Liberton is a suburb 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 ...

the capital of

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 ...

. It is in the south of the city, south of The Inch, east of the Braid Hills and west of Moredun. Liberton

Community council A community council is a public representative body in Great Britain. In England they may be statutory parish councils by another name, under the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007, or they may be non-statutory bodies. ...

's area includes Liberton, Gracemount, Kaimes, Alnwickhill and Mortonhall. Historically the parish covered a wide area and included Burdiehouse,

Gilmerton Gilmerton is a suburb of Edinburgh, about southeast of the city centre. The toponym "Gilmerton" is derived from a combination of – a personal name and later surname meaning "Servant of he VirginMary", from which comes the first element, ...

, Niddrie and Straiton. Incorporated into the city in 1920, the area was once home to

Arthur Conan Doyle Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for ''A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Hol ...

, who lived in a small cottage near the Braid Burn, which is now inside the grounds of the Cameron Toll Shopping Centre car park and is now a small school. Increased development in the area from the mid 1970s to current times has seen Liberton develop into a popular choice for homeowners with areas such as Double Hedges, Alnwickhill and Howdenhall often representing better value for money than locations closer to the city centre. In recent years once thriving community pubs and hotels have closed with the likes of the Liberton Inn, Northfield House Hotel and The Marmion, formerly The Captains Cabin, all having been converted to or planning permission being sought for retail premises or flats.

Derivation

The name, of

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

origin and formerly written ''Libertun'', has generally been believed to signify '

Leper Leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease (HD), is a long-term infection by the bacteria '' Mycobacterium leprae'' or '' Mycobacterium lepromatosis''. Infection can lead to damage of the nerves, respiratory tract, skin, and eyes. This nerve da ...

Town', the area being supposed at one time to have contained a small colony of lepers exiled from the city. However modern authorities have suggested it may more probably have meant ‘barley farm on a hillside’, from the Old English words ''hlith'', hillside and ''bere-tūn'', barley farm. This rural parish was split into Over Liberton and Nether Liberton, the latter centring on a water mill standing on the Braid Burn.

History

The suburb is home to a prehistoric standing stone just over 6-foot in height. A chapel of Liberton was granted to the monks of

Holyrood Abbey Holyrood Abbey is a ruined abbey of the Canons Regular in Edinburgh, Scotland. The abbey was founded in 1128 by David I of Scotland. During the 15th century, the abbey guesthouse was developed into a List of British royal residences, royal r ...

in 1143 by MacBeth, Baron of Liberton. The latter is mentioned in the Charters of King David I from 1124. In 1240 a document records the transfer of the church from St Cuthberts in Edinburgh back to Holyrood Abbey and this control continued until the Reformation. In 1387 Nether Liberton was under control of Adam Forrester (whose family later owned

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 ...

) and is recorded (with Provost Andrew Yichtson) as benefactor of the repairs and rebuilding of St Giles Cathedral that year. At the time of the Reformation a church, dedicated to the Virgin Mary, already existed at Liberton, under control of

. The current Liberton Church, designed by James Gillespie Graham, was built in 1815 after the old church was burned beyond repair. The graveyard contains a "table stone" to the south-west of the church bearing one of the earliest known sculpted depictions of ploughing. A modern cemetery lies to the north-west of the older kirkyard. The war memorial at the western entrance (1920) is by

Pilkington Jackson Charles d’Orville Pilkington Jackson RSA, FRBS, FRSA (11 October 1887 – 20 September 1973) was a British sculptor prominent in Scotland in the 20th century. Throughout his career he worked closely with the architect Sir Robert Lorimer. He ...

. Liberton Tower is a well-preserved and restored late medieval (15th century) tower house standing to the south of the Braid Hills. Liberton House nearby is a late 16th-century A-listed fortified house, also restored. The house is open to the public free of charge by appointment only. Liberton became part of Edinburgh on 1 November 1920.

Present-day Liberton

Although the area is mostly residential, it has a riding school and stables, which take advantage of the nearby Braid Hills to offer pony trekking. Also in the area is

Liberton High School Liberton High School is a secondary school in Liberton, Scotland, Liberton, in the south of Edinburgh, Scotland, which is located on Gilmerton Road. The school roll for the 2022–23 academic year was 846. Liberton High School has had certain g ...

, Gracemount High School and several primary schools (Liberton, St John Vianny, Gracemount and St Katherine's). Sporting activities are represented by Liberton Bowling Clu
(Website)
based opposite the Kirk, a Golf club off Gilmerton Road and a Rugby Union club at Double Hedges Park. Southfield Sanatorium once occupied Southfield House; Ellen's Glen House community hospital (2000) was built in the grounds to meet twenty-first century

NHS Lothian NHS Lothian is one of the 14 regions of NHS Scotland. It provides healthcare services in the City of Edinburgh (council area), City of Edinburgh, East Lothian, Midlothian and West Lothian council areas. Its headquarters are at Mainpoint 102 West ...

needs. Liberton Hospital opened in 1906 and currently specialises in geriatric medicine.

Demographics

The Liberton/Gilmerton ward of the city had 37,672 inhabitants at the 2021 Census.

Liberton Cemetery and Kirkyard

Local family names include Speedy, Flockhart, Inch, Tod, Plenderleith, Borrowman and Torrance.

Monuments and interments

* Tom Aiken (1872–1943) Scottish billiards champion * William Inglis Clark

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and Literature, letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". ...

(1855–1932), chemist and mountaineer (stone vandalised) * W. Barbrooke Grubb (1865-1930), missionary and author *

Arthur Robertson Cushny Arthur Robertson Cushny Royal Society, FRS FRSE LLD (6 March 1866 – 25 February 1926), was a Scottish pharmacologist and physiologist who became a Fellow of the Royal Society. Life Cushny was born on 6 March 1866 in Fochabers, Moray, Scotl ...

FRS (1866–1926), physiologist * Henry John Dobson (1858–1928), artist from St John's Town of Dalry, Kirkcudbrightshire, father of artists Henry Raeburn Dobson and Cowan Dobson. * Prof Robert Flint (1838–1910), theologian and philosopher * Charles Edward Green (1866–1920), author of the ''Encyclopaedia of Agriculture'' * A monument to the children who died at Dr Guthrie's School * Rev George William Jones

(1879–1918), academic, killed as a pilot in the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

* Rt Hon Sir John McNeill (1795–1883) and Lady Emma Augusta Campbell * John McVeagh (d.1861), civil engineer * Rev Joseph Moffett DD (1885–1962), theologian * Charles Roy Nasmith

(1882–1954) US consul * Robert Payton Reid ARSA (1857–1945), artist * Ethel Constance Roussel (d.1917), widow of the artist Arthur Melville (in the family plot of David Croall of Southfield) * Lt John Thornton (1780–1870), participant in the

Battle of Nivelle The Battle of Nivelle (10 November 1813) took place in front of the river Nivelle near the end of the Peninsular War (1808–1814). After the Allied siege of San Sebastian, Wellington's 80,000 British, Portuguese and Spanish troops (20, ...

* Prof Findlater Simpson (1842–1923), theologian

Ministers of Liberton

Liberton was a relatively important rural charge. * Alexander Forrester 1562 to 1566 formerly a Canon at

, probably the son or nephew of Alexander Forrester a Laird of Liberton in 1536 * Andrew Blackhall 1564 to 1567 * Thomas Cranstoun 1569 to 1570 and 1574 to 1579 * John Davidson 1579 to 1584 * Michael Cranstoun 1586 to 1590 translated to Cramond Kirk * James Bennet 1591 to 1609 * John Adamson 1609 to 1623 became Principal of

Edinburgh University The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the town council under the authority of a royal charter from King James VI in 1582 and offi ...

* John Cranstoun briefly in 1624 before translating back to

South Leith Parish Church North and South Leith Parish Church, originally the Kirk of Our Lady, St Mary, is a congregation of the Church of Scotland. Prior to the union with the former North Leith Parish Church in 2024, the building was known as South Leith Parish Churc ...

* Andrew Learmonth 1627 to 1639 * Archibald Newton 1639 to 1657 * Andrew Cant 1659 to 1673 translated to Trinity College Church * Ninian Paterson 1674 to 1683 deposed for "immorality" * Robert Farquhar 1683 to 1687 * Alexander Cumin(g) 1687 to 1689 * James Webster 1689 to 1691 * Gideon Jacque 1692 to 1695 * Samuel Semple 1697 to 1742 * John Jardine 1741 to 1750 translated to Lady Yester's Church * David Moubray 1751 briefly * Thomas White 1751 to 1789 * James Grant MA 1789 to 1831 * William Purdie 1831 to 1834 * James Begg 1835 to 1843 from Lady Glenorchy's Church left at the

Disruption of 1843 The Disruption of 1843, also known as the Great Disruption, was a schism in 1843 in which 450 evangelical ministers broke away from the Church of Scotland to form the Free Church of Scotland. The main conflict was over whether the Church of Sc ...

Moderator of the Free Church in 1865 * John Stewart 1843 to 1879 Father of the Church * William Henry Gray 1880 to 1897 Moderator in 1888 * Robert Burnett 1898 to ?

Other notable residents

* James Goodwillie

(1866–1953) mathematician, born and raised in Liberton * Archie Scott (1918–2019), first-class cricketer * Sam Latter (1904–2010), Scottish footballer and oldest man in Scotland (2009–2010)

Trivia

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, a sister city of Edinburgh's, has a suburb called Liberton.

References

External links

*
Aboon the Kirk Interesting places in Liberton
The Liberton Association, 2020
Liberton Golf Club

Liberton Bowling Club
{{Authority control Areas of Edinburgh Parishes formerly in Midlothian