Broomhouse is a district 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 ...

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 ...

. Although on the lands of Old Saughton, its name is adopted from an estate which lay to the north of the

Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway The Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway was authorised by act of Parliament on 4 July 1838. It was opened to passenger traffic on 21 February 1842, between its Glasgow Queen Street railway station (sometimes referred to at first as Dundas Street) and ...

. The earliest recorded versions of the name (c.1600) were variations on Brum(e)hous. It mainly comprises a low-rise council housing estate built between 1947 and 1950. It borders on

Parkhead Parkhead () is a district in the East End of Glasgow. Its name comes from a small weaving hamlet (place), hamlet at the meeting place of the Great Eastern Road (now the Gallowgate and Tollcross Road) and Westmuir Street. Glasgow's Eastern Necro ...

Sighthill Sighthill may refer to: * Sighthill, Edinburgh Sighthill is a suburb in the west of Edinburgh, Scotland. The area is bordered by Broomhouse, Edinburgh, Broomhouse and Parkhead, Edinburgh, Parkhead to the east, South Gyle to the north, the indu ...

, and Saughton Mains. The arterial route of Calder Road ( A71) passes to the south.

Transport

Bridges and roundabout on the B701 - geograph

Parallel to Broomhouse Drive was Scotland's first guided busway, West Edinburgh Busway, opened in 2004. The around one-mile section of two-lane busway was, at the time, the longest section of continuous bus guideway in the UK. Subsequently, it has been converted as part of the

Edinburgh Trams Edinburgh Trams is a tramway in Edinburgh, Scotland, operated by Edinburgh Trams Ltd. It is an line between Newhaven, Edinburgh, Newhaven and Edinburgh Airport, with 23 tram stops, stops. A modern tram network for Edinburgh was proposed by ...

route with Saughton tram stop at the eastern end of Broomhouse Drive. The

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

railway passes to the north, but there is no railway station. There are regular bus services passing nearby operated by Lothian Buses and Lothian Country. Services 1, 2, 3, 12, 21, 22, 22A, 25, X27, X28, 30, 33, 34, 35 & 36 (as of October 2024). There is also the Tram which operates nearby at Saughton Tram stop.

Amenities

There were two schools (one

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

the other

non-denominational A non-denominational person or organization is one that does not follow (or is not restricted to) any particular or specific religious denomination. The term has been used in the context of various faiths, including Jainism, Baháʼí Faith, Zoro ...

), now merged. a community centre, two Church congregations (St. Joseph's R.C and St David's Broomhouse C.o.S.) and a counselling centre here. Medical facilities are in nearby Sighthill and

Corstorphine Corstorphine (Scottish Gaelic: ''Crois Thoirfinn'') ( ) is an area of the Scottish capital city of Edinburgh. Formerly a separate village and parish to the west of Edinburgh, it is now a suburb of the city, having been formally incorporate ...

. Saughton House is a large Government building, built in the 1950s, fronting on Broomhouse Drive and houses 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 ...

HM Revenue & Customs His Majesty's Revenue and Customs (commonly HM Revenue and Customs, or HMRC, and formerly Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs) is a Departments of the United Kingdom Government, department of the UK government responsible for the tax collectio ...

, Driver & Vehicle Licensing Agency and a number of other government offices. The Broomhouse Centre (now Space at The Broomhouse Hub), has served the community since 1990 and a new Community Hub building was opened in 2019 at a cost of £3.2m. The Hub provides a range of activities and support for the local community as well as a Community Café.

Notable residents

Les McKeown Leslie Richard McKeown (12 November 195520 April 2021) was a Scottish singer. He was the lead vocalist of the pop rock band Bay City Rollers during their most successful period in the 1970s. Early life Leslie Richard McKeown was born in Broomho ...

of the

Bay City Rollers The Bay City Rollers are a Scottish pop rock band known for their worldwide teen idol popularity, as a band in the 1970s. One of many 70s acts heralded as the "biggest group since the Beatles", they were called the "tartan teen sensations fro ...

, was born and brought up in the area.

References

External links

St. David's website

The BIG Project

St. Joseph's R.C. Church website

Sighthill, Broomhouse and Parkhead Community Council

Space at The Broomhouse Hub
{{Areas of Edinburgh Areas of Edinburgh Housing estates in Edinburgh