Leith (; ) is a port area in the north 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, founded at the mouth of the
Water of Leith and is home to the Port of Leith.
The earliest surviving historical references are in the
royal charter
A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, but ...
authorising the construction of
Holyrood Abbey in 1128 in which it is termed ''Inverlet'' (Inverleith). After centuries of control by Edinburgh, Leith was made a separate burgh in 1833 only to be merged into Edinburgh in 1920.
Leith is located on the southern coast of the
Firth of Forth
The Firth of Forth () is a firth in Scotland, an inlet of the North Sea that separates Fife to its north and Lothian to its south. Further inland, it becomes the estuary of the River Forth and several other rivers.
Name
''Firth'' is a cognate ...
and lies within the
City of Edinburgh council area; since 2007
it has formed one of 17 multi-member
wards of the city.
History

As the major port serving Edinburgh, Leith has seen many significant events in Scottish history.
First settlement
The earliest evidence of settlement in Leith comes from several archaeological digs undertaken in
The Shore area in the late 20th century. Amongst the finds were medieval wharf edges from the 12th century. This date fits with the earliest documentary evidence of settlement in Leith, the foundation charter of Holyrood Abbey.
Mary of Guelders
Mary of Guelders (; c. 1434/1435 – 1 December 1463) was Queen of Scots by marriage to King James II. She ruled as regent of Scotland from 1460 to 1463.
Background
She was the daughter of Arnold, Duke of Guelders, and Catherine of Clev ...
, the bride of
James II, arrived on 18 May 1449 and rested in the Convent of St Anthony. Prominent Leith merchants and shipowners included James Makysone, who supplied tapestry to
James IV in 1498 for his new lodging at
Stirling Castle
Stirling Castle, located in Stirling, is one of the largest and most historically and architecturally important castles in Scotland. The castle sits atop an Intrusive rock, intrusive Crag and tail, crag, which forms part of the Stirling Sill ge ...
and in 1503 imported a timber keel from France for building one of the king's ships.
1500s
The town was burnt by the
Earl of Hertford (on the orders of
Henry VIII) in retaliation for the rejection of the
Treaty of Greenwich by the
Parliament of Scotland
In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
in 1543.
Mary of Guise ruled Scotland from Leith in 1560 as
Regent
In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...
while her daughter,
Mary, Queen of Scots
Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was List of Scottish monarchs, Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567.
The only surviving legit ...
remained in France. Mary of Guise moved the Scottish Court to Leith, to a site that is now Parliament Street, off Coalhill. According to the 18th-century historian
William Maitland, her palace was situated on Rotten Row, now Water Street. Artifacts from the demolished residence are held by the
National Museum of Scotland, and her sculptured coat of arms, dated 1560, can be seen in
South Leith Parish Church. When the large French garrison stationed in Leith was attacked by
Scottish Protestant lords, reinforced by troops and artillery sent from England, Mary of Guise was forced to shut herself in
Edinburgh Castle
Edinburgh Castle is a historic castle in Edinburgh, Scotland. It stands on Castle Rock (Edinburgh), Castle Rock, which has been occupied by humans since at least the Iron Age. There has been a royal castle on the rock since the reign of Malcol ...
. In June 1560, Mary of Guise died, and the
Siege of Leith ended with the departure of the French troops in accordance with the Treaty of Leith, also known as the
Treaty of Edinburgh.

Two mounds on
Leith Links, known as "Giant's Brae" and "Lady Fyfe's Brae", identified as Somerset's Battery and Pelham's Battery respectively, are believed to be artillery mounds created for the siege in April 1560 and are listed as scheduled monuments, but may be natural hillocks. The best documented day of the siege was 7 May 1560, when the English and Scots charged the walls of Leith with ladders that turned out to be too short. John Knox records the delight of Mary of Guise at the failure of the attack, and English sources report 1000 casualties.
On 19 August 1561, Mary, Queen of Scots, arrived in Leith and, finding no welcoming party to receive her, made a brief stop at the house of Andrew Lamb, before being collected and escorted by coach to
Holyrood Palace
The Palace of Holyroodhouse ( or ), commonly known as Holyrood Palace, is the official residence of the British monarch in Scotland. Located at the bottom of the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, at the opposite end to Edinburgh Castle, Holyrood has s ...
, to begin her ill-fated six-year-long reign. Mary's court came to the sands of Leith to enjoy equestrian tournaments of "
running at the ring" performed by courtiers and diplomats in exotic costumes.
After the
abdication of Mary Queen of Scots in 1567, during the ensuing civil war, troops fighting for
James VI of Scotland against his mother's supporters in Edinburgh Castle based themselves in Leith from 1571 to 1573, a period called the
"Wars between Leith and Edinburgh". In January 1581 The Shore was the scene of a mock combat, involving an assault on the Pope's
Castel Sant'Angelo built on boats, for the marriage of
Elizabeth Stuart, 2nd Countess of Moray and
James Stewart for the entertainment of guests including James VI. In 1590, James's wife,
Anne of Denmark
Anne of Denmark (; 12 December 1574 – 2 March 1619) was the wife of King James VI and I. She was List of Scottish royal consorts, Queen of Scotland from their marriage on 20 August 1589 and List of English royal consorts, Queen of Engl ...
, was lodged in the
King's Wark when she arrived.
1600s
In 1622 there was conflict between privateer "
Dunkirker ships" flying the Spanish flag and ships from the
Dutch Republic
The United Provinces of the Netherlands, commonly referred to in historiography as the Dutch Republic, was a confederation that existed from 1579 until the Batavian Revolution in 1795. It was a predecessor state of the present-day Netherlands ...
.
King James allowed a Dunkirker to lie at
Leith Roads in June 1622, and soldiers from the ship were able to come ashore at Leith. Three Dutch ships, commanded by
Willem de Zoete, Lord of Hautain,
Admiral
Admiral is one of the highest ranks in many navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force. Admiral is ranked above vice admiral and below admiral of ...
of
Zeeland
Zeeland (; ), historically known in English by the Endonym and exonym, exonym Zealand, is the westernmost and least populous province of the Netherlands. The province, located in the southwest of the country, borders North Brabant to the east ...
, arrived and attacked the Dunkirker through the night. The fighting stopped in the morning when the tide beached the ships. The Scottish authorities requested the fighting stop. The ships were allowed into Leith harbour where artillery from
Edinburgh Castle
Edinburgh Castle is a historic castle in Edinburgh, Scotland. It stands on Castle Rock (Edinburgh), Castle Rock, which has been occupied by humans since at least the Iron Age. There has been a royal castle on the rock since the reign of Malcol ...
was placed to ensure order.
Leith suffered during the 1645 plague outbreak, with over 50% of the population in the southern district dying. Archaeological excavations in 2016 at St Mary's RC Primary School, by Wardell Armstrong, as part of a planning condition, found a mass grave of 81 bodies from the 1645 plague. The archaeologists surmised that there was extreme fear of dying from this plague, likely
Pneumonic, as many of the bodies were hastily buried in their clothes and still had money and other personal items on them, indicating that people did not want to touch the bodies, even to remove money.
In 1650, Leith was a prospective battleground when the Army of the Covenant, led by
General David Leslie, threw up an earthen rampart between
Calton Hill and Leith to defend the northern approach to Edinburgh against
Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English statesman, politician and soldier, widely regarded as one of the most important figures in British history. He came to prominence during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, initially ...
's forces. This rampart became the line of one of Edinburgh's longest streets,
Leith Walk. After Cromwell's victory at the
Battle of Dunbar in 1650 and subsequent occupation of Scotland, a fort known as ''Leith Citadel'' was erected in 1656 to regulate the port traffic. All that remains of the fort today is a vaulted trance in Dock Street which was its main entrance. New industry in Leith included the
Leith Sugar House, founded in 1677.
[T. C. Smout, 'The Early Scottish Sugar Houses, 1660-1720', ''Economic History Review'', 14:2 (1961), pp. 248-250.]
1700s
During the
American War of Independence the Scot,
John Paul Jones, who, with
John Barry, is credited as founder of the
US Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...
, set sail on 14 August 1779 as commodore of a squadron of seven ships with the intention of destroying British commerce in the North Sea. He intended to capture the port of Leith and hold it for ransom, but his plan was thwarted when a gale on 16 September kept him at the mouth of the Firth of Forth. The scare he caused led to the hasty erection of Leith Fort, with a battery of nine guns, designed by
James Craig, the architect of Edinburgh's New Town, and built in 1780. A Georgian terrace to the north-east served as officers' quarters, and was known as "London Row" because, being brick-built, it looked more like a London terrace than any in Edinburgh. The fort was in active use until 1955, latterly serving for
National Service training. Most of the barracks were demolished to build a Council housing scheme centred on Fort House and enclosed by the old fort walls. The council development was an award-winning scheme in its day (1955), but the building was demolished in January 2013 and the site has been redeveloped with new low-density housing, again award-winning. A pair of the old fort's gatehouses survive at the southern entrance to the scheme.
From the twelfth century South Leith was part of the parish of
Restalrig
Restalrig ( ) is a small residential suburb of Edinburgh, Scotland (historically, an estate and independent parish).
It is located east of the city centre, west of Craigentinny and to the east of Lochend, Edinburgh, Lochend, both of which it ...
and had no church of its own. After the
Scottish Reformation
The Scottish Reformation was the process whereby Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland broke away from the Catholic Church, and established the Protestant Church of Scotland. It forms part of the wider European 16th-century Protestant Reformation.
Fr ...
the principal parish
kirk for Leith was South Leith Parish Church, originally constructed in 1483. In June 1811 a census gave the population of South Leith as 15,938; North Leith 4,875. With a procession and ceremony, the foundation stone of the new church for the parish of North Leith was laid on 11 April 1814.

Leith was the port of entry for the
visit of King George IV to Scotland, and ''The Old Ship Hotel and King's Landing'' was then given its new name, to mark the king's arrival by ship's boat at Leith ''Shore'' for this event, and this monarch was welcomed by the
High Constabulary of the Port of Leith. A painting of the occasion hung in
Leith Town Hall, now Leith Police station.
1800s
On 20 May 1806, there was a procession of the
Lord Provost of Edinburgh
The Right Honourable Lord Provost of Edinburgh is elected by and is the convener of the City of Edinburgh Council and serves not only as the chair of that body, but as a figurehead for the entire city, ex officio the Lord-Lieutenant of ...
,
Baillies, and Council, along with a numerous company of ladies and gentleman, for the opening of the first new wet dock, the first of its kind in Scotland. The
Fife
Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the s ...
packet called ''The Buccleuch'' was the first to enter the dock, with the civic dignitaries on board, amid discharges of artillery from the fort and His Majesty's warships in Leith Roads. The foundation stone for the second (middle) wet dock was laid on 14 March 1811, which was completed and opened with due ceremony in 1817 by Lord Provost Arbuthnot. The same year the
Trinity House in Kirkgate was erected in Grecian architectural style at an expense of £2500.
In 1809, the
Tally Toor, a
martello tower was constructed to defend the entrance of the harbour during the
Napoleonic Wars
{{Infobox military conflict
, conflict = Napoleonic Wars
, partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars
, image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg
, caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...
.
It is now a scheduled monument within the port.
Historically Leith was governed by the Town Council of Edinburgh, with separately organised baillies appointed by various bodies without contact with each other. The result became very unsatisfactory, and half of Leith was provided with no municipal government whatever or any local
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 judi ...
s. An act of Parliament, the (
7 & 8 Geo. 4. c. cxii) arranged for municipal government and administration of justice in the town, providing watching, paving, cleansing, and lighting, with Edinburgh Council responding to the views of Leith townspeople. The
Burgh Reform Act 1833 (
3 & 4 Will. 4. c. 46) made Leith a parliamentary burgh, which jointly with
Portobello and
Musselburgh
Musselburgh (; ; ) is the largest settlement in East Lothian, Scotland, on the coast of the Firth of Forth, east of Edinburgh city centre. It had a population of as of .
History
The name Musselburgh is Old English language, Old English in ...
was represented by one
Member of Parliament (MP). On 1 November 1833, Leith became a separate
municipal burgh, with its own provost, magistrates, and council, and was no longer run by bailies.
Historically the Lord Provost of Edinburgh was ''virtue officii'' Admiral of the
Firth of Forth
The Firth of Forth () is a firth in Scotland, an inlet of the North Sea that separates Fife to its north and Lothian to its south. Further inland, it becomes the estuary of the River Forth and several other rivers.
Name
''Firth'' is a cognate ...
, the Provost of Leith was Admiral of the port, and his four bailies were admirals-depute.
Emperor
The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...
Nicholas II of Russia arrived by sea at Leith with his family and suite on Tuesday 22 September 1896. Scottish anarchist
Thomas Hastie Bell managed to get in his face to criticise him.
1900s and 2000s
Leith was the scene of the
dockers strike in 1913 recounted in the book ''Red Scotland''.
Continued growth meant that Leith and Edinburgh formed a contiguous urban area. Leith was merged with Edinburgh on 1 November 1920 despite a
plebiscite in which the people of Leith voted 26,810 to 4,340 against the merger. The population of Leith at the time of the merger was 80,000, representing 20% of the entire population of Edinburgh in around 5% of the city area, reflecting the town's high density. It was Scotland's sixth largest town at the time of the merger.
Leith suffered from considerable demolition through Improvement or slum clearance schemes, with many historic buildings lost rather than upgraded. This included the Leith Citadel and Central Comprehensive Development Area agreed in the 1950s that saw the loss of the Kirkgate, Leith's historic centre.
Until 1923 there was no through tram service between Leith and Edinburgh; at the boundary in Leith Walk it was necessary to change from a
Leith tram (electrically powered) to an Edinburgh tram (cable hauled) until the electrification of the
Edinburgh Corporation Tramways in the early 1920s.

Leith has undergone significant regeneration and is now a busy port with visits from cruise liners and the home of the
Royal Yacht Britannia, the
Ocean Terminal shopping centre
A shopping center in American English, shopping centre in English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English (see American and British English spelling differences#-re, -er, spelling differences), shopping complex, shopping arcade, ...
, and administrative offices for several departments of 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 ...
. The council and government's 'Leith Project' provided a further economic boost. The shore area of Leith, once unattractive, is now a centre for a range of new pubs and restaurants in charming surroundings. On 6 November 2003, Leith was the location for the
MTV Europe Music Awards, with a temporary venue being built next to Ocean Terminal.
Traditional industries
Leith was Scotland's leader in several industries for many centuries. Of these the most notable are:
* Glass – the Leith Glassworks stood on Baltic Street and dated from 1746. There is also some reference to earlier glass production from 1682 at Leith Citadel. Leith specialised in wine bottles, largely for export to France and Spain. At its peak () production was one million bottles per week. The Leith pattern bottle is the parallel-sided, round shouldered, narrow neck bottle now dominant within the wine industry. Around 1770 the company branched into lead crystal glass, mainly for
chandelier
A chandelier () is an ornamental lighting device, typically with spreading branched supports for multiple lights, designed to be hung from the ceiling. Chandeliers are often ornate, and they were originally designed to hold candles, but now inca ...
s. This was under a new company name of the
Edinburgh Crystal Company but stood on the same site in Leith (ironically this company has never truly been in "Edinburgh").
* Soap – the Anchor Soapworks was established on Water Street around 1680. This largely used whale oil in its production. This survived until around 1930.
* Wine and whisky storage – wine storage in Leith dates from at least the early 16th century, notably being connected with the Vaults on
Henderson Street from this time. At its peak there were around 100 warehouses storing wine and brandy. In the late 1880s, due to the collapse of wine harvest in Europe, most of these were "converted" for the storage of whisky used in the growing business of whisky blending and bottling. Important in this business were William Sanderson with
Vat 69,
John Crabbie who also produced green ginger wine, and Macdonald & Muir who later bought the
Glenmorangie distillery. Around 85 bonded warehouses stood in Leith in the 1960s. The last bond, on Water Street, closed around 1995. An offshoot to the wine industry were several vinegar works.
* Lime juice –
Rose's lime juice was founded by Lachlan Rose in Leith on Commercial Street in 1868. This was originally and primarily focussed upon provision of
vitamin C
Vitamin C (also known as ascorbic acid and ascorbate) is a water-soluble vitamin found in citrus and other fruits, berries and vegetables. It is also a generic prescription medication and in some countries is sold as a non-prescription di ...
to seamen.
* Shipbuilding – originally centred on the Water of Leith and limited in scale due to the shallow water, Leith's shipbuilding started to fade as vessels increased in size. Latterly Leith built specialised ship types: tugs, hotel ships, cable-layers etc. Whilst the most notable large shipyard (
Henry Robb
Henry Robb, Limited, known colloquially as Robbs, was a Scottish shipbuilding company based at Leith Docks in Edinburgh. Robbs built small-to-medium sized vessels, particularly tugs and dredgers.
History
The company was founded on 1 April ...
's) closed in 1983, this was technically outlived by a very small shipbuilder on Sheriff Brae (run by the Scottish Co-operative Society) which closed around 1988. The most notable ships built in Leith are the
SS ''Sirius'', one of the first steamships to cross the Atlantic, and
SS ''Copenhagen'', one of the largest rigged ships ever built. Robb's yard also made a great contribution to the RN and MN during the Second World War, building forty-two vessels for the Royal Navy, fourteen merchant ships and refitted and repaired nearly 3,000 ships of the Royal Navy and Merchant Navy. This means that one new ship was launched on an average every six weeks and a ship repaired every day of this long and bloody conflict. The RN list included Flower and Castle Class Corvettes and River, Loch and Bay Class Frigates.
* Lead – Scotland's largest leadworks stood on the corner of Mitchell Street and Constitution Street. Founded around 1760 the operational part worked until the 1970s and the empty buildings stood until the late 1980s. The offices, on
Constitution Street, still survive. The company specialised in lead pipes for water supply and lead drainpipes. They also produced lead sheet for roofing and lead shot for weapons.
* Sugar refining was developed at the
Leith Sugar House by Robert Douglas, an established soap boiler, from 1677.
* Whaling – originally focussed on local, and Icelandic waters (the last whale in the
Firth of Forth
The Firth of Forth () is a firth in Scotland, an inlet of the North Sea that separates Fife to its north and Lothian to its south. Further inland, it becomes the estuary of the River Forth and several other rivers.
Name
''Firth'' is a cognate ...
was caught in 1834); by the mid 19th century ships were travelling to the
Antarctic
The Antarctic (, ; commonly ) is the polar regions of Earth, polar region of Earth that surrounds the South Pole, lying within the Antarctic Circle. It is antipodes, diametrically opposite of the Arctic region around the North Pole.
The Antar ...
. In the early 1900s, the
Christian Salvesen
Christian Salvesen was a Scottish whaling, transport and logistics company with a long and varied history, employing 13,000 staff and operating in seven countries in western Europe. In December 2007, it was acquired by France, French listed tr ...
company developed significant interests in whaling, initially in the Arctic, and then in the Antarctic. Among their many whaling stations in the South Atlantic, they established and operated from a base on the island of South Georgia, south east of the Falkland Islands at
Leith Harbour
Leith Harbour (), also known as Port Leith, was a whaling station on the northeast coast of South Georgia Island, South Georgia, established and operated by Christian Salvesen, Christian Salvesen Ltd, Edinburgh. The station was in operation f ...
(named for their base in Scotland). South Georgia later came to fame at the beginning of the
Falklands War
The Falklands War () was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British Overseas Territories, British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and Falkland Islands Dependenci ...
). The company moved from Leith to the Fettes area of Edinburgh around 1980 and then left Edinburgh altogether in the mid-1990s. The founder,
Christian Salvesen
Christian Salvesen was a Scottish whaling, transport and logistics company with a long and varied history, employing 13,000 staff and operating in seven countries in western Europe. In December 2007, it was acquired by France, French listed tr ...
is buried in Rosebank Cemetery. Whaling ships from Leith brought the very first penguins to Edinburgh Zoo around 1900.
* Corn trading – A
Corn Exchange was erected in Constitution Street in 1861.
* Fishing – During the 19th century Leith became an important entrepôt for the Scottish herring trade, with exports peaking at 388,899 barrels in 1907.
Geography
After decades of industrial decline,
deindustrialisation,
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; ...
and resultant depopulation in the post-war era, Leith gradually began to enjoy an upturn in fortunes in the late 1980s. Several old industrial sites were developed with modest, affordable housing, while small industrial business units were constructed at Swanfield, Bonnington, Seafield and off Lindsay Road. The Shore developed a clutch of upmarket restaurants, including the first of the chain of Malmaison hotels in a conversion of a seamen's mission, whilst the once industrially-polluted and desolate banks of the Water of Leith were cleaned up and a public walkway opened.
Leith's gradual revival was also helped by the decision of the then
Scottish Office to site their new offices in Leith Docks (just north of the old infilled East Dock). The site was chosen as part of a design-and-build competition against other sites at Haymarket and Marionville. It was completed in 1994. The hoped-for influx of well-paid civil service jobs failed to have much local impact as most commute to the office, and only a small percentage venture beyond the confines of the office during lunchtimes. It did further foster Leith's growing reputation as a
white-collar, small business location. Further large-scale service and tourist development followed, including
Ocean Terminal and the permanently moored Royal Yacht Britannia.
The
Edinburgh Trams light rail line extension, from the city centre to
Newhaven opened to passengers in June 2023 providing Leith and the new dock developments with a fast and convenient route for both local commuters and visitors.

In 2004 the owner of the docks,
Forth Ports, announced plans to eventually close the port and carry out a major redevelopment of the area. The planned development, which was given supplementary planning guidance by the
City of Edinburgh Council in 2004, was a small town with up to 17,000 new homes.
Area
One of the areas is
Timber Bush which was originally used as a timber market.
Until its amalgamation with Edinburgh in 1920, the southern-most town border was the middle of Pilrig Street.
Expansion in the Georgian era gave rise to streets such as Queen Charlotte Street, named after
Charlotte, the consort of
George III
George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland, Ireland from 25 October 1760 until his death in 1820. The Acts of Union 1800 unified Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and ...
.
Religion

Historically, due its Catholic connections (and French garrison), Leith was one of the last towns to have Catholic sympathies post-Reformation. Although the preceptory (small monastery) of St Anthony's was destroyed soon after 1560 the other churches were quickly adapted to Protestant use. There was also an Episcopalian meeting house near Kapple's Wynd (later renamed Cables Wynd) from 1688, somewhat inexplicably called the John Knox Church. The church was active from 1688 and was last used by a visit of
John Wesley
John Wesley ( ; 2 March 1791) was an English cleric, Christian theology, theologian, and Evangelism, evangelist who was a principal leader of a Christian revival, revival movement within the Church of England known as Methodism. The societies ...
but the huge crowd he drew was too large to fit. Bishop Robert Forbes, author of the
Lyon in Mourning had an Episcopal meeting house in Leith for almost forty years until his death in 1775.
Leith still has several notable historic churches, including
North Leith Parish Church and South Leith Parish Church (both of the
Church of Scotland
The Church of Scotland (CoS; ; ) is a Presbyterian denomination of Christianity that holds the status of the national church in Scotland. It is one of the country's largest, having 245,000 members in 2024 and 259,200 members in 2023. While mem ...
), and the
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 ...
St Mary's Star of the Sea. The area has
Sikh
Sikhs (singular Sikh: or ; , ) are an ethnoreligious group who adhere to Sikhism, a religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ''Si ...
and
Hindu
Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...
temples, a
Shia imambargah, a
Sunni
Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Mu ...
mosque and community centre, a
Pentecostal
Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a movement within the broader Evangelical wing of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes direct personal experience of God in Christianity, God through Baptism with the Holy Spirit#Cl ...
centre and a
Ukrainian Greek Catholic church. It also has a former
Norwegian church, which is home now to the
Leith School of Art.
As of 2011 (the most recent Census for which data is available), the religious composition of Leith was as follows:
Transport
A regular stage coach service ran between Bernard Street and Edinburgh's Old Town from the mid-18th century. By 1863 this had become a horse-drawn omnibus running every 5 minutes from 9am to 10pm. This was put on tracks sometime around 1880 effectively then becoming a horse-drawn tram. Leith was the first town in Scotland to electrify its tram system (1905). Leith Corporation Tramways were merged into Edinburgh Corporation Tramways as part of the 1920 merger of the two burgh councils. Tram services ran until 1956 and were then replaced by buses due to the contemporary perception of their greater flexibility.
In the mid-19th century the railways came. Leith had one horse-drawn line pre-dating steam-trains, bringing coal from Dalkeith to a station at the north end of Constitution Street, to serve the glassworks there. This dated from the late 18th century. Steam trains arrived in the 1840s, being some of the earliest lines in Britain. When the railways were at their height, Leith had four passenger stations and many goods stations. However, in the 1960s, the
Beeching report recommended the closure of almost all of Leith's railway infrastructure. Today, only one freight line that connects to the dock remains in use.
Although there are no longer any passenger rail services serving Leith, two station buildings partially remain:
*
Leith Central, on the corner of Leith Walk and Duke Street. The station clock, offices and public house (Central Bar) remain.
*
Leith Citadel, on Commercial Street. The building is now a youth centre.
The
SS ''Sirius'' (built in Leith) beat the
SS ''Great Western'' by one day in being the first steamship to cross the Atlantic but, as a much smaller ship, was eclipsed by the press coverage given to the larger ship. Leith offered ferry services to many European ports, including Hamburg and Oslo.
Today, Leith is served by various bus services provided by
Lothian Buses and a tram service provided by
Edinburgh Trams. This tram service was due to serve Leith in 2011, however, due to construction and funding issues, the section of the line towards Leith and Newhaven was delayed. It opened just after midday on 7 June 2023 with Leith stops at Balfour Street (Leith Walk), Foot of the Walk (Constitution Street), The Shore (Constitution Street),
Port of Leith and
Ocean Terminal.
Culture and community

Leith has a long history of pioneering social advances, some of which were the first of their kind in Scotland:
All boys were educated for free from 1555 onwards. This was paid for by the local trade guilds. All girls were educated from 1820, a long time after the boys, but a very early example of free education for females (only required by law from 1876). A free hospital service was provided from 1777, paid for by a local tax, with beds sponsored by local shops. Leith had electric street lighting from 1890 and electric trams from 1905 (only Blackpool was earlier in the UK). The first public sewer in Scotland was built in Bernard Street in 1780; this flowed into the Water of Leith.
Leith was formerly a port linked to the trade of the
Hanseatic League
The Hanseatic League was a Middle Ages, medieval commercial and defensive network of merchant guilds and market towns in Central Europe, Central and Northern Europe, Northern Europe. Growing from a few Northern Germany, North German towns in the ...
.
Leith is also home to The Queen's former floating Royal residence, the Royal Yacht Britannia, now a five-star visitor attraction and evening events venue permanently berthed at the Ocean Terminal shopping centre.
Leith was named as the fourth "coolest neighbourhood in the world" by ''
Time Out'' in 2021.
The
Port of Leith distillery, is the United Kingdom's only vertical whisky distillery.
Educational establishments
Leith is home to
Leith Academy, one of the oldest schools in Scotland, and to the Leith School of Art, which along with
Glasgow School of Art is one of only two independent art schools in Scotland.
From 1855 until 1987,
Leith Nautical College provided training for
Merchant Navy seafarers in Scotland.
Media and art
Festivals occur throughout the year, including
Leith Festival, Leith Late festival, PLU Parents Like Us and the
Edinburgh Mela on Leith Links, part of the Edinburgh Festival since 2010. The Leith Gala, now known as Leith Festival Gala Day is an annual event that has taken place since 1907; it was originally a charity event to raise sponsorship for local hospital beds before the National Health came into place. It has developed into the community-based Leith Festival.
Leith houses a notable number of cultural arts studios and small independent businesses, including the Leith Theatre on Ferry Road, Leith School of Art in North Junction Street, WASP Studios by The Shore and Out of the Blue in the former
Dalmeny Street drill hall.
Leith FM (later renamed Castle FM) started as a week-long RSL station during the late 1990s, linked to Leith Festival. A few years of annual 28-day broadcasts later, the station bid for and won a permanent community radio licence and broadcast for several years on 98.8 FM and online. In December 2013, Leith Dockers Club locked the station out of its rented premises, due to the "substantial" debt it was owed by the station, and the future of the station is currently in doubt.
In popular culture
Scottish folk rock duo
The Proclaimers titled their second album ''
Sunshine on Leith'' after the town, including the
eponymous track.
This spawned a
musical of the same name that included music from The Proclaimers, which itself had a
film adaptation in 2013.
Irvine Welsh
Irvine Welsh (born 27 September 1958) is a Scottish novelist and short story writer. His 1993 novel ''Trainspotting (novel), Trainspotting'' was made into a Trainspotting (film), film of the same name. He has also written plays and screenplays, ...
had his
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...
drama ''Wedding Belles'' (2007) filmed in
Henderson Street. Welsh's novel ''
Trainspotting'' and its prequel, ''
Skagboys'' concern a group of drug users living in the Leith area in the 1980s.
The
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
drama ''
Guilt'' is set in Leith, with filming locations including the Eastern Cemetery. The show is written by
Neil Forsyth, a former Leith resident and stars
Mark Bonnar and
Jamie Sives both of whom attended Leith Academy.
The
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
Radio 4 drama series ''
McLevy'' features stories loosely based upon the historical figure
James McLevy who operated in Leith crime hotspots amongst other locations in Edinburgh.
Ethnicity
Sport

Leith is the home of
Hibernian Football Club which is a member of the
Scottish Premiership.
Leith Athletic Football Club have been part of Leith's sporting culture since their foundation in 1887 until closure in 1955. Reformed in 1996 they amalgamated with
Edinburgh Athletic in 2008 and achieved promotion to the East of Scotland Premier Division in 2011. They host home games at Peffermill 3G.
Leith Links have been used a sports and recreation area over many centuries.
Leith is significant in the historical development of the
rules of golf, as the
Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers played there before moving to
Musselburgh Links and later
Muirfield. The official
rules of golf, initially formulated at Leith in 1744, were later adopted by
the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews. The only difference introduced with those rules (which remain the rules of golf) was the omission of one rule to do with hazards such as trenches.
From at least 1600 until 1816,
Leith Races were held on Leith Sands, an area immediately north of the present Links and now built over. They were long regarded as one of Scotland's most important
horse race meetings before racing moved to Musselburgh permanently from 1816 onwards.
Leith Links also have one of the longest established
cricket
Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...
pitches in Scotland, from 1820.
The Leith Victoria Swim Centre on Junction Place opened in 1899.
Former provosts
Source:
* Adam White (1760–1843), served 1833–1839
* James Reoch (1768–1845), served 1839–1845
* Thomas Hutchison (1796–1852), served 1845–1848
* George Adiston McLaren (1801–1881), served 1848–1851
* Robert Philip (d.1887), served 1851–1855
* James Taylor (1800–1890), served 1855–1860
*
William Lindsay (1819–1884), served 1860–1866
* James Watt (1806–1881), served 1866–1875
*
Dr John Henderson (1818–1901), served 1875–1881, instigated the Leith Improvement Plan and creator of
Henderson Street
*
James Pringle (1822–1886), served 1881–1886
*
Dr John Henderson (1818–1901), served second term 1886–1887 following Pringle's death in office
*
Thomas Aitken (1833–1912), served 1887–1893
* John Bennet (1820–1902), served 1893–1899
* Sir
Richard Mackie (1851–1923), served 1899–1908
*
Malcolm Smith (1856–1935), served 1908–1917
* John Allan Lindsay (1865–1942), served 1917–1920, the final Provost of Leith
Notable residents
See also
*
Mercantilism
*
Cleanse the Causeway
References
Bibliography
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External links
''The Leither Magazine'' a free community-centric
magazine
A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), content forms. Magazines are generally fin ...
covering news, culture, reviews and blogs "from the edges of Edinburgh"
Leith Festival��A community-based festival
*
{{Authority control
History of Edinburgh
Irish diaspora in Scotland
Ports and harbours of Scotland
Port cities and towns of the North Sea
Red-light districts in Scotland
Royal burghs