The Nor Loch, also known as the Nor' Loch and the North Loch, was a loch

Loch

Loch is the Irish and Scottish Gaelic word for a lake or a sea inlet. It has been anglicised as lough, although this is pronounced the same way as loch. Some lochs could also be called a firth, fjord, estuary, strait or bay...

 formerly in Edinburgh

Edinburgh

Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...

, Scotland, in the area now occupied by Princes Street Gardens

Princes Street Gardens

Princes Street Gardens is a public park in the centre of Edinburgh, Scotland, in the shadow of Edinburgh Castle. The Gardens were created in the 1820s following the long draining of the Nor Loch and the creation of the New Town. The Nor Loch was a large loch in the centre of the city. It was...

, which lies between the Royal Mile

Royal Mile

The Royal Mile is a succession of streets which form the main thoroughfare of the Old Town of the city of Edinburgh in Scotland.As the name suggests, the Royal Mile is approximately one Scots mile long, and runs between two foci of history in Scotland, from Edinburgh Castle at the top of the Castle...

 and Princes Street

Princes Street

Princes Street is one of the major thoroughfares in central Edinburgh, Scotland, UK, and its main shopping street. It is the southernmost street of Edinburgh's New Town, stretching around 1 mile from Lothian Road in the west to Leith Street in the east. The street is mostly closed to private...

.

Geological formation

The depression, along with the parallel one, now occupied by the Cowgate

Cowgate

The Cowgate is a street in Edinburgh, Scotland, located about 5 minutes' walk from Edinburgh Castle, within the city's World Heritage Site. The street's name is derived from the fact that cows were herded down it for Edinburgh's market days in previous centuries .The street is part of the lower...

, was formed by glacial erosion during the last Ice Age, when the icepack was forced to divide by the volcanic plug

Volcanic plug

A volcanic plug, also called a volcanic neck or lava neck, is a volcanic landform created when magma hardens within a vent on an active volcano. When forming, a plug can cause an extreme build-up of pressure if volatile-charged magma is trapped beneath it, and this can sometimes lead to an...

 now known as Castle Rock

Edinburgh Castle

Edinburgh Castle is a fortress which dominates the skyline of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, from its position atop the volcanic Castle Rock. Human habitation of the site is dated back as far as the 9th century BC, although the nature of early settlement is unclear...

.

Early history

The Nor Loch was initially a marsh

Marsh

In geography, a marsh, or morass, is a type of wetland that is subject to frequent or continuous flood. Typically the water is shallow and features grasses, rushes, reeds, typhas, sedges, other herbaceous plants, and moss....

, and part of the natural defence of the Edinburgh Old Town. Because the Old Town was built on a steep ridge (still clearly visible today), it expanded on an east-west axis, eastwards from the castle; expansion northward, as would happen with the later New Town, was extremely difficult at this point. The Nor Loch was thus a hindrance to both invaders and town growth.

In 1460 King James III ordered the Nor Loch area to be flooded in order to strengthen the castle's defences. It is thought never to have been particularly deep.

Middle Ages to 19th century

As the Old Town became ever more crowded during the Middle Ages

Middle Ages

The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...

, the Nor Loch became similarly polluted, by sewage, household waste, and general detritus thrown down the hillside. Historians are divided on whether the loch was ever used for drinking water.

The Nor Loch fulfilled a variety of other roles during this period including:

• Defence: Scotland, and particularly Edinburgh, suffered frequent English invasions during its independence.
• Witch dunking: over 300 suspected witch trial
  Witch trial
  A witch trial is a legal proceeding that is part of a witch-hunt. * Witch trials in Early Modern Europe, 15th–18th centuries** Salzburg witch trials - 1675-1690, Salzburg, Austria** Spa witch trial - 1616, Belgium...
  
  s are documented at this site, as commemorated by a plaque on the castle esplanade, and it is possible that many more went undocumented. In many cases, these "trials" would have been fatal, and the suspects thus acquitted.
• Suicides: The Nor Loch was a popular spot for suicide
  Suicide
  Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
  
   attempts during its existence.
• Crime: The loch appears to have been used both as a smuggling
  Smuggling
  Smuggling is the clandestine transportation of goods or persons, such as out of a building, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations.There are various motivations to smuggle...
  
   route, and a site for the punishment of crime.

In 1759 the Nor Loch was drained and formed part of Princes Street Gardens

Princes Street Gardens

Princes Street Gardens is a public park in the centre of Edinburgh, Scotland, in the shadow of Edinburgh Castle. The Gardens were created in the 1820s following the long draining of the Nor Loch and the creation of the New Town. The Nor Loch was a large loch in the centre of the city. It was...

, although frequent floods both then and now, threatened to "resurrect" it. For several decades after the Loch was drained, townspeople continued to refer to the area as the Nor Loch.

Modern period

Although the Nor Loch was filled in during the 19th century, neither its legacy nor its name are entirely forgotten. During the construction of Waverley Station

Edinburgh Waverley railway station

Edinburgh Waverley railway station is the main railway station in the Scottish capital Edinburgh. Covering an area of over 25 acres in the centre of the city, it is the second-largest main line railway station in the United Kingdom in terms of area, the largest being...

 and the railway lines through the area, a number of bones were uncovered.

Princes Street Gardens

Princes Street Gardens

Princes Street Gardens is a public park in the centre of Edinburgh, Scotland, in the shadow of Edinburgh Castle. The Gardens were created in the 1820s following the long draining of the Nor Loch and the creation of the New Town. The Nor Loch was a large loch in the centre of the city. It was...

 were created in the 1820s and now occupy much of the loch's former extent.

Other lost lochs in Edinburgh

The Nor Loch is not the only "lost loch" in the city. Another example is Gogarloch

Gogarloch

Gogarloch is a residential area within South Gyle, Edinburgh, Scotland. It lies near South Gyle railway station and South Gyle Broadway, 4½ miles west of the city centre. Corstorphine and Wester Broom are nearby....

 in the South Gyle

South Gyle

South Gyle is an area of Edinburgh, Scotland, lying on the western edge of the city and to the south and west of an area of former marshland once known as the Gogarloch, on the edge of Corstorphine. To the north, some streets in the area have names including the words "North Gyle" but North Gyle...

 area. Like the Nor Loch, this was mostly marshland, rather than a true loch

Loch

Loch is the Irish and Scottish Gaelic word for a lake or a sea inlet. It has been anglicised as lough, although this is pronounced the same way as loch. Some lochs could also be called a firth, fjord, estuary, strait or bay...

. It was reclaimed for a park, housing and to build the railway to the Forth Bridge

Forth Bridge (railway)

The Forth Bridge is a cantilever railway bridge over the Firth of Forth in the east of Scotland, to the east of the Forth Road Bridge, and 14 kilometres west of central Edinburgh. It was opened on 4 March 1890, and spans a total length of...

.

The Meadows

The Meadows (park)

The Meadows is a large public park in Edinburgh, Scotland, just to the south of the city centre. Largely consisting of wide open grassland crossed by tree-lined paths, the park also has a children's playground, a croquet club, tennis courts and cricket pitches...

, a large open park immediately to the south of the city centre, was once the Burgh Loch or occasionally the South Loch.

Further reading and references

• Fife, Malcolm. The Nor Loch, Scotland's Lost Loch (Scotforth Books, 2005)