Dumbiedykes () is a residential area in the centre of

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. It mainly comprises

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 ...

developments. It is bounded in the north by Holyrood Road, the west by the Pleasance and St Leonard's Street and the east by

Holyrood Park Holyrood Park (also called the Queen's Park or King's Park depending on the reigning monarch's gender) is a royal park in central Edinburgh, Scotland about to the east of Edinburgh Castle. It is open to the public. It has an array of hills, loc ...

Etymology

The site housed Edinburgh's Deaf and Dumb School until the mid 19th century. As the inhabitants of the school were known as the "dumbies", the local area became known as Dumbie Dykes or Dumbies Dykes.

History

Through the first part of the 20th. century, the area was composed of tenement buildings many of which did not have internal toilet facilities. By the 1960s many of these buildings had become dilapidated, and resultingly the buildings were demolished and the tenants moved to new estates in

Craigmillar Craigmillar ( gd, Creag a' Mhuilleir, IPA: �kʰʲɾʲekˈaˈvɯʎɪɾʲ, from the Gaelic ''Creag Maol Ard'', meaning 'High Bare Rock', is an area of Edinburgh, Scotland, about south east of the city centre, with Duddingston to the north and Ne ...

The Inch The Inch is a district of Edinburgh, Scotland, located to the south of Inch Park in the south of the city. It is located 2 miles (3 km) south south-east of central Edinburgh. It incorporates the Inch housing development, Inch Park and the ca ...

, Liberton, Prestonfield,

Restalrig Restalrig () is a small residential suburb of Edinburgh, Scotland (historically, an estate and independent parish). It is located east of the city centre, west of Craigentinny and to the east of Lochend, both of which it overlaps. Restalrig ...

Burdiehouse Burdiehouse is an area in the south east of Edinburgh, Scotland, near Gilmerton and Southhouse. Its name is often said to be a corruption of Bordeaux, as a result of settlement in the area by French immigrants associated with Mary, Queen of S ...

, Gracemount,

Gilmerton Gilmerton ( gd, Baile GhilleMhoire, IPA: �paləˈʝiːʎəˈvɔɾʲə is a suburb of Edinburgh, about southeast of the city centre. The toponym "Gilmerton" is derived from a combination of gd, Gille-Moire– a personal name and later surnam ...

and other areas of Edinburgh.

Ian Rankin Sir Ian James Rankin (born 28 April 1960) is a Scottish crime writer, best known for his Inspector Rebus novels. Early life Rankin was born in Cardenden, Fife. His father, James, owned a grocery shop, and his mother, Isobel, worked in a schoo ...

called the rebuilt tenement area "Greenfield" in his novel ''

Dead Souls ''Dead Souls'' (russian: «Мёртвые души», ''Mjórtvyje dúshi'') is a novel by Nikolai Gogol, first published in 1842, and widely regarded as an exemplar of 19th-century Russian literature. The novel chronicles the travels and adv ...

'' (1999): Despite the area benefiting from a superficial building regeneration including modern flats, student residences,

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 ...

sports facilities and being popular area to live in due to its closeness to the centre of Edinburgh and its immediate proximity to the

Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( gd, Pàrlamaid na h-Alba ; sco, Scots Pairlament) is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. Located in the Holyrood area of the capital city, Edinburgh, it is frequently referred to by the metonym Holyro ...

, when compared with other residential areas in central Edinburgh, it still remains an economically impoverished part of the city, suffering from the associated aspects of social problems such as disproportionately high levels of unemployment along with drug and alcohol abuse. In recent years there have also been several notable cases of suspected murders.

References

External links

Bartholomew's ''Chronological map of Edinburgh'' (1919)
{{Areas of Edinburgh

Dumbiedykes Dumbiedykes () is a residential area in the centre of Edinburgh, Scotland. It mainly comprises public housing developments. It is bounded in the north by Holyrood Road, the west by the Pleasance and St Leonard's Street and the east by Holyrood ...

Housing estates in Edinburgh

Etymology

History

See also

References

External links