Royal Park Terrace and Meadowbank Crescent - geograph

Meadowbank is a

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...

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 is best known for

Meadowbank Stadium Meadowbank Stadium (officially the Meadowbank Sports Centre) is a multi-purpose sports facility located in the Meadowbank area of Edinburgh, Scotland. Built on the site of the earlier New Meadowbank and Old Meadowbank sports venues, it was ori ...

, a multi-purpose sports facility that opened as an international sports stadium in 1970. The stadium closed in 2017 and was redeveloped as a local sports and athletics facility that was officially opened on 4 November 2022.

History

The area developed extensively during the

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...

as Edinburgh expanded eastwards.

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 ...

lies to the south of Meadowbank. Meadowbank lodge is a Category C listed lodge, built in 1858, that borders the park and Meadowbank. Meadowbank Parish Church is named for the Meadowbank area although is located in Abbeyhill. The church was originally called Hollyrood Abbey Church. It is Category B listed and was built in 1899. Meadowbank Retail Park, Edinburgh - geograph

Meadowbank Retail Park, Edinburgh - geograph

Meadowbank retail park lies on the western edge of Meadowbank. The retail park was built in the early 1990s and occupies the former site of a

foundry A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal into a mold, and removing the mold material after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals pr ...

on London Road and a former seven storey

Malt house A malt house, malt barn, or maltings, is a building where cereal grain is converted into malt by soaking it in water, allowing it to sprout and then drying it to stop further growth. The malt is used in brewing beer, whisky and in certain food ...

Geography

Meadowbank lies to the east of central Edinburgh, bordering

Abbeyhill Abbeyhill is an area of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Abbeyhill is one of the oldest parts of the city, taking its name from Holyrood Abbey, a major historic religious site. The main east-west thoroughfare through the area is London Roa ...

on it's western side. To the north of Meadowbank is Lochend and

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 ...

. To the east of Meadowbank are the areas of Parsons Green,

Jock's Lodge Jock's Lodge is an area of Edinburgh, Scotland. It centres on the junction of London Road and Willowbrae Road (part of the A1 trunk route to London), Portobello Road and Restalrig Road South (Smokey Brae) and is an alternative name for the M ...

and

Piershill Piershill is a suburb of north east Edinburgh, Scotland, in the shadow of Arthur's Seat. It is mainly residential, with local amenities including a large Morrisons supermarket and filling station, bank, public library, optician, pharmacy, sever ...

Transport

The A1 road and

East Coast Main Line The East Coast Main Line (ECML) is a electrified railway between London and Edinburgh via Peterborough, Doncaster, York, Darlington, Durham and Newcastle. The line is a key transport artery on the eastern side of Great Britain running broa ...

railway to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

run through this way. There were two former train stations in Meadowbank, but these no longer exist.

Meadowbank Stadium railway station Meadowbank Stadium railway station was opened on 14 June 1986 by British Rail next to Meadowbank Stadium in Edinburgh to allow spectators to travel to the 1986 Commonwealth Games that were being held at the stadium. A shuttle service ran from ...

served the adjacent stadium from 1986 beginning with the

1986 Commonwealth Games The 1986 Commonwealth Games ( gd, Geamannan a 'Cho-fhlaitheis 1986) were held in Edinburgh, Scotland, between 24 July and 2 August 1986. They were the second Games to be held in Edinburgh. Thirty two of the eligible fifty nine countries (largel ...

. It remained in use until 1998.

Queen's Station

The Queen's Station was a private railway station used by

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

to enable her to reach

Holyrood Palace The Palace of Holyroodhouse ( or ), commonly referred to as Holyrood Palace or Holyroodhouse, is the official residence of the British monarch in Scotland. Located at the bottom of the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, at the opposite end to Edinbu ...

, without the need to travel through the

Old Town In a city or town, the old town is its historic or original core. Although the city is usually larger in its present form, many cities have redesignated this part of the city to commemorate its origins after thorough renovations. There are ma ...

. The station was established in 1850 by 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 ceased used sometime after 1881. On 29 August 1851, Queen Victoria arrived at the station and was met by a large military escort and crowds.

Notable Residents

Duncan Shaw, a former

Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland The Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland is the ministers and elders of the Church of Scotland, minister or elder chosen to moderate (chair) the annual General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, which is held for a week i ...

grew up in a tenement flat in Meadowbank.

References

External links

Meadowbank Sports Centre
{{coord, 55, 57, 25, N, 3, 09, 32, W, region:GB_type:city_source:GNS-enwiki, display=title Areas of Edinburgh