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Gorgie ( ) is a densely populated area of Edinburgh, Scotland. It is located in the west of the city and borders Murrayfield,
Ardmillan Ardmillan ( gd, Aird a' Mhaolain, IPA: aːɾʲtʲˈaˈvɯːɫ̪ɪn is a mainly residential suburb of Edinburgh, Scotland. The area developed during the mid to late Victorian era as Edinburgh expanded and many of the present tenement flats and h ...
and Dalry.


Name

The name is thought to be
Brythonic Brittonic or Brythonic may refer to: *Common Brittonic, or Brythonic, the Celtic language anciently spoken in Great Britain *Brittonic languages, a branch of the Celtic languages descended from Common Brittonic *Britons (Celtic people) The Br ...
in origin. Early forms suggest it derives from ''gor gyn'' – upper wedge – which may refer to the tapering shape of the land between the Water of Leith and the Craiglockhart hills. An alternative derivation is 'big field' from Cumbric (Brythonic) ''gor cyn''.


History

Gorgie is recorded in 12th century
charter A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the rec ...
s of
Holyrood Abbey Holyrood Abbey is a ruined abbey of the Canons Regular in Edinburgh, Scotland. The abbey was founded in 1128 by David I of Scotland. During the 15th century, the abbey guesthouse was developed into a royal residence, and after the Scottish Ref ...
, when in 1236 it came into the possession of Sir William Livingston. In 1799, the Cox family who owned a mill bought most of the former estate from the residual Livingston family. They developed a glue factory on the site, which was redeveloped under a new Post Office Telecommunications
telephone exchange A telephone exchange, telephone switch, or central office is a telecommunications system used in the public switched telephone network (PSTN) or in large enterprises. It interconnects telephone subscriber lines or virtual circuits of digital syst ...
in 1969. From 1527, the landowners lived in Gorgie House, situated on Alexander Drive. Its remnants were demolished in 1937, to allow construction of the Pooles Roxy cinema and some housing. Gorgie developed at a slower pace than nearby Dalry, allowing the continued operation of the Gorgie pig farm until 1885. Robb's Loan is named after Robert Robb and his son James who farmed at Gorgie Mains for much of the nineteenth century. By 1800, only the area between Robertson Avenue and Saughton Park had any housing, served by a school and a church mission.


Industry

With grain whisky consumption growing in the industrialised and railway connected Victorian era, independent
whisky blenders Whisky or whiskey is a type of distilled alcoholic beverage made from fermented grain mash. Various grains (which may be malted) are used for different varieties, including barley, corn, rye, and wheat. Whisky is typically aged in wooden cas ...
needed access to a high quality and high volume producer of grain whisky spirit. In 1885, major shareholders Andrew Usher, William Sanderson and John M. Crabbie, with numerous other whisky-blenders as shareholders, established the
North British Distillery Company The North British Distillery is a grain whisky distillery located in the Gorgie area of Edinburgh, Scotland. Established by a group of independent distillers in 1885, it is now a joint venture company between Diageo and Edrington Group. It is Edi ...
, which bought the former pig farm, and began developing a distillery. The distillery gained access to the
Edinburgh Suburban and Southside Junction Railway The Edinburgh Suburban and Southside Junction Railway was a railway company that built an east-west railway (known as the Edinburgh Suburban Line or more familiarly the Sub) on the southern margin of Edinburgh, Scotland, primarily to facilitate ...
, which began developing a railway station in Gorgie. This brought about the 1888 development of Stewart Terrace, Wardlaw Place, Wardlaw Street, . The tenement flats of Tynecastle Terrace that go half way to mcleod street built 1898 ( date stone above the bathroom window at the top of the close next door) one of the last rows of tenements to be built in Gorgie it's joined onto the oldest row of tenements half way along the block at Newton St on Gorgie Rd for which there is a date stone '1886' if one were to look up. There’s more date stones on three buildings at the junction of Wheatfield St, Gorgie Rd and Wardlaw Place. The south side of Gorgie Road 1887-1899 and north side 1896-1899 west of Newton Street. although Gorgie, west of Robertson Avenue, did not lose its rural character until the early 1900s. McVitie & Price Ltd was established in 1830 on Rose Street in Edinburgh. The firm moved to various sites in the city, before completing the St. Andrews Biscuit Works factory on Robertson Avenue in 1888. Though the factory burned down in 1894, it was rebuilt the same year. It is one of the claimed sites of where the digestive biscuit was invented. The site was closed in 1969, when production ceased and operations were transferred to Levenshulme in Manchester, and Harlesden in London. After closure, Ferranti occupied the buildings as an electronics factory until the 1980s. In 1906,
pharmaceutical research Pharmacy is the science and practice of discovering, producing, preparing, dispensing, reviewing and monitoring medications, aiming to ensure the safe, effective, and affordable use of medicines. It is a miscellaneous science as it links heal ...
company T&H Smith Ltd moved from
Canongate The Canongate is a street and associated district in central Edinburgh, the capital city of Scotland. The street forms the main eastern length of the Royal Mile while the district is the main eastern section of Edinburgh's Old Town. It began ...
to the district. Now merged with two other Edinburgh-based medical research companies, they form medicinal-
opiate An opiate, in classical pharmacology, is a substance derived from opium. In more modern usage, the term ''opioid'' is used to designate all substances, both natural and synthetic, that bind to opioid receptors in the brain (including antagonis ...
producer MacFarlan Smith. The chemical plant of Cox's glue and gelatin works, and the
Caledonian Brewery Caledonian Brewery was a Scottish brewery founded in 1869 in the Shandon area of Edinburgh, Scotland. History Early years When it was founded in 1869, the brewery was named the Lorimer and Clark Caledonian Brewery, after its founders George L ...
also developed in the area.


Places of worship

What is now Gorgie-Dalry Parish Church can be traced back to the Tynecastle church opened in 1891 after several years of outreach by Rev. George Wilson since 1885; it is affiliated to the Church of Scotland. St. Martin of Tours church is in the Anglican Communion Gorgie Gospel Hall belongs to the Open Brethren Christian tradition. In 1908 what is now Gorgie Mission Church was opened. Since 2008, Destiny Church, Edinburgh has been meeting in the converted former Bingo Hall.


Present

Most of the large industrial works closed from the late-1960s to the mid-1980s, bringing high unemployment to the area. The recent refurbishment of many of the older buildings has brought a more cosmopolitan nature to the district, allowing it to retain several smaller businesses. The area is served by Tynecastle High School.
Gorgie City Farm LOVE Gorgie Farm, previously Gorgie City Farm, is an urban farm in Gorgie, south-west Edinburgh operated by an education and social care charity named LOVE Learning. History It was established in the late 1970s by a community group that wor ...
was established by local people in 1982 on the site of a derelict railway goods yard. Set up as a community project with the aim of improving education in agriculture, horticulture and rural crafts for people living in the area. In 2012, Gorgie was the centre of a Legionnaire's Disease outbreak believed to originate from factory cooling towers in the area.


Representation

The Gorgie area is within the
Edinburgh South West Edinburgh South West is a Scottish constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, first used at the 2005 UK general election. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election. S ...
constituency for the Westminster Parliament and is represented by the Rt Hon
Joanna Cherry Joanna Catherine Cherry (born 18 March 1966) is a Scottish politician and lawyer serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Edinburgh South West since 2015. A member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), she was the party's Shadow Home Sec ...
MP of the
Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party (SNP; sco, Scots National Pairty, gd, Pàrtaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic political party in Scotland. The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence from ...
. At 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 ...
, the area falls within Edinburgh Central, represented by
Angus Robertson Angus Struan Carolus Robertson (born 28 September 1969) is a Scottish politician serving as the Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, External Affairs and Culture since 2021. Former Depute Leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) from 201 ...
MSP of the
Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party (SNP; sco, Scots National Pairty, gd, Pàrtaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic political party in Scotland. The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence from ...
. The area, as part of the Sighthill/Gorgie ward, elects four councillors to the
City of Edinburgh 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 ...
. The current representation is: Denis Dixon and Catherine Fullerton (both SNP), Donald Wilson (
Scottish Labour Party Scottish Labour ( gd, Pàrtaidh Làbarach na h-Alba, sco, Scots Labour Pairty; officially the Scottish Labour Party) is a social democratic political party in Scotland. It is an autonomous section of the UK Labour Party. From their peak o ...
) and Ashley Graczyk (Conservatives).


Demographics


Transport

The area was traversed by both the Caledonian Railway and the
North British Railway The North British Railway was a British railway company, based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was established in 1844, with the intention of linking with English railways at Berwick. The line opened in 1846, and from the outset the company followe ...
and was served by Gorgie East Station (named Gorgie Station until 1952) on the
Edinburgh Suburban and Southside Junction Railway The Edinburgh Suburban and Southside Junction Railway was a railway company that built an east-west railway (known as the Edinburgh Suburban Line or more familiarly the Sub) on the southern margin of Edinburgh, Scotland, primarily to facilitate ...
. It was opened on 1 December 1884 and served the area until it was closed in 1962 when passenger rail services were withdrawn from the Edinburgh Suburban line as part of the
British Railways British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...
rationalisation programme known as the
Beeching Axe The Beeching cuts (also Beeching Axe) was a plan to increase the efficiency of the nationalised railway system in Great Britain. The plan was outlined in two reports: ''The Reshaping of British Railways'' (1963) and ''The Development of the ...
. No trace of the station remains but the route continues to be used for freight services to this day, so freight trains avoid Edinburgh's main stations of and , and occasionally diverted passenger trains also pass along this line.


Future

A local campaigning group, the Capital Rail Action Group (CRAG), ran a campaign for the ESSJR line to be re-opened to passenger services, and proposed that it should be operated either as a commuter rail service or as a light rail system to form an extension of the forthcoming Edinburgh Tram Network. Following a petition submitted 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 ...
in 2007, the proposal was rejected in 2009 by transport planners due to anticipated cost.


Heart of Midlothian F.C.

After
Heart of Midlothian F.C. Heart of Midlothian Football Club, commonly known as Hearts, is a professional football club in Edinburgh, Scotland. The team competes in the Scottish Professional Football League. Hearts, the oldest and most successful football club in the Sco ...
was formed in 1874, the club played at sites in the Meadows, Powburn and
Powderhall Powderhall is an area lying between Broughton Road and Warriston Road in the north of Edinburgh, the Scotland, Scottish capital. Until recently it was best known for Powderhall Stadium, a greyhound racing track, which has now closed. The stadiu ...
. Hearts first moved to Gorgie in 1881. This pitch stood on the site of the present-day Wardlaw Street and Wardlaw Terrace. As this site was then regarded as being "out of town", Hearts would sometimes stage two matches for the price of one, or set an admission price much lower than
Edinburgh derby The Edinburgh derby is an informal title given to any football match played between Scottish clubs Heart of Midlothian (Hearts) and Hibernian (Hibs), the two oldest professional clubs based in Edinburgh, Scotland. The two clubs have a fierce r ...
rivals Hibernian. In 1886, with the city continuing to expand, tenements replaced the old ground and Hearts moved across Gorgie Road to the present site, which was leased from Edinburgh Corporation. They still play today at Tynecastle Park in the Scottish Premiership.


Notable residents

* James Lind (naturalist)


See also

*
Gorgie-Dalry Gorgie-Dalry is the name given to the joint community council, consisting of Gorgie and Dalry in the west of Edinburgh, the Scottish capital. The area also incorporates Tynecastle and parts of Ardmillan Ardmillan ( gd, Aird a' Mhaolain, ...


References


External links


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

Gorgie-Dalry Community Council
{{Authority control Areas of Edinburgh