St. Leonards railway station is a closed railway station in
St Leonard's, Edinburgh
St Leonard's is a neighbourhood of south-central Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom. Once notable as a centre of industry, it is now primarily residential.
The area takes its name from the mediaeval St Leonard's Hospital, Edinburgh, hospital of S ...
, on 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 on the south side of Arthur's Seat.
Opened in sta ...
. It was Edinburgh's first railway station. The railway was built in 1831 to transport coal from the mining towns south of the city; and the following year opened passenger services. St. Leonards was the terminus for the south of the city and was named after the nearby region.
Passenger services ceased in 1846, when the North British Railway opened a station at
North Bridge which later developed into
Waverley station
Edinburgh Waverley railway station (also known simply as Waverley; gd, Waverley Dhùn Èideann) is the principal railway station serving Edinburgh, Scotland. It is the second busiest station in Scotland, after Glasgow Central. It is the north ...
. Services from Dalkeith were re-routed via Portobello. The station reopened briefly between 1 June 1860 and 30 September 1860 when a service was temporarily re-introduced from St. Leonard's to Dalkeith, Portobello and Leith, but it closed again within a few months. The railhead continued to see heavy use in its original intended role as a coal yard until 1968.
Both the coal depot and part of the railway line have been redeveloped as housing. The goods shed is the only surviving building; it has been designated a
Category B listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
by
Historic Environment Scotland
Historic Environment Scotland (HES) ( gd, Àrainneachd Eachdraidheil Alba) is an executive non-departmental public body responsible for investigating, caring for and promoting Scotland's historic environment. HES was formed in 2015 from the mer ...
. Since 2019, it has been used as a whisky and gin distillery with an accompanying visitor centre. The remaining trackbed is now a footpath and cycle path, forming part of the
National Cycle Network
The National Cycle Network (NCN) is the national cycling route network of the United Kingdom, which was established to encourage cycling and walking throughout Britain, as well as for the purposes of bicycle touring. It was created by the cha ...
Route 1.
See also
*
Innocent 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 on the south side of Arthur's Seat.
Opened in st ...
References
External links
Railways - St Leonard's Station
Disused railway stations in Edinburgh
Former North British Railway stations
Listed railway stations in Scotland
Category B listed buildings in Edinburgh
Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1832
Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1846
Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1860
Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1860
Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1968
{{Edinburgh-railstation-stub