Greenhill, Edinburgh
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Greenhill is a small area 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 ...
, the capital of
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 ...
. Situated south of the city centre, Greenhill is normally taken to be part of
Bruntsfield Bruntsfield is a largely residential area around Bruntsfield Place in Southern Edinburgh, Scotland. In feudal times, it fell within the barony of Colinton. Location Bruntsfield Place is less than south on the A702 main road from the West e ...
, which skirts it to the north. Greenhill borders
Marchmont Marchmont is a mainly residential area of Edinburgh, Scotland. It lies roughly one mile to the south of the Old Town, separated from it by The Meadows and Bruntsfield Links. To the west it is bounded by Bruntsfield; to the south-southwest ...
and The Grange to the east, Morningside to the south, and
Merchiston Merchiston ( ) is a residential area around Merchiston Avenue in the south-west of Edinburgh, Scotland. Location Merchiston Avenue is 1.3 miles Southwest of the West End of Edinburgh's principal street, Princes Street. Other areas near Merchi ...
, beyond
Holy Corner Holy Corner is a colloquial name for a small area of Edinburgh, Scotland, and (along with Church Hill) is part of the area more properly known as Burghmuirhead, itself part of the lands of Greenhill. Holy Corner lies between the areas of Bru ...
, to the west. It comprises a mixture of Georgian and Victorian villas and some
tenement A tenement is a type of building shared by multiple dwellings, typically with flats or apartments on each floor and with shared entrance stairway access. They are common on the British Isles, particularly in Scotland. In the medieval Old Town, i ...
housing.


History

The name derives from the former estate of Greenhill, which was one of the original lots purchased when the Edinburgh
magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judic ...
s feued the
Burgh Muir The Burgh Muir is the historic term for an extensive area of land lying to the south of Edinburgh city centre, upon which much of the southern part of the city now stands following its gradual spread and more especially its rapid expansion in t ...
in 1586. The owner was Thomas Aikenhead, an Edinburgh merchant. Two further lots were later added to the original portion of Greenhill, including the ground that became known as
Burghmuirhead Burghmuirhead (sometimes anglicised as Boroughmuirhead) is an area of Edinburgh, Scotland. The area lies between Bruntsfield to the north and Morningside to the south. West is Merchiston and east is Greenhill and then The Grange. The area w ...
, and sold to separate owners, one of whom was William Rig. Aikenhead was a skinner (glover) by occupation and held the positions of councillor, bailie and Dean of Guild. In 1636, the estate was sold to John Livingston, an Edinburgh
apothecary ''Apothecary'' () is a mostly archaic term for a medical professional who formulates and dispenses '' materia medica'' (medicine) to physicians, surgeons, and patients. The modern chemist (British English) or pharmacist (British and North Amer ...
whose family had become connected to the Aikenheads by marriage. His wife, Elizabeth Rig, appears to have been a relation of William Rig above.


Famous Residents

* Robert McVitie (1854-1910) creator of McVitie's Biscuits lived at 12 Greenhill Gardens * Ron Flockhart (1923-1962) won Le Mans twice driving Jaguar D-Types (1956 and 1957) for the Edinburgh-based Ecurie Ecosse team. He and his parents lived at 8 Greenhill Gardens. He raced in Formula 1, was a test driver for Connaught and BRM teams and also an aviation man who flew his own aircraft to races. He was killed at Kallista on the outskirts of Melbourne, Australia in 1962 while preparing for his second attempt at the Sydney to London record for a single engined aircraft. He became lost in fog and slammed into the Dandenong Ranges, dying instantly.


Historical Features

A stone carving depicting the former manor house may still be seen on the wall of a tenement house at the corner of Bruntsfield Place and Bruntsfield Gardens. A walled, roofless structure rebuilt some time after 1894 is the mausoleum of John Livingstone, an
apothecary ''Apothecary'' () is a mostly archaic term for a medical professional who formulates and dispenses '' materia medica'' (medicine) to physicians, surgeons, and patients. The modern chemist (British English) or pharmacist (British and North Amer ...
and former
laird Laird () is the owner of a large, long-established Scottish estate. In the traditional Scottish order of precedence, a laird ranked below a baron and above a gentleman. This rank was held only by those lairds holding official recognition in ...
of the estate. It was paid for by his widow Elizabeth Rig. It stood in the grounds of the manor house before its demolition and is now situated adjacent to a smaller private Victorian villa. A tombstone carries the date 1645. The roughly square area contains an information plaque, memorial bench, and plants. Its continued existence was the subject of a bitter legal dispute after the villa changed ownership.Edinburgh Evening News article: "Facelift as land-feud garden prepares to reopen to public", 25 September 2006
After a lengthy campaign by local residents and local MSP Mike Pringle in 2009, it was confirmed by the
Lands Tribunal for Scotland The Lands Tribunal for Scotland is a tribunal with jurisdiction over land and property in Scotland, relating to title obligations, compulsory purchase and other private rights. The Tribunal was established under the Lands Tribunal Act 1949, whi ...
to be owned by the
local authority Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loca ...
br>Edinburgh Evening News article: "Couple lose legal fight over ownership of historic tomb", 4 February 2009
/ref>


Parking

In 2006 the Greenhill area was brought into the "S2" (southern zone 2)
controlled parking zone A Controlled Parking Zone or CPZ is a specific type of parking restriction used in the United Kingdom that may be applied to a group of roads within the zone. The intended purpose of a CPZ is to reduce the clutter that can arise from erecting sev ...
, making the majority of roadside parking available only to residents paying
Council Tax Council Tax is a local taxation system used in England, Scotland and Wales. It is a tax on domestic property, which was introduced in 1993 by the Local Government Finance Act 1992, replacing the short-lived Community Charge, which in turn re ...
and purchasing a permit. This was done in conjunction with an expansion of the controlled parking zone across the city (see
transport in Edinburgh Edinburgh is a major transport hub in east central Scotland and is at the centre of a multi-modal transport network with road, rail and air communications connecting the city with the rest of Scotland and internationally. Transport is an a ...
).


See also

* Foot-Ball Club


References


External links


Merchiston Community Council
(which covers Greenhill)
Google Maps
{{coord, 55, 56, 2, N, 3, 12, 28, W, display=title Areas of Edinburgh