Craigmillar ( gd, Creag a' Mhuilleir, IPA:
�kʰʲɾʲekˈaˈvɯʎɪɾʲ, from the Gaelic ''Creag Maol Ard'', meaning 'High Bare Rock', is an area of
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...
,
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
, about south east of the city centre, with
Duddingston
Duddingston ( sco, Duddiston) is a historic village in the east of Edinburgh, Scotland, next to Holyrood Park.
Origins and etymology
The estate wherein Duddingston Village now lies was first recorded in lands granted to the Tironensian monks ...
to the north and
Newcraighall
Newcraighall ( sco, Newcraighauch, gd, Talla na Creige Nuadh) is a South-Eastern suburb of Edinburgh, Scotland. A former mining village, its prosperity was based on the Midlothian coalfields. The Newcraighall pit was known as 'Klondyke' and ...
to the east.
History
Despite the relative modernity of most of the housing in the area, the settlement of Craigmillar itself is very old, and contains
Craigmillar Castle. The castle was originally the Barony of Preston, or Prestoun. Which was then renamed Gourtoun and then finally Craigmillar. Craigmillar begun in the late 14th or early 15th century, and occupied until the early 18th century. In 1660, the Craigmillar estate was bought by Sir
John Gilmour.
The housing scheme at
Niddrie Mains was created through the Housing (Scotland) Act of 1924, with lands bought from the Wauchope Estate. The area was designed and laid out by the then City Architect,
Ebenezer James MacRae from 1927. The Craigmilllar estate, immediately below the castle, was planned in 1936. Until around 2008, the area consisted mainly of inter-war and post-war
public housing
Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is usually owned by a government authority, either central or local. Although the common goal of public housing is to provide affordable housing, the details, terminology, def ...
schemes, ranging from private bungalows to Edinburgh Council-owned high rise tower blocks. The City of Edinburgh Council is now well into a regeneration programme which has seen the demolition of the earlier estates and the area has benefited from many initiatives aimed at tackling the social deprivation that has characterised the area for many years.
The late 19th and early 20th centuries saw seven breweries being built in what was open country at Craigmillar/Duddingston, concentrated in a small area beside the railway line and taking advantage of the local aquifers providing excellent water for brewing. The first of these was the Craigmillar Brewery of William Murray & Co. Ltd built in 1886 and followed within a few years by
Andrew Drybrough's brewery, also called the Craigmillar Brewery (1892), the Duddingston Brewery built by
Pattisons Ltd (1896), bought by Robert Deuchar Ltd in 1899 following Pattisons' liquidation, the North British Brewery (1897) which was taken over by Murray's in 1927 becoming known as Murray's No. 2 Brewery, Maclauchlan's Castle Brewery, Raeburn's New Craigmillar Brewery and Paterson's Pentland Brewery, all opening in 1901. These breweries stopped brewing at various times, mainly in the 1960s, but Drybrough's survived for several years and ceased brewing in January 1987.
Historical maps
In 2009 The
National Library of Scotland released maps for the Craigmillar Area
Ordnance Survey 1:10,560 Sheet IV SW, 1909Shows detail of Niddrie House, Waterfall, Icehouse, Niddrie Stone 1909.
Ordnance Survey 1:10,560 Sheet IV SW, 1938Shows the development of Niddrie Main 1938.
Ordnance Survey 1:10,560 - Air Photos - Sheet NT 27 SE 1946an
NT 37 SW, 1946Shows the aerial photos from 1946
Other georeferenced historical mapsof Craigmillar from the mid 18th to the mid 20th centuries
Present day maps
OpenStreetMap volunteers completed
OpenStreetMap Craigmillarin January 2009
Facilities
Craigmillar saw riots in the 1980s, amid complaints about the lack of facilities in the area. Both the library and Arts Centre were won by
grassroots-based community action trying to tackle the area's social problems. One such venture was the
Craigmillar Festival Society, which was active from 1962 until 2002.
The area also had a large concrete sculpture/play-structure, created by artist
Jimmy Boyle called ''Gulliver, The Gentle Giant that cares and shares''. It was built for the Craigmillar Festival Society in 1976, and demolished in 2011 when the Niddrie Burn was re-routed through Hunter's Hall Park. The
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...
has playing fields in this area, including one of the oldest modern-style
shinty fields in Scotland.
''Gulliver'' was considered a
geoglyph
A geoglyph is a large design or motif (generally longer than 4 metres) produced on the ground by durable elements of the landscape, such as stones, stone fragments, gravel, or earth. A positive geoglyph is formed by the arrangement and alignmen ...
.
Regeneration of Craigmillar
An ambitious plan to re-develop parts of Craigmillar is currently underway. The Scottish Government's "Green Quarter Plan" proposes the creation of several new parks and woodland areas throughout the Craigmillar area. The "Green Quarter Plan" is being undertaken by the Parc life development company. They also propose the development of 3,200 affordable houses to rent and improved learning and leisure facilities for young people.
One of the few retained buildings of significance is "The White House" former public house, an
Art Deco
Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...
listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
which was restored with gallery space inside in 2011.
Ethnicity
Transport
Craigmillar is served by
Lothian Buses
Lothian Buses is a major bus operator based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is the largest municipal bus company in the United Kingdom: the City of Edinburgh Council (through Transport for Edinburgh) owns 91%, Midlothian Council 5%, East Lothi ...
service 42 which runs from
Portobello
Portobello, Porto Bello, Porto Belo, Portabello, or Portabella may refer to:
Places Brazil
* Porto Belo
Ireland
* Portobello, Dublin
* Cathal Brugha Barracks, Dublin formerly ''Portobello Barracks''
New Zealand
* Portobello, New Zealand, on Ot ...
to
Davidsons Mains
Davidson's Mains is a former village and now a district in the north-west of Edinburgh, Scotland. It is adjacent to the districts of Barnton, Edinburgh, Barnton, Cramond, Silverknowes, Blackhall, Edinburgh, Blackhall and Corbiehill/House O'Hill ...
, service 2 from The Jewel,
Asda
Asda Stores Ltd. () (often styled as ASDA) is a British supermarket chain. It is headquartered in Leeds, England. The company was founded in 1949 when the Asquith family merged their retail business with the Associated Dairies company of Yorks ...
, to
The Gyle Shopping Centre
The Gyle Shopping Centre is located in the South Gyle area of Edinburgh, Scotland. The main centre has two anchor tenants, Marks & Spencer and Morrisons (formerly Safeway), at opposite ends of the shopping centre.
Construction
A new district ...
, service 14 from
Greendykes to
Muirhouse
Muirhouse is a housing estate in the north of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland.
Location
The housing estate of Muirhouse (Pennywell and Muirhouse) is bounded by Muirhouse Parkway to the North, Pennywell Road to the East, Ferry Road to the So ...
, service 21 from
The Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh to
The Gyle Shopping Centre
The Gyle Shopping Centre is located in the South Gyle area of Edinburgh, Scotland. The main centre has two anchor tenants, Marks & Spencer and Morrisons (formerly Safeway), at opposite ends of the shopping centre.
Construction
A new district ...
, & service 30 from
Musselburgh to Clovenstone,
Wester Hailes
Wester Hailes is an area in the south west of Edinburgh, Scotland.
Wester Hailes borders on Kingsknowe and Longstone to the east. Bankhead Industrial Estate and Sighthill Park lie to the north.
History
Although named after a large private ho ...
.
The area was once served by a local railway from
Duddingston & Craigmillar railway station on the
Edinburgh Suburban and Southside Junction Railway. The station closed in 1962, but local pressure groups are campaigning to have the line re-opened, possibly as an extension of the forthcoming
Edinburgh Tram Network
Edinburgh Trams is a tramway in Edinburgh, Scotland, operated by Edinburgh Trams Ltd. It is a line between St Andrew Square in the New Town and Edinburgh Airport, with 15 stops.
Construction began in June 2008, and after encountering dela ...
.
Following a petition submitted to the
Scottish Parliament in 2007, the proposal was rejected in 2009 by transport planners due to anticipated cost.
Notable people
*
Helen Duncan
Victoria Helen McCrae Duncan (née MacFarlane, 25 November 1897 – 6 December 1956) was a Scottish medium best known as the last person to be imprisoned under the Witchcraft Act 1735 for fraudulent claims. She was famous for producing ectopla ...
(1897–1956), the last woman to be imprisoned under the
1735 Witchcraft Act, lived in Craigmillar.
*The former Craigmillar Primary School building houses a mural by the painter
John Maxwell, who was trained by
Fernand Léger and was a fellow student of
Marc Chagall in Paris.
*There is a fine example of 20th century
stained glass by Sadie Maclellan in
Robin Chapel, in the Thistle Foundation, a housing complex for disabled people in the centre of Craigmillar.
*Local mother
Helen Crummy was instrumental in the founding of the
Craigmillar Festival Society in 1962.
*The noted Conservative politician, Sir
Ian Gilmour
Ian Hedworth John Little Gilmour, Baron Gilmour of Craigmillar, (8 July 1926 – 21 September 2007) was a Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom. He was styled Sir Ian Gilmour, 3rd Baronet from 1977, having succeeded to his fat ...
, was given a life peerage by
John Major in 1992, becoming Baron Gilmour of Craigmillar, of Craigmillar in the District of the City of Edinburgh, of which his family were, for several hundred years, the feudal superiors.
References
External links
Craigmillar community siteCraigmillar PartnershipCraigmillarOnlineRobin Chapel
{{Authority control
Areas of Edinburgh
Housing estates in Edinburgh
Hill figures in Scotland
Geoglyphs