Balerno (; gd, Baile Àirneach, IPA:
�paleˈɛːɾʲnəx Scots: Balerno or Balernie) is a village on the outskirts 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 ...
situated south-west of the city centre, next to
Currie
Currie ( gd, Currach, IPA: �kʰuːᵲəx is a village and suburb on the outskirts of Edinburgh, Scotland, situated south west of the city centre. Formerly within the County of Midlothian, it now falls within the jurisdiction of the City of Edi ...
and then
Juniper Green
Juniper Green is a village on the outskirts of Edinburgh, Scotland, situated about south-west of the city centre. It bridges the city bypass, and extends along the foothills of the Pentlands. It is bordered by Colinton to the east, Baberton ...
. Traditionally in the county of
Midlothian it now administratively falls within the jurisdiction of the
City of Edinburgh Council. The village lies at the confluence of the Water of Leith and the Bavelaw Burn. In the 18th and 19th century, the area was home to several mills using waterpower. In the 20th century, the mills closed and the village now forms a residential suburb of Edinburgh.
History
Balerno's name derives from the
Scottish Gaelic
Scottish Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig ), also known as Scots Gaelic and Gaelic, is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family) native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well ...
''Baile Àirneach'', meaning "townland/town of the hawthorns". The earliest written records of Balhernoch or Balernach are found in the late 13th century.
The 18th century brought substantial development to the area, with several new flax, snuff and paper mills springing up around the
Water of Leith
The Water of Leith (Scottish Gaelic: ''Uisge Lìte'') is the main river flowing near central Edinburgh, Scotland, and flows into the port of Leith where it flows into the sea via the Firth of Forth.
Name
The name ''Leith'' may be of Britt ...
and its tributary, the Bavelaw Burn (evidence of flax production can be seen in Harlaw Woods). The largest of these mills was the Balerno Bank Paper Mill which was located near the centre of the old village. The Balerno Bank Paper Mill mill was founded in 1810 and closed in the early 1990s.
While the former site has been converted to housing, the former offices (built in a
Scottish baronial style and lodge are still extant.
They are Category B and listed respectively.
On the eastern edge of Barlerno, the Malleny Mill was built in 1805 as a
Flax mill
Flax mills are mills which process flax. The earliest mills were developed for spinning yarn for the linen industry.
John Kendrew (an optician) and Thomas Porthouse (a clockmaker), both of Darlington developed the process from Richard Ar ...
.
It was later used as a grain mill but was damaged by fire internally in 1910.
It repaired in 1920 and converted into a ladies school.
It is now housing but is Category C listed and the mills give their name to this area of Balerno.
In 1825, a
Scotch whisky distillery was established in Balerno but it was shortlived and closed by 1830.
In the 19th century, the village expanded with most of the present day stone buildings on the Main St dating from this period. These include the Grey Horse Inn (circa 1850), the late 19th century Malleny Arms Hotel (now the Balerno Inn), the Balerno Hardware and Pharmacy Buildings, as well as the buildings at 28-32 and 34 Main Street.
In 1877, a primary school 'Deanpark' was built in the village.
While the school moved to a new building in 1970, the original school, school Masters building and late annexes still exist and the spired
Bell-cot
A bellcote, bell-cote or bell-cot is a small framework and shelter for one or more bells. Bellcotes are most common in church architecture but are also seen on institutions such as schools. The bellcote may be carried on brackets projecting from ...
is a focal point of the centre of the village.
The school was expanded on at least 3 occasions between 1880 and 1914 and the main building now serves as the village library.
After the First World War house building began in earnest in the area and since then residential development has increased ahead of commercial and industrial development. There was
a short loop railway running over what is now the
Water of Leith Walkway
{{coord, 55, 53, 9.73, N, 3, 20, 23.31, W, display=title
The Water of Leith Walkway is a public footpath and cycleway that runs alongside the small river of the same name through Edinburgh, Scotland, from Balerno to Leith.
The concept of a p ...
. In 1938, the Royal Bank of Scotland building was erected in the village. It is category C listed and the building is now in use as a dentists.
From 1951 onwards, Balerno was expanded with the creation of a new housing estate under the builders Mactaggart & Mickel.
In 1975, the village became part of the city of Edinburgh.
Also in 1975, part of the village was designated as a conservation area (with the boundaries enlarged in 1997).
In 1997, the village erected a memorial to a local resident Willie Shanks (
BEM) for services to the people and children of Balerno.
Governance
Local
Balerno is governed by
Edinburgh City Council
The City of Edinburgh Council is the local government authority for the city of Edinburgh, capital of Scotland. With a population of in mid-2019, it is the second most populous local authority area in Scotland.
In its current form, the counci ...
and also a local community council.
Scottish Parliament
Balerno is in the
Edinburgh Pentlands constituency for the
Scottish Parliament and the
Member of the Scottish Parliament is
Gordon MacDonald.
Balerno is also covered by the
Lothian electoral region which gives the area seven additional MSPs.
House of Commons
Balerno is represented within the constituency of
Edinburgh South West in the
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...
. The current
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...
(MP) is
Joanna Cherry.
Culture and Community
Malleny House & Gardens
The 17th century
Malleny House and Garden
The Malleny House and Garden is an historic house and garden owned by the National Trust for Scotland in Balerno, six miles southwest of Edinburgh. The gardens are notable for its large yew trees, as well as one of the largest rose collections in ...
are owned by the
National Trust for Scotland
The National Trust for Scotland for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, commonly known as the National Trust for Scotland ( gd, Urras Nàiseanta na h-Alba), is a Scottish conservation organisation. It is the largest membership organi ...
.
The house incorporates parts of an early house dated to 1589.
It is thought that
Sir James Murray of Kilbaberton was the designer of the main house building.
While the house is not open to the public the gardens are and consist of a walled garden set in approximately nine acres of woodland.
The gardens feature four 100-year-old yew trees known as the Four Apostles and was home to Scotland's National Bonsai Collection, which left around 2000 and is now located at Binny Plants near
Ecclesmachan
Ecclesmachan (Gaelic: ''Eaglais Mhachain'') (Welsh: ''Eglwys Machan'') (NT058736) is an historic village in West Lothian. It lies just north of Uphall on the B8046 road. The village is notable for its medieval origin parish church. As at 2001, ...
. The gardens are home to one of the largest rose collections in Scotland.
Scottish SPCA
The
Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals operates an Animal Rescue and Rehoming Centre on Mansfield Rd in Balerno. The SSPCA opened the centre in 1930 as a Rest Farm for working horses. The centre cares for and rehomes thousands of neglected and mistreated animals every year.
Farmers Market
A
farmers' market
A farmers' market (or farmers market according to the AP stylebook, also farmer's market in the Cambridge Dictionary) is a physical retail marketplace intended to sell foods directly by farmers to consumers. Farmers' markets may be indoors or o ...
is held in Balerno Main Street on the second Saturday of each month. The Balerno Farmers Market is run b
Balerno Village Trust
Balerno Village Screen
2013 saw the launch of Balerno Village Screen - a community cinema project with free admission and funded by donations. The screenings are shown monthly on the first Saturday of every month in the Ogston Hall and the St Joseph's Centre. So far around 400 villagers have turned out per screening to watch the films.
Music Festival
2008 saw the launch of Balerno's music festival with events held at Balerno Parish Church, Balerno Bowling Club, Balerno Parish Church New Hall, the Grey Horse Inn and the St Joseph's Centre.
Red Moss Wildlife Reserve
Red Moss is one of only four raised bogs of sphagnum moss surviving in the Lothians and is a
Site of Special Scientific Interest. It is currently managed b y the Scottish Wildlife Trust.
Transport
:''See also
Transport in Edinburgh
Edinburgh is a major transport hub in east central Scotland and is at the centre of a multi-modal transport network with road, rail and air communications connecting the city with the rest of Scotland and internationally.
Transport is an a ...
''
Historical
The
Caledonian Railway
The Caledonian Railway (CR) was a major Scottish railway company. It was formed in the early 19th century with the objective of forming a link between English railways and Glasgow. It progressively extended its network and reached Edinburgh an ...
built the
Balerno line
The Balerno line was a short loop railway in Scotland. It was some 6 miles in length leaving the main Caledonian Edinburgh to Carstairs line at Slateford in Edinburgh. It was built by the Caledonian Railway (CR) mainly to service the many e ...
, a spur line from
Slateford
Slateford ( gd, Àth na Sglèata) is an area of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. It is east of the Water of Leith.
The former village of Slateford lies on the Lanark Road where it crosses the Water of Leith, south west of Slateford Sta ...
, via
Colinton
Colinton ( gd, Baile Cholgain) is a suburb of Edinburgh, Scotland situated south-west of the city centre. Up until the late 18th century it appears on maps as Collington. It is bordered by Dreghorn to the south and Craiglockhart to the north ...
, which connected
Balerno railway station
Balerno railway station was opened in 1874 and served the area of the village of Balerno that now forms part of the city of Edinburgh. Although primarily built as a goods line, with a dedicated goods station at Balerno, serving the many mills o ...
to the centre of Edinburgh. The line saw an upsurge in housebuilding in Balerno. The last passenger train to run on the line was in 1943, and a High School was placed on the site of the goods station in 1983. The line runs adjacent to the Water of Leith river.
Present day
The
A70 runs near the village. The village is serviced by the 44 bus route to Wallyford, which is operated 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 ...
. The route connects Balerno to Currie,
Slateford
Slateford ( gd, Àth na Sglèata) is an area of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. It is east of the Water of Leith.
The former village of Slateford lies on the Lanark Road where it crosses the Water of Leith, south west of Slateford Sta ...
, the City Centre,
Brunstane and
East Lothian. The village was also served by the E&M Horsburgh service 24 bus route, which connected it to
Juniper Green
Juniper Green is a village on the outskirts of Edinburgh, Scotland, situated about south-west of the city centre. It bridges the city bypass, and extends along the foothills of the Pentlands. It is bordered by Colinton to the east, Baberton ...
in one direction and
East Calder
East Calder is a village located in West Lothian, Scotland, about a mile east of Mid Calder and a mile west of Wilkieston. It forms part of 'the Calders (together with Mid and West Calder), three small neighbouring communities situated west o ...
and
Livingston, but this has been terminated. The village is also served by
McGill's Scotland East
McGill's Bus Services is a bus operator based in Greenock, Scotland.[South Queensferry
Queensferry, also called South Queensferry or simply "The Ferry", is a town to the west of Edinburgh, Scotland. Traditionally a royal burgh of West Lothian, it is administered by the City of Edinburgh council area. It lies ten miles to the no ...]
. This route connects the village to
Currie
Currie ( gd, Currach, IPA: �kʰuːᵲəx is a village and suburb on the outskirts of Edinburgh, Scotland, situated south west of the city centre. Formerly within the County of Midlothian, it now falls within the jurisdiction of the City of Edi ...
,
Heriot-Watt University,
Gyle 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 distric ...
,
Kirkliston
Kirkliston is a small town and parish to the west of Edinburgh, Scotland, historically within the county of West Lothian but now within the City of Edinburgh council limits. It lies on high ground immediately north of a northward loop of the Al ...
and Queensferry.
Education
Balerno Community High School
Balerno High School is a six-year secondary school located in Balerno, a suburb of Edinburgh, Scotland. The school stands on the banks of the Water of Leith, and serves children from Balerno, Kirknewton and Ratho, and also hosts pupils from a ...
provides
secondary education
Secondary education or post-primary education covers two phases on the International Standard Classification of Education scale. Level 2 or lower secondary education (less commonly junior secondary education) is considered the second and final pha ...
for local children of S1 to A6 age groups and was founded in 1983.
Dean Park Primary School is the local primary school and is located in the south of Balerno. The current school was built in 1972.
Harmeny School is a grant-aided special school for primary school aged children with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties that was established in 1958.
As well as new buildings, part of the school occupies the former Mansfield House, a Category B listed Scottish
Arts and Crafts style house.
The house was designed by
Dunn & Findlay
Dunn & Findlay were a firm of Scottish architects operating in the late 19th century and responsible for a number of important commercial buildings including the '' Scotsman'' buildings which form part of the Edinburgh Old Town skyline. Each ...
in 1898 and then substantially altered between 1906/1907 by
Robert Lorimer
Sir Robert Stodart Lorimer, KBE (4 November 1864 – 13 September 1929) was a prolific Scottish architect and furniture designer noted for his sensitive restorations of historic houses and castles, for new work in Scots Baronial and Got ...
.
Religious Sites
Balerno has two churches (the parish church and St Mungo's Church).
Balerno Parish Church is part of the
Church of Scotland
The Church of Scotland ( sco, The Kirk o Scotland; gd, Eaglais na h-Alba) is the national church in Scotland.
The Church of Scotland was principally shaped by John Knox, in the Reformation of 1560, when it split from the Catholic Church ...
. The church was designed in a
Gothic style
Gothic or Gothics may refer to:
People and languages
*Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes
**Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths
** Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken ...
by
James Graham Fairley
James Graham Fairley FRIBA MSGS (1846–1934) was a 19th/20th century Scottish architect working mainly in the West Lothian area, specialising in churches and schools.
Life
He was born in West Calder in West Lothian the son of William F ...
and completed in 1888.
It is Category C listed, rectangular in shape and composed of sandstone and
Ashlar.
It was originally designed as a church for a United Presbyterian congregation.
St Mungo's Church is part of the
Scottish Episcopal Church
The Scottish Episcopal Church ( gd, Eaglais Easbaigeach na h-Alba; sco, Scots Episcopal(ian) Kirk) is the ecclesiastical province of the Anglican Communion in Scotland.
A continuation of the Church of Scotland as intended by King James VI, and ...
. The church was designed by
Robert Rowand Anderson
Sir Robert Rowand Anderson, (5 April 1834 – 1 June 1921) was a Scottish Victorian architect. Anderson trained in the office of George Gilbert Scott in London before setting up his own practice in Edinburgh in 1860. During the 1860s his ...
and completed in 1869.
The church is finished in white
harling and is Category B listed.
The nearby former St Joseph's Catholic Church closed in August 2006, with the building purchased by Balerno Parish Church and renamed ''"The St Joseph's Centre"''.
Sport
Balerno is home to
Currie RFC
Currie Rugby Football Club are an Edinburgh-based rugby union club in the Scottish Rugby Union, they currently play in the Scottish Premiership. Despite the name, "Currie" RFC is actually based in the neighbouring suburb of Balerno, and they pl ...
, who play at Malleny Park.
Currie
Currie ( gd, Currach, IPA: �kʰuːᵲəx is a village and suburb on the outskirts of Edinburgh, Scotland, situated south west of the city centre. Formerly within the County of Midlothian, it now falls within the jurisdiction of the City of Edi ...
won the
Scottish Rugby Union
The Scottish Rugby Union (SRU; gd, Aonadh Rugbaidh na h-Alba) is the governing body of rugby union in Scotland. Styled as Scottish Rugby, it is the second oldest Rugby Union, having been founded in 1873. The SRU oversees the national league s ...
Scottish Premiership Division One
The Scottish Premiership is the highest level club division in Scotland's national rugby union league divisions, and therefore part of the Scottish League Championship.
It contains many of the country's highest profile clubs. However it is not th ...
in 2007 and 2010.
Balerno Bowling Club situated in the heart of the village dates back to 1885, plays lawn bowls in the Water of Leith league, Edinburgh & Leith Bowling Association.
Media
''C&B News'' is a volunteer-led community news magazine (in digital and print formats) covering Balerno as well as nearby Currie, Juniper Green, Baberton and Colinton. Launched in February 1976, and published 10 times a year, the publication features local news and articles, reports from local groups/organisations, political representatives and Community Councils, as well as coverage of local planning applications and developments.
Notable people
*
Neil Alexander - Scottish footballer (goalkeeper)
*
Craig Gordon
Craig Sinclair Gordon (born 31 December 1982) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Scottish Premiership club Heart of Midlothian, where he is club captain, and the Scottish national team.
Gordon started his c ...
- Scottish footballer (goalkeeper)
*
Graham Moodie - Scottish field hockey player
*
Peter Heatly - Scottish diver and ex-Chairman of the Commonwealth Games Federation
*
Nina Nesbitt
Nina Nesbitt (born ) is a Scottish singer and songwriter. She has two top 40 singles, and is known for her single "Stay Out", which peaked at No. 21 on the UK Singles Chart in April 2013.
Her first Extended play, EP, ''The Apple Tree'', was r ...
- Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist
*
Boards of Canada - brothers Marcus and Michael Sandison, musicians
*
Christ. (musician)
Christopher Horne, also known by his stage name christ., is a Scottish musician. He disclaims any religious meaning in the stage name; he describes it as short for his full name, and the full stop or period as indicating that status as an abb ...
- formerly part of
Hexagon Sun
Hexagon Sun is an artistic collective based in the Pentland Hills, Scotland. The confirmed members are Mike Sandison, Marcus Eoin, Peter Iain Campbell (a.k.a. "PIC"), Simon Goderich (a.k.a. "goderich"), Mark David Garrett (a.k.a. "mdg"), Rachel St ...
Collective with Boards of Canada
*
Michael Deacon - political sketch writer for Daily Telegraph
*
Chris Grassick - Scotland and Great Britain field hockey player
*Paul Research and John Mackie (brothers), musicians and founders of the post-punk band
The Scars
Scars (originally known as The Scars) were a Scottish post-punk band from Edinburgh, Scotland, and were a part of that city's music scene of the late 1970s and early 1980s.
History
Fronted by Robert King and featuring Paul Research on lead g ...
rehearsed and first performed at Balerno Scout Hall.
*
Andrew Wilson (economist) - Economist and former MSP.
References
External links
Balerno Community CouncilMalleny GardensBalerno Music FestivalSt Mungo's ChurchBalerno Village ScreenBalerno Parish ChurchBalerno Village TrustBalerno Scouts
{{Areas of Edinburgh
Areas of Edinburgh