Niddrie is a residential suburb in

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. It is situated in the south-east of the city, south-west of the seaside area of Portobello, and west of

Musselburgh Musselburgh (; sco, Musselburrae; gd, Baile nam Feusgan) is the largest settlement in East Lothian, Scotland, on the coast of the Firth of Forth, east of Edinburgh city centre. It has a population of . History The name Musselburgh is Ol ...

East Lothian East Lothian (; sco, East Lowden; gd, Lodainn an Ear) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, as well as a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area. The county was called Haddingtonshire until 1921. In 1975, the his ...

near Fort Kinnaird retail park.

History

The place name is believed to be of

Brythonic Brittonic or Brythonic may refer to: *Common Brittonic, or Brythonic, the Celtic language anciently spoken in Great Britain *Brittonic languages, a branch of the Celtic languages descended from Common Brittonic *Britons (Celtic people) The Br ...

origin, *''nuada tref'' meaning "new settlement". It was known historically as Niddry Marischal. The Wauchope family owned the majority of the area up to the 1930s. Robert Wauchope,

Archbishop of Armagh In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdio ...

and Primate of Ireland, was born in Niddrie Marischal around 1500. In the 1590s

Archibald Wauchope of Niddrie Archibald Wauchope of Niddrie ( – 1597) Scottish landowner and rebel. He was the son of Robert Wauchope of Niddrie, who died in 1598, and Margaret Dundas, daughter of James Dundas of Dundas. He was known as the "Laird of Niddrie, younger". Th ...

was a supporter of the rebel

Earl of Bothwell Earl of Bothwell was a title that was created twice in the Peerage of Scotland. It was first created for Patrick Hepburn in 1488, and was forfeited in 1567. Subsequently, the earldom was re-created for the 4th Earl's nephew and heir of line, F ...

. The family home Niddrie Marischal House was immediately west of the present-day Jack Kane Centre sports complex in Hunters Hall Park. The Wauchopes eventually donated their lands to the city. In 1839 John Henderson designed the lodge and gates to the Mansion. The House was demolished although the vaulted tomb-house, which adjoined the western extension, remains as a listed building.

Social housing Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is usually owned by a government authority, either central or local. Although the common goal of public housing is to provide affordable housing, the details, terminology, d ...

was built in Niddrie Mains by Edinburgh

Corporation A corporation is an organization—usually a group of people or a company—authorized by the state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law "born out of statute"; a legal person in legal context) and ...

from 1927 until the mid-1930s, under the designs of City Architect,

Ebenezer James MacRae Ebenezer James MacRae (18 January 1881 – 15 January 1951) was a 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 Scotland. To family ...

. The new housing was linked to a major

slum clearance Slum clearance, slum eviction or slum removal is an urban renewal strategy used to transform low income settlements with poor reputation into another type of development or housing. This has long been a strategy for redeveloping urban communities; ...

scheme in the St. Leonard's Ward of Edinburgh. Families from these cleared areas were housed together with local coal mining families from Niddrie. The Niddrie Mains estate is now almost completely demolished, with no attempts made to recondition the buildings. The land has been mostly designated for private housing. The land that occupied most of the social housing in the community is being regenerated. The site is currently being developed by PARC, an ALMO or

Arms Length Management Organisation In the United Kingdom, an arms-length management organisation (ALMO) is a not-for-profit company that provides housing services on behalf of a local authority. Usually an ALMO is set up by the authority to manage and improve all or part of its h ...

, fully owned by the

City of Edinburgh Council The City of Edinburgh Council is the local government authority for the city of Edinburgh, capital of Scotland. With a population of in mid-2019, it is the second most populous local authority area in Scotland. In its current form, the counci ...

. The development includes a new primary school for the surrounding area, with the old Niddrie Mill Primary School and St Francis Primary School being put on a joint campus. The first, though unassociated, phase of redevelopment in the Niddrie Mains area was the Hays area, constructed around 2001 and consisting of two-storey blocks with gardens and pedestrianised streets.

Crime

Between the 1980s and 2000s, Niddrie suffered from a high crime rate.

Antisocial behaviour Antisocial behavior is a behavior that is defined as the violation of the rights of others by committing crime, such as stealing and physical attack in addition to other behaviors such as lying and manipulation. It is considered to be disrupti ...

is fairly common, though gang fights and

knife crime Knife legislation is defined as the body of statutory law or case law promulgated or enacted by a government or other governing jurisdiction that prohibits, criminalizes, or restricts the otherwise legal manufacture, importation, sale, transfer, p ...

are of a lesser degree today compared to the levels recorded between the 1980s and 2000s. During the 1980s, Niddrie was one of the most drug-riddled communities in Scotland, and still has problems with

class A drug These drugs are known in the UK as ''controlled drugs'', because this is the term by which the act itself refers to them. In more general terms, however, many of these drugs are also controlled by the Medicines Act 1968, there are many other dru ...

use today. For a number of years, the area has had problems with joyriding and youngsters stealing cars and motorbikes.

Greendykes Greendykes is a neighbourhood of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. It was originally a council scheme, consisting mostly of low-rise flats but also two 15-storey tower blocks (Greendykes House and Wauchope House). It is sometimes considered t ...

and Niddrie Mains was ranked as the fourth-most deprived area in Scotland in the 2006

Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation The Scottish index of multiple deprivation (SIMD) is a statistical tool used by local authorities, the Scottish government, the NHS and other government bodies in Scotland to support policy and decision making. It won the Royal Statistical Societ ...

Transport

Niddrie once had its own railway station, 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 s ...

. Today the nearest stations are at and , both located on

Edinburgh Crossrail The Borders Railway connects the city of Edinburgh with Galashiels and Tweedbank in the Scottish Borders. The railway follows most of the alignment of the northern part of the Waverley Route, a former double-track line in southern Scotland ...

and

Borders Railway The Borders Railway connects the city of Edinburgh with Galashiels and Tweedbank in the Scottish Borders. The railway follows most of the alignment of the northern part of the Waverley Route, a former double-track line in southern Scotland ...

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 ...

provide 6 buses to the area: 2 Gyle Centre - Hermiston Gait - Broomhouse - Saughton - Gorgie - Haymarket - Grassmarket - Southside - Prestonfield - Niddrie - Asda *Sunday buses terminate at Hermiston Gait *Evening Buses terminate at Broomhouse Roundabout 14 Muirhouse - Granton - Pilton - Ferry Road - Leith - Elm Row - North Bridge - Southside - Prestonfield - Niddrie 21 Royal Infirmary - Niddrie - Portobello - Leith - Ferry Road - Silverknowes - Davidsons Mains - Clermiston - Sighthill - Gyle Centre/Clovenstone 30 Musselburgh - Queen Margaret University - Fort Kinnaird - Niddrie - Prestonfield - Southside - Princes Street - Longstone - Wester Hailes N30 Westside Plaza - Baberton - Clovenstone - Longstone - Princes Street - Niddrie - Queen Margaret University - Stoneybank -

Community Arts

Immediately adjacent to

Craigmillar Craigmillar ( gd, Creag a' Mhuilleir, IPA: �kʰʲɾʲekˈaˈvɯʎɪɾʲ, from the Gaelic ''Creag Maol Ard'', meaning 'High Bare Rock', is an area of Edinburgh, Scotland, about south east of the city centre, with Duddingston to the north and ...

, and part of Edinburgh City's political ward Craigmillar/Portobello, it was also the home of the

Craigmillar Festival Society The Craigmillar Festival Society (CFS) was a community arts organisation that existed in the Craigmillar area of Edinburgh, Scotland from 1962 to 2002. It is regarded as important contributor to the Community Arts Movement. Starting in 1967, ma ...

, a community arts organisation, founded by local mother and "Woman Of Achievement" Helen Crummy.

References

External links

Niddrie
at

Gazetteer for Scotland The ''Gazetteer for Scotland'' is a gazetteer covering the geography, history and people of Scotland. It was conceived in 1995 by Bruce Gittings of the University of Edinburgh and David Munro of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society, and c ...

Photos of Niddrie
{{Areas of Edinburgh Areas of Edinburgh