Inverleith (

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 as ...

: ''Inbhir Lìte'') is an inner suburb in the north 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, on the fringes of the central region of the city. Its neighbours include

Trinity The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God the F ...

to the north and the

New Town New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

to the south, with

Canonmills Canonmills is a district of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. It lies to the south east of the Royal Botanic Garden at Inverleith, east of Stockbridge and west of Bellevue, in a low hollow north of Edinburgh's New Town. The area was forme ...

at the south-east and Stockbridge at the south-west. Like many places in and around Lothian and Edinburgh, the name comes from

– ''Inbhir Lìte'', meaning "Mouth of

Leith Leith (; gd, Lìte) is a port area in the north of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith. In 2021, it was ranked by '' Time Out'' as one of the top five neighbourhoods to live in the world. The earliest ...

", as with Inverness, meaning mouth of the River Ness. Some documents refer to the area as "Inner Leith". It is characterised by its wealth of open green space. The

Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) is a scientific centre for the study of plants, their diversity and conservation, as well as a popular tourist attraction. Founded in 1670 as a physic garden to grow medicinal plants, today it occupies ...

and Inverleith Park, in addition to the numerous playing fields owned and used by the

independent schools An independent school is independent in its finances and governance. Also known as private schools, non-governmental, privately funded, or non-state schools, they are not administered by local, state or national governments. In British Eng ...

Edinburgh Academy The Edinburgh Academy is an Independent school (United Kingdom), independent day school in Edinburgh, Scotland, which was opened in 1824. The original building, on Henderson Row in the city's New Town, Edinburgh, New Town, is now part of the Se ...

Fettes College Fettes College () is a co-educational independent boarding and day school in Edinburgh, Scotland, with over two-thirds of its pupils in residence on campus. The school was originally a boarding school for boys only and became co-ed in 1983. In ...

Stewart's Melville College Stewart's Melville College (SMC) is an independent day and boarding school in Edinburgh, Scotland. Classes are all boys in the 1st to 5th years and co-educational in Sixth (final) year. It has a roll of about 750 pupils. The school is twinned w ...

and George Heriot's. The Royal Botanic Gardens' nursery garden, for growing and cultivating plants, is also located here. Within Inverleith there are very few shops and offices, and it is almost entirely residential and recreational in character. Today Inverleith is home to houses often being sold considerably in excess of one million pounds sterling. These include Scotland's most expensive penthouses, selling for £1.5m, and a recently renovated villa, which sold for over two million pounds sterling. The houses are generally handsome and spacious Victorian or

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

villas with two or three floors, garages and quite large gardens. The residents tend to be employed in professions in central Edinburgh. It is convenient for such workers, as it lies only a mile and a half from the centre. Being on grounds slightly higher than the centre, it commands views of the Edinburgh skyline, including

Edinburgh Castle Edinburgh Castle is a historic castle in Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland. It stands on Castle Rock (Edinburgh), Castle Rock, which has been occupied by humans since at least the Iron Age, although the nature of the early settlement is unclear. ...

and

Arthur's Seat Arthur's Seat ( gd, Suidhe Artair, ) is an ancient volcano which is the main peak of the group of hills in Edinburgh, Scotland, which form most of Holyrood Park, described by Robert Louis Stevenson as "a hill for magnitude, a mountain in virtue ...

. It has one of the lowest crime rates in the city and is a designated

conservation area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...

.Inverleith Conservation Area Character Appraisal

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 ...

Within the area are

, an independent boarding school, and the state-run Broughton High School.

, an independent day school, is nearby in the north of the New Town. The area gives its name to the

Inverleith Inverleith (Scottish Gaelic: ''Inbhir Lìte'') is an inner suburb in the north of Edinburgh, Scotland, on the fringes of the central region of the city. Its neighbours include Trinity to the north and the New Town to the south, with Canonmills ...

ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

under the

created in 2007, but this encompasses a larger territory including Stockbridge,

Comely Bank Comely Bank (; gd, Bruach Cheanalta, IPA: �pɾuəxˈçɛnəɫ̪t̪ʰə is an area of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. It lies southwest of Royal Botanic Garden and is situated between Stockbridge and Craigleith. It is bound on its norther ...

and more westerly neighbourhoods such as Blackhall,

Craigleith Craigleith ( gd, Creag Lìte) is a small island in the Firth of Forth off North Berwick in East Lothian, Scotland. Its name comes from the Scottish Gaelic ''Creag Lìte'' meaning "rock of Leith". It is at its highest point. Geography and geolo ...

and

Drylaw Drylaw is an area in the north west of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, located between Blackhall and Granton. It forms the community of Drylaw–Telford. Drylaw used to belong to the younger branch of the Foresters of Corstorphine. Former ...

Early proprietors

Inverleith was for over two centuries owned by the Rocheid (sometimes spelt Rochead) family. It changed hands when a co-heiress, Mary (d. 1749) married

Sir Francis Kinloch, 3rd Baronet Sir Francis Kinloch of Gilmerton, 3rd Baronet (23 June 1676 – 2 March 1747) was a Scottish landowner. Early life Kinloch was the son and heir of Sir Francis Kinloch, 2nd Baronet, of Gilmerton, and Mary Leslie, daughter of David Leslie, 1st Lord ...

, of Gilmerton (1676–1747). Their son Alexander (d. 1755) inherited the entire Inverleith estates, and changed his surname to become Alexander Rocheid of Inverleith. Alexander and his descendants spent most of their time in Germany, and the Inverleith estate was leased. In 1774,

Inverleith House Inverleith House is a historic house, now within the Royal Botanic Garden, in the suburb of Inverleith, in Edinburgh, Scotland. History Inverleith House was designed in 1773 by David Henderson and built for James Rocheid in 1774. In about 182 ...

was built, to designs by the architect David Henderson. Alexander's son James Rocheid of Inverleith leased Inverleith Mains at the beginning of the 19th century to George Lauder (1776–1824), Comptroller of the City of Edinburgh's Tolls, and the great-grandfather of Sir

Harry Lauder Sir Henry Lauder (; 4 August 1870 – 26 February 1950)Russell, Dave"Lauder, Sir Henry (1870–1950)" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004, online edition, January 2011, accessed 27 April 2014 was a S ...

Parks and gardens

In late 1823, George Lauder, described as the tenant farmer of Inverleith Mains, agreed with James Rocheid of Inverleith to a reversion of part of his leasehold lands, 11.5

Scots acre A Scottish or Scots acre () was a land measurement used in Scotland. It was standardised in 1661. When the Weights and Measures Act of 1824 was implemented the English System was standardised into the Imperial System and Imperial acres were impos ...

s, for the site of the Royal Botanic Garden, which had formerly been located on

Leith Walk Leith Walk is one of the longest streets in Edinburgh, Scotland, and is the main road connecting the centre of the city to Leith. Forming most of the A900 road, it slopes downwards from Picardy Place at the south-western end of the street to the ...

. Commonly known as "The Botanics", the new site was opened in May 1824, comprising a large and varied set of gardens or parks with a wide range of plants, from around the world, in the open and in greenhouses. There is a Chinese-themed garden, an extensive landscaped rock garden, a large palm house, and since its opening in July 2006, an official memorial of

Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon (4 August 1900 – 30 March 2002) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 to 6 February 1952 as the wife of King George VI. She was the l ...

, opened by Queen Elizabeth. It is maintained as a very popular tourist attraction, local leisure amenity, and scientific research centre. Inverleith Park, Edinburgh

In 1889 the city acquired South Inverleith Mains Farm from the Rocheid family to create Inverleith Park, adjacent to the Royal Botanic Gardens. This includes allotments and a well maintained pond, popular for use by model boat enthusiasts and well populated with water birds and occasionally kingfishers. The park also the site of French boule (

pétanque Pétanque (, ; oc, petanca, , also or ) is a sport that falls into the category of boules sports, along with raffa, bocce, boule lyonnaise, lawn bowls, and crown green bowling. In all of these sports, players or teams play their boules/balls ...

) competitions.

Cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

and

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

matches are played there as well. There are also

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

and

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

courts maintained by Edinburgh Council and a safe play area for toddlers. The park has hosted the Edinburgh International Science Festival, and is also used as a viewing area for fireworks set off over central Edinburgh. Inverleith Park also plays host to an annual Foodies Festival. In early 2018, the Kinloch Anderson Sundial that was originally gifted to the City of Edinburgh in 1890, was restored as the result of an approach from the Friends of Inverleith Park to Kinloch Anderson. The company restored the sundial to mark its 150th anniversary. The park has also played host as a shooting location for feature films such as ''

Chariots of Fire ''Chariots of Fire'' is a 1981 British historical sports drama film directed by Hugh Hudson, written by Colin Welland and produced by David Puttnam. It is based on the true story of two British athletes in the 1924 Olympics: Eric Liddell ...

'' and ''Dark Sense''.

Sport

A former home of the

Scotland national rugby union team The Scotland national rugby union team represents Scotland in men's international rugby union and is administered by the Scottish Rugby Union. The team takes part in the annual Six Nations Championship and participates in the Rugby World Cup, ...

, the

Inverleith Sports Ground The Inverleith Sports Ground is a rugby union stadium in Inverleith, Edinburgh, Scotland which is the home ground of amateur club Stewart's Melville RFC and was the home ground of the Scotland national rugby union team between 1899 and 1925. Hist ...

(hosting international matches from 1899 until 1925 when they moved to

Murrayfield Stadium Murrayfield Stadium (known as BT Murrayfield Stadium for sponsorship reasons, or popularly as Murrayfield) is a Rugby stadium located in the Murrayfield area of Edinburgh, Scotland. It has a seating capacity of 67,144 making it the largest sta ...

) is located off Ferry Road and is today used by Stewarts Melville RFC.Stewart's Melville Inverleith Sports Field
Tim's 92 In addition to some public facilities in Inverleith Park itself, the wider area contains a large expanse of separate but almost contiguous sports grounds, most of which are associated to local, historic fee-paying schools like the

and

(plus those of modern Broughton High School), including the home grounds of Edinburgh Accies (at

Raeburn Place Raeburn Place is the main street of the suburb of Stockbridge, Edinburgh, Scotland, and the name of the playing fields there. Rugby The first ever international rugby football game was played on the playing fields at Raeburn Place on 27 Ma ...

Edinburgh Northern RFC Edinburgh Northern Rugby Football Club is a rugby union club in the Scottish Rugby Union, located at Inverleith Park, by Stockbridge and Fettes in the centre of Edinburgh, playing in the league. History Founded in 1920, Edinburgh Northern ha ...

and Inverleith RFC, as well as

The Grange Club The Grange Club is a cricket and sports club in the Stockbridge district of Edinburgh, Scotland. The cricket ground, commonly known as The Grange, is the regular home of the Scotland national cricket team The Scotland national cricket ...

, home of the

Scotland national cricket team The Scotland national cricket team represents the country of Scotland. They play their home matches at The Grange, Edinburgh, and also some other venues. Scotland became Associate Members of the International Cricket Council (ICC) in 1994

Notable residents

* James Black, clergyman * William Bryson FRSE, electrical engineer * William Charles, trader * Daniel Ellis, botanist *

Cosmo Innes Cosmo Nelson Innes FRSE (9 September 1798 – 31 July 1874) was a Scottish advocate, judge, historian and antiquary. He served as Advocate-Depute, Sheriff of Elginshire, and Principal Clerk of Session. He was a skilled decipherer of ancien ...

, lawyer and historian * Horatio McCulloch, artist * Alexander Martin, clergyman and academic * Thomas Hugh Milroy, physicist and chemist *

James Pillans James Pillans FRSE (1778–1864) was a Scottish classical scholar and educational reformer. He is credited with inventing the blackboard, but more correctly was the inventor of coloured chalk. Early life The son of James Pillans, he was b ...

, scholar *

Robert Louis Stevenson Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as ''Treasure Island'', ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll a ...

, author *

Freya Mavor Freya Mavor (born 13 August 1993) is a Scottish actress and model. She is best known for her roles as Mini McGuinness in the E4 teen drama '' Skins'' and Daria Greenock in the HBO finance drama series ''Industry''. Early life Mavor was born i ...

, actress and model

References

Bibliography

* ''The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh'', by Harold R Fletcher and William H Brown,

HMSO The Office of Public Sector Information (OPSI) is the body responsible for the operation of His Majesty's Stationery Office (HMSO) and of other public information services of the United Kingdom. The OPSI is part of the National Archives of the Un ...

, Edinburgh, 1970, {{Parks and gardens in Edinburgh Areas of Edinburgh Parks and commons in Edinburgh