Davidson's Mains is a former village and now a district in the north-west of

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. It is adjacent to the districts of Barnton,

Cramond Cramond Village (; gd, Cathair Amain) is a village and suburb in the north-west of Edinburgh, Scotland, at the mouth of the River Almond where it enters the Firth of Forth. The Cramond area has evidence of Mesolithic, Bronze Age and Roman ac ...

, Silverknowes, Blackhall and Corbiehill/House O'Hill. It was absorbed into Edinburgh as part of the boundary changes in 1920 and is part of the EH4 postcode area. Locals sometimes abbreviate the name to D'Mains.

Etymology

The place is named after William Davidson, a wealthy merchant who bought

Muirhouse Muirhouse is a housing estate in the north of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Location The housing estate of Muirhouse (Pennywell and Muirhouse) is bounded by Muirhouse Parkway to the North, Pennywell Road to the East, Ferry Road to the So ...

, east of the district, in 1776. A mains is Lowland Scots for an estate farm or home farm. Prior to the 19th century, it was known as Muttonhole. Locals continued to use this name until at least 1860. The origin of this name is unknown, though it perhaps refers to the local sheep farming industry. ''Muttonhole'' could also be derived from ''mort-toun-hole'', another name for a "murder hole" (

drowning pit A drowning pit, drowning pool, murder-pool or murder hole (not to be confused with defensive murder holes) was a well or pond specifically for executing women and girls (for males the gibbet was used) under Scottish feudal laws. Rivers or lochan ...

History

The original village runs east-west and is still identifiable as the original village, with a series of modest cottages on each side of the road. Quality Street was added in 1827, designed by

James Gillespie Graham James Gillespie Graham (11 June 1776 – 11 March 1855) was a Scottish architect, prominent in the early 19th century. Life Graham was born in Dunblane on 11 June 1776. He was the son of Malcolm Gillespie, a solicitor. He was christened as J ...

. The church on Quality Street was built as Cramond Free Church in 1843 and is by

David Cousin David Cousin (19 May 1809 – 14 August 1878) was a Scottish architect, landscape architect and planner, closely associated with early cemetery design and many prominent buildings in Edinburgh. From 1841 to 1872 he operated as Edinburgh’s ...

. The railway arrived late in 1894 but spurred villa development to the north and north-west.

Description

Within the district there is a variety of shops and businesses, ranging from cobblers to large supermarkets, as well as food outlets of various kinds. The district is also served by four churches, a Tesco, 2 veterinary surgery, a

doctor's surgery A doctor's office in American English, a doctor's surgery in British English, or a doctor's practice, is a medical facility in which one or more medical doctors, usually general practitioners (GP), receive and treat patients. Description Doc ...

, two dental surgeries, the Corbie and other takeaways, a primary school and a Greggs. The state secondary school that serves the area is the Royal High School. Davidson's Mains Park is near the high school which has a play park and a football pitch.

Public Transport

Davidson's Mains railway station Davidson's Mains railway station served the district of Davidson's Mains, Edinburgh, Scotland from 1894 to 1951 on the Barnton Branch. History The station opened as Barnton Gate on 1 March 1894 by the Caledonian Railway. The station's name w ...

closed in 1951 prior to the

Beeching cuts 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 M ...

due to underuse. The area lay beyond the Edinburgh tram network. The district is currently served by two bus routes run 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 Lothi ...

: the 21, which travels to the Gyle Centre via

Clermiston Clermiston is a suburb of Edinburgh, Scotland, to the west of the city and to the immediate north of Corstorphine, on the western slopes of Corstorphine Hill. Clermiston estate, built in 1954, was part of a major 1950s house-building programme ...

and to

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 ...

in the other direction; and the 41, which travels from

to Morningside.

References

External links

Davidson's Mains Parish Church (Church of Scotland)

Church of the Holy Cross Davidson's Mains (Scottish Episcopal)
{{Areas of Edinburgh Areas of Edinburgh