershall, it is recorded as early as 1738 under the name The Castle o' Clouts, apparently in reference to its builder: a wealthy tailor.

[26] In 1825, James Jardine recommended St Leonard's as the site of the northern terminus of a railway line to connect the Midlothian coalfields with Edinburgh.

[32][29] The introduction of steam engines occasioned the expansion of tracks, support facilities, and commercial enterprises at the St Leonard's yard, including what was then the world's largest bonded warehouse.

In 1867, William's brother Thomas Nelson purchased the lands "commonly known as Parkside" and constructed a new house, St Leonard's.

The school, a progressive establishment, partly inspired Ronald Searle to create the St Trinian's cartoon series.

The St Paul's buildings were leased to Edinburgh Corporation for use as an annexe to the nearby James Clark Technical School.

[51][52] During the interwar period, the University of Edinburgh, supported by John Donald Pollock, began to purchase land around the Salisbury Green area in southern St Leonard's.

[54] St. Leonard's, an ancient and unsophisticated southern suburb of Edinburgh, is rarely visited by the itinerant tourist, for the adverse effects of nineteenth century industrialisation and the present-day results of post-war planning blight have combined to give it a depressing appearance.

[59] The city corporation's 1965 development plan proposed an arterial road through the western edge of Holyrood Park; the road was planned to enter St Leonard's at the goods yard, continuing along the line of Montague Street to the intersection of a new north–south leg of a proposed inner ring-road, which would run in between and parallel to the Pleasance and Nicolson Street.

[60][61] As with the Southside and Dumbiedykes, planned redevelopment in the postwar period discouraged investment in properties by private landlords or by the city corporation.

[56] The neighbourhood of St Leonard's is located along the western boundary of Holyrood Park and is overshadowed by the Salisbury Crags, from which it is separated by a valley.

[72] In 2018, 110 children in St Leonard's were in receipt of child benefit and the school attendance rate in 2016–2017 stood at 94 relative to 93.94 across Edinburgh.

[74][b] The current councillors are ; Tim Pogson (Labour); Steve Burgess (Green); Simita Kumar (SNP); and Pauline Flannery (Liberal Democrat).

[78] Prior to the 19th century, the area currently covered by Newington was part of St Cuthbert's Parish the county of Midlothian.

In 1832, the Great Reform Act included St Leonard's in Edinburgh for the purposes of electing the city's MPs; however, full incorporation did not take place until 1856.

[79][80] In the Scottish Parliament, St Leonard's lies within the Edinburgh Central constituency, which has been represented by Angus Robertson (SNP) since the 2021 election.

[96] Prominent modernist buildings include the former Scottish Widows headquarters on Dalkeith Road, constructed to a polygonal, glass-fronted design by Basil Spence, Golver & Ferguson and opened in 1976.

[97] Slightly to the south on Dalkeith Road stands the Royal Commonwealth Pool, another modernist building, designed in 1967 by John Richards of Robert Matthew, Johnson-Marshall & Partners.

& G. Stewart whisky on Holyrood Park Road of 1902, which incorporates a large pediment, and the three-storey former St Leonard's station.

[110] In fiction, St Leonard's Hill was the site of David Deans' house in Walter Scott's The Heart of Midlothian.

In the novel, Deans' daughter Jeanie has a nocturnal tryst with George Robertson at Nicol Mushet's cairn on the opposite side of Holyrood Park.

[111] The character's connection to the area was reflected in the name of Jeanie Deans' Cottage on St Leonard's Bank, demolished in 1965.

[25][112][113] St Leonard's Police Station is the base of John Rebus: protagonist of a series of detective novels by Ian Rankin.