Portobello, Edinburgh
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Portobello is a coastal suburb of
Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...
in eastern central
Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
. It lies 3 miles (5 km) east of the city centre, facing the
Firth of Forth The Firth of Forth () is a firth in Scotland, an inlet of the North Sea that separates Fife to its north and Lothian to its south. Further inland, it becomes the estuary of the River Forth and several other rivers. Name ''Firth'' is a cognate ...
, between the suburbs of Joppa and Craigentinny. Although historically it was a town in its own right, it is officially a residential suburb of Edinburgh. The
promenade An esplanade or promenade is a long, open, level area, usually next to a river or large body of water, where people may walk. The historical definition of ''esplanade'' was a large, open, level area outside fortification, fortress or city walls ...
fronts onto a wide sandy beach.


History


Early years

The area was originally known as Figgate Muir, an expanse of moorland through which the Figgate Burn flowed, from Duddingston Loch fed by the Braid Burn to the west, to the sea, with a broad sandy beach on the
Firth of Forth The Firth of Forth () is a firth in Scotland, an inlet of the North Sea that separates Fife to its north and Lothian to its south. Further inland, it becomes the estuary of the River Forth and several other rivers. Name ''Firth'' is a cognate ...
. The name "Figgate" has been thought to come from an
Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...
term for "cow's ditch", but the land was used as
pasture Pasture (from the Latin ''pastus'', past participle of ''pascere'', "to feed") is land used for grazing. Types of pasture Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, c ...
for cattle by the
monk A monk (; from , ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery. A monk usually lives his life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many reli ...
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 List of British royal residences, royal r ...
and the name is more likely to mean "cow road", as in
Cowgate The Cowgate (Scots language, Scots: The Cougait) is a street in Edinburgh, Scotland, located about southeast of Edinburgh Castle, within the city's World Heritage Site. The street is part of the lower level of Edinburgh's Old Town, Edinburgh, ...
in Edinburgh. In 1650 it was the supposed scene of a secret meeting between
Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English statesman, politician and soldier, widely regarded as one of the most important figures in British history. He came to prominence during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, initially ...
and Scottish leaders. A report from 1661 describes a race in which twelve browster-wives ran from the Burn (recorded as the Thicket Burn) to the top of
Arthur's Seat Arthur's Seat (, ) is an ancient extinct volcano that 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 of its bol ...
.


1700s

By the 18th century the area had become a haunt of seamen and
smuggler Smuggling is the illegal transportation of objects, substances, information or people, such as out of a house or buildings, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations. More broadly, soc ...
s. A cottage was built in 1742 on what is now the High Street (close to the junction with Brighton Place) by a seaman called George Hamilton, who had served under Admiral
Edward Vernon Admiral Edward Vernon (12 November 1684 – 30 October 1757) was a Royal Navy officer and politician. He had a long and distinguished career, rising to the rank of admiral after 46 years service. As a vice admiral during the War of Jenkins' E ...
in the capture of Porto Bello,
Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...
, in 1739, and he named the cottage Portobello Hut in honour of the victory. By 1753 there were other houses around it. The cottage remained intact until 1851, when it became a hostelry for travellers known as the Shepherd's Ha. In 1763 the lands known as the Figgate Whins were sold by Lord Milton to Baron Mure for about £1,500. They were afterwards feued out by the latter to William Jameson or Jamieson at the rate of £3 per acre. Jameson discovered a valuable bed of clay near the burn, and built a brick and tile works beside the stream. He later built an
earthenware Earthenware is glazed or unglazed Vitrification#Ceramics, nonvitreous pottery that has normally been fired below . Basic earthenware, often called terracotta, absorbs liquids such as water. However, earthenware can be made impervious to liquids ...
pottery factory, and the local population grew into a thriving village. Land values subsequently rose, and by the beginning of the 19th century some parts had been sold at a yearly feu duty of £40 per annum per acre. An advertisement for bathing machines for hire on Portobello beach appeared in the ''Edinburgh Evening Courant'' of 11 June 1795, according to a report in the ''Evening Dispatch''. It says the bathing machines have steady horses and careful drivers, and the bathing sands are perfectly free from stones and "danders", the water clear and the beach very retired.


1800s

Portobello Sands were used at that time by the Edinburgh Light Horse for drill practice.
Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European literature, European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'' (18 ...
was their
quartermaster Quartermaster is a military term, the meaning of which depends on the country and service. In land army, armies, a quartermaster is an officer who supervises military logistics, logistics and requisitions, manages stores or barracks, and distri ...
. While riding in a charge in 1802 he was kicked by a horse and confined to his lodgings for three days. While recovering he finished '' The Lay of the Last Minstrel''. ''
The Scots Magazine ''The Scots Magazine'' is a magazine containing articles on subjects of Scottish interest. It claims to be the oldest magazine in the world still in publication, although there have been several gaps in its publication history. It has reported on ...
'' in 1806 noted that the lands were "a perfect waste covered almost entirely with whins or furze". Portobello grew into a bathing resort, and in 1807 new salt-water baths at the foot of Bath Street and Regent Street were erected at a cost of £5,000.W. M. Gilbert, ed., ''Edinburgh in the Nineteenth Century'', Edinburgh, 1901, p. 45. In 1822, a visit of King George IV to Scotland organised by Scott included a review of troops and Highlanders held on the sands, with spectators crowding the dunes. Before Portobello had a promenade and public beach, there was only a belt of dry sand between the firmer sand of the beach and the private properties adjoining the shore. Access to the beach was restricted by these property holders, as Sir William Rae discovered in 1842 when he tried to gain access to his favourite section for bathing. The proprietor of a villa adjoining the shore had extended his garden to include the sand and had built a wall leading right down to the sea. Sir William, a former
Lord Advocate His Majesty's Advocate, known as the Lord Advocate (), is the principal legal adviser of both the Scottish Government and the Crown in Scotland for civil and criminal matters that fall within the devolution, devolved powers of the Scottish P ...
, viewed this as interfering with his right of way, as a private citizen and as an officer of the Crown. After legal action over several years and an appeal right up to the House of Lords, the proprietor and his neighbours were forced in July 1849 to demolish the walls they had erected. Fifteen years later, Portobello Town Council began to build the Promenade, so securing public access to the beach along its . Portobello became industrialized in the 19th century, manufacturing bricks ("Portobello brick"), glass, lead, paper, pottery, soap and mustard. Joppa to the east was important as a salt producer. In 1833 the town was made a
burgh A burgh ( ) is an Autonomy, autonomous municipal corporation in Scotland, usually a city, town, or toun in Scots language, Scots. This type of administrative division existed from the 12th century, when David I of Scotland, King David I created ...
, and jointly with
Leith Leith (; ) is a port area in the north of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith and is home to the Port of Leith. The earliest surviving historical references are in the royal charter authorising the construction of ...
and
Musselburgh Musselburgh (; ; ) is the largest settlement in East Lothian, Scotland, on the coast of the Firth of Forth, east of Edinburgh city centre. It had a population of as of . History The name Musselburgh is Old English language, Old English in ...
, it was represented by one member of Parliament. Then in 1896 Portobello was incorporated into Edinburgh by Act of Parliament.
The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact (newspaper), compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until ...
in 1912 noted that "It was by the provisions of the Edinburgh Extension Act of 1895 under which Portobello was amalgamated with the city, that Edinburgh gave an undertaking to build and maintain the town hall in Portobello, and in February of this year the Corporation decided to implement the bargain". A formidable red-brick
power station A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the electricity generation, generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electr ...
was built in 1923 at the west end of the beach. It was extended by
Ebenezer James MacRae Ebenezer James MacRae (18 January 1881 – 15 January 1951) was a Scottish people, Scottish architect serving as City Architect for Edinburgh for most of his active life. Life He was the son of Rev Alexander MacRae of the Free Church of Scotl ...
in 1938, and operated until 1977 when it was closed. It was demolished in the following 18 months. Between 1846 and 1964 a railway station provided access for visitors to the resort, whose facilities came to include a large open-air
swimming pool A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable Human swimming, swimming and associated activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built abo ...
, heated by waste from the power station. The actor
Sean Connery Sir Thomas Sean Connery (25 August 1930 – 31 October 2020) was a Scottish actor. He was the first actor to Portrayal of James Bond in film, portray the fictional British secret agent James Bond (literary character), James Bond in motion pic ...
once worked there as a lifeguard. The pool was closed in 1979. There was also a lido (now demolished) and a permanent funfair, which closed in 2007 and was also eventually demolished to make way for new housing.


1900s

Portobello Baths were constructed in 1898 and completed in 1901 on The Promenade overlooking the beach. These, now known as Portobello Swim Centre, include one of only three remaining public Turkish baths in Scotland. Portobello Pier was a pleasure pier near the end of Bath Street, open from 23 May 1871 until the start of the First World War. At 1,250 feet (381 m) long with a restaurant and observatory at the end, it cost £7,000 to build to a design by Sir Thomas Bouch, who was infamously linked to the Tay Bridge disaster. The iron supports rusted away and the pier was demolished as uneconomic to repair in 1917. The Edinburgh Marine Gardens laid out north of Kings Road in 1908–1909 included an open-air theatre, an industrial hall, a ballroom (later a skating rink), a scenic railway, a "rustic mill and water-wheel" and a speedway track. It fell out of use in the First World War and never recovered, although the speedway/motor cycle track remained in use until the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939. The site was cleared in 1966 for the
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 Lothia ...
Marine bus depot. In 1983 Portobello was at the centre of police and media attention with the abduction of five-year-old Caroline Hogg from the Promenade area and her murder by Robert Black. Portobello's peak as a resort in the late 19th century gave way to slow decline through the 20th century. Whilst visitors were mainly from Edinburgh, it was also once popular with Glaswegians, particularly as the Glasgow Fair "trade holiday" signalled the start of a two-week holiday for the west of Scotland. By the 1960s, it had become an area of amusement arcades and permanent funfair attractions. From the 1980s these gradually disappeared, and by the end of the 20th century the Promenade had hardly any attractions specific to a seaside location, although the Tower Amusements arcade remains in business.


2000s

The 21st century has seen the emergence of community activities, some focused on the Promenade. The beach hosts regular beach volleyball, including Olympic beach-volleyball qualifiers, and the annual Big Beach Busk event. Other community activities focus more on the sea. They include the Portobello, Sailing, Kayaking and Rowing Club, Rowporty, and Eastern Amateur Coastal Rowing Club. Others concern community gardens, a monthly local food market, a youth theatre (now using a new web address), and culture and music. Artistic activity has become popular, including the annual Art Walk Porty. In April 2020 the Portobello Pencil Sharpening Project, thought to be an art installation, went viral on Twitter. In 2019 Portobello was voted the best neighbourhood in the UK at the 2020 Urbanism Awards. In 2021 it was considered by a Sunday Times panel to be one of the top eight places to live in Scotland. The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) classed the quality of the swimming water as "sufficient" in its 2019 survey, a small improvement on the previous year, when dolphins were sighted off the coast. In 2020 there was a sighting of what was thought to be a swordfish. A wild swimmers' club has been braving the waves through the year since 2010. Meanwhile, a warmer alternative is provided by the Turkish Baths in Portobello Swim Centre. In October 2016 Portobello became the first urban community in Scotland to register a Community Right to Buy after the 2016 expansion of
Land reform in Scotland Land reform in Scotland is the ongoing process by which the ownership of land, its distribution and the law which governs it is modified, Land reform, reformed and modernised by Property law, property and Regulatory law, regulatory law. Land o ...
to cover urban areas. Purchase of Bellfield Old Parish Church and Halls by Action Porty for £600,000 was confirmed by Scottish Government Ministers on 3 May 2017. The purchase was funded partly by the
Scottish Land Fund The Scottish Land Fund (SLF) was founded in 2000, as a part of land reform in Scotland. Its goal is to help communities buy their land from their landlords. The SLF was capitalized by the National Lottery (United Kingdom), UK Lottery-founded New O ...
and partly by community donations and borrowing. The buildings and grounds formally passed from the Church of Scotland to Action Porty on 6 September 2017 and opened as Bellfield (Community Centre), Portobello on 23 June 2018. Work in 2019 on re-laying the paving setts in Brighton Place caused controversy over the cost and duration: the main road was closed to traffic until the end of 2019 while the work was done. Ultimately, the new surface proved of high quality, including smooth sets for cycling and a refuge for safe turning into the Christian Path. The final cost of about £750,000 was less than predicted. Minor problems remaining with drainage were to be dealt with when the spring 2020 lockdown was lifted. During the 2020 Coronavirus Lockdown, police praised the public for curbing the spread of the virus by avoiding Portobello over Easter weekend, although as the weather improved in May the visitor numbers increased, causing concern to politicians. Portobello continued busy over the summer of 2020, with some disturbances reported. In August a Ferris wheel appeared on the old Fun City site, but its licence was suspended before it opened, as it broke government rules on the reopening of funfairs; despite this, some smaller attractions in the area have come and gone since. Concerns about overcrowding on Portobello promenade continued into 2021. In September 2021, it was announced that the Swim Centre would shortly close for a £2.5 million refurbishment.


Demographics


Transport


Buses

Portobello is served 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 Lothia ...
which provide eleven services to the area, continuing towards Joppa and Eastfield to Musselburgh, Port Seton, Tranent or North Berwick, down Brighton Place to Fort Kinnaird or Royal Infirmary, and from Kings Road to Craigentinny. The former electric tramways operated by Edinburgh Corporation Transport Department were replaced by diesel buses in November 1956.


Railway

Portobello's first railway station was initially served by the
Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway The Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway was an early railway built to convey coal from pits in the vicinity of Dalkeith into the capital. It was a horse-operated line, with a terminus at St Leonards station, Edinburgh, St Leonards on the south side ...
. The Portobello (E&DR) railway station operated from 1832 until 1846, when it was replaced by the Portobello (NBR) railway station operated by the
North British Railway The North British Railway was one of the two biggest of the five major Scottish railway companies prior to the 1923 Grouping. It was established in 1844, with the intention of linking with English railways at Berwick. The line opened in 1846, ...
. The station closed in 1964 under the
Beeching cuts The Beeching cuts, also colloquially referred to as the Beeching Axe, were a major series of route closures and service changes made as part of the restructuring of the nationalised railway system in Great Britain in the 1960s. They are named ...
.


Hovercraft

For two weeks in 2007 there was an experimental
hovercraft A hovercraft (: hovercraft), also known as an air-cushion vehicle or ACV, is an amphibious craft capable of travelling over land, water, mud, ice, and various other surfaces. Hovercraft use blowers to produce a large volume of air below the ...
service to
Kirkcaldy Kirkcaldy ( ; ; ) is a town and former royal burgh in Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. It is about north of Edinburgh and south-southwest of Dundee. The town had a recorded population of 49,460 in 2011, making it Fife's second-largest s ...
in Fife.
Stagecoach A stagecoach (also: stage coach, stage, road coach, ) is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by ...
was interested in running a regular service, but the local authority refused planning permission for the infrastructure. Stagecoach planned to use a terminal to be built in Leith using public funds, which failed to materialise.


Sport

The Promenade and beach host two annual running races: Portobello Beach Race every summer since 2013, and the Promathom most New Year's Days since 1987. A weekly Park Run every Saturday in Figgate Park provoked press-reported controversy and exhibitionism in 2018.


Town halls

As an independent burgh, Portobello had aspirations for a town hall, the town council having first met in rooms in Brighton Place and then in Rosefield House. The first purpose-built hall (now the Baptist Church in the High Street) was designed by David Bryce and erected in 1862. This proved inadequate for the purpose and was replaced in 1877 by a building designed by Robert Paterson, which is now Portobello Police Station. The Edinburgh Extension Act 1895, which amalgamated Portobello with Edinburgh, gave effect to a number of undertakings, including extension of the Promenade, building of the Baths, surfacing various streets, providing drainage, extending the trams, providing a public park and a new town hall for public meetings. The new Portobello Town Hall was intended to hold at least 800 people and was built on the site of Inverey House to a design by the City Architect, James A. Williamson, opening in 1914. In June 2019, the town hall was closed by the city council after the masonry and plasterwork were found to be in poor condition. The city council put the building on the market for lease in February 2020, and, following a competitive process, it agreed to enter into exclusive talks with a local community organisation known as Portobello Central in May 2021. The city council confirmed, in June 2021, that it had allocated £350,000 of capital investment to the town hall project, money provided by the
Scottish Government The Scottish Government (, ) is the executive arm of the devolved government of Scotland. It was formed in 1999 as the Scottish Executive following the 1997 referendum on Scottish devolution, and is headquartered at St Andrew's House in ...
under its Place Based Investment Programme. Portobello Central indicated that it hoped the funding would enable it to re-open the building by April 2022. The Town Hall opened for business on 1 June 2023, under a 25-year, full repairing lease from the City of Edinburgh Council at £1 per year rent.


Notable people

In birth order: * Alexander Laing (1752–1823), architect based in Portobello, where he died * The Misses Corbett, Grace (c. 1765/1770–1843) and Walterina (died 1837), poets and authors from Portobello * Dr David Laing (1792–1878), librarian to the Signet Library and noted archaeologist, lived at 12 James Street * Mackintosh MacKay (1793–1873), compiler of a Gaelic dictionary and Moderator of the General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland, died in Portobello * Rear Admiral Thomas Fraser (1796–1870), hero of the First Anglo-Burmese War *
Hugh Miller Hugh Miller (10 October 1802 – 23/24 December 1856) was a Scottish geologist, writer and folklorist. Life and work Miller was born in Cromarty, the first of three children of Harriet Wright (''bap''. 1780, ''d''. 1863) and Hugh Miller ...
(1802–1856), a founding father of geology, lived in the tower in Tower Street. * Alan Stevenson (1806–1865), lighthouse engineer, lived his final years at 13 Pittville St, then called Pitt St * Stevenson Macadam (1829–1901), scientist and author, lived much of his life in East Brighton Crescent, Portobello * William Durham (1834–1893), chemist, papermaker and astronomer, lived and died at 16 Straiton Place * Lucy Bethia Walford, née Colquhoun (1845–1915), novelist, was born in Portobello * James Graham Fairley (1846–1934) architect, lived at 47 Abercorn Terrace. * Marion Grieve (1848–1938), suffragette, lived at Coillesdene House, Joppa * William Ivison Macadam (1856–1902), chemist and antiquarian, spent his childhood in Portobello. * Helen Hopekirk (1856–1945), composer, pianist and teacher, lived at 148 High Street, Portobello from 1856 to 1868 and is commemorated by a blue plaque * Alexander Philip (1858–1932), a lawyer born in Portobello, became a campaigner for calendar reform * William Robertson (1865–1949), recipient of the
Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious decoration of the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British decorations system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British ...
, lived at 21 Lee Crescent. *
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 ...
(1870–1950),
music hall Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was most popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850, through the World War I, Great War. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as Varie ...
entertainer, was born at 3 Bridge Street. Although he and his family left the town within weeks of his birth, a Harry Lauder memorial garden was opened in 1970 in the grounds of the Town Hall built in 1912 and designed by architect James A Williamson.) Portobello's main bypass is named Sir Harry Lauder Road. * William Russell Flint (1880–1969), painter, lived at 9 Rosefield Place. * Alexander Heron (1884–1971), a member of 1921 British Mount Everest reconnaissance expedition and Director of the
Geological Survey of India The Geological Survey of India (GSI) is a scientific agency of India. It was founded in 1851, as a Government of India organization under the Ministry of Mines, one of the oldest of such organisations in the world and the second oldest survey ...
(1936–39), lived in Hamilton Terrace in 1900–1911. * Madge Elder (1893-1985), born in Portobello, is a noted gardener and writer. * Ned Barnie (1896–1983), born in Portobello, became in 1950 the first Scot to swim the English Channel. * Norrie Haywood (1910–1979), born in Portobello, became a professional footballer and football manager. * James Rankin (1913–1975), born in Portobello, was a RAF fighter pilot in the Second World War. * Johnny Cunningham (1957–2003), Celtic
fiddle A fiddle is a Bow (music), bowed String instrument, string musical instrument, most often a violin or a bass. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including European classical music, classical music. Althou ...
virtuoso, was born in Portobello. *
Gail Porter Gail Porter (born 23 March 1971) is a Scottish television personality, former model and actress. She started her television career in children's TV, before branching out into modelling and presenting mainstream TV. In 1999, she posed nude for ' ...
(born 1971), TV presenter, grew up here, attending Portobello High School. * Ewen Bremner (born 1972), born in Portobello, is a noted film and TV actor. * Iron Virgin (1970s), glam punk rock band * The Valves (1977), punk band from Portobello * Shauna Macdonald (born 1981), actress, grew up in Portobello. * Emun Elliott (born 1983), actor


Notable buildings


Extant

* St John the Evangelist RC Church, Portobello * Bellfield Community Centre (previously Bellfield Church) * George Cinema * Portobello Library * Portobello Swim Centre


Demolished

* Portobello Open Air Pool * Portobello Power Station * Portobello Marine Gardens * Portobello Railway Station


Portobello Parish Church

The building was designed by William Sibbald and the foundation stone was laid on 27 October 1808 with the church opening for worship in 1810. It originally had the status of Chapel of Ease for
Duddingston Duddingston is an affluent, historic village in the east of Edinburgh, Scotland, next to Holyrood Park.It is a conservation area, not to be confused with the rest of Duddingston, which stretches down towards Portobello. Duddingston Village bo ...
Parish Church to the west. In May 1834 the
General Assembly of the Church of Scotland The General Assembly of the Church of Scotland is the sovereign and highest court of the Church of Scotland, and is thus the Church's governing body.''An Introduction to Practice and Procedure in the Church of Scotland'' by A. Gordon McGillivray, ...
gave it the status of a
quoad sacra A ''quoad sacra'' parish is a parish of the Church of Scotland which does not represent a civil parish. That is, it had ecclesiastical functions but no local government functions. Since the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1929, civil parishes hav ...
church. It received full independent parish status in 1861. The church hall, built in 1964, stands on the former graveyard, but several stones survive, for instance in the narrow gap behind the back of the hall and the boundary. In 2017 the church was sold by the
Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland (CoS; ; ) is a Presbyterian denomination of Christianity that holds the status of the national church in Scotland. It is one of the country's largest, having 245,000 members in 2024 and 259,200 members in 2023. While mem ...
to the local community and reopened in 2018 as Bellfield community centre.


See also

*For Portobello Cemetery, see Eastfield, Edinburgh. * Portobello RFC * Portobello Toddler Hut


References


External links


Portobello Community Website
{{authority control Areas of Edinburgh Burghs Seaside resorts in Scotland