Saughton
Encyclopedia
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
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, bordering on Sighthill
Sighthill, Edinburgh
Sighthill is a suburb in the west of Edinburgh, Scotland.For nearly 50 years, the West Edinburgh skyline was dominated by 4 high rise residential tower blocks the first of which was demolished on 21st September 2008 with the other three blocks following the same fate just over 3 years later...
, Longstone
Longstone
Longstone is a suburb of Edinburgh in Scotland. It borders Saughton, Wester Hailes, Slateford, Kingsknowe and Parkhead.Longstone's most dramatic features are the Slateford Aqueduct carrying the Union Canal and the adjacent railway viaduct . Underneath these runs the Water of Leith, and the canal...
, and Stenhouse
Stenhouse
Stenhouse is a suburb of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. It lies to the West of the City Centre, adjacent to Whitson and Saughton Mains and close to Broomhouse and Sighthill...
. In Scots, a "sauch" is a willow
Willow
Willows, sallows, and osiers form the genus Salix, around 400 species of deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere...
. The Water of Leith
Water of Leith
The Water of Leith is the main river flowing through Edinburgh, Scotland, to the port of Leith where it flows into the sea via the Firth of Forth.It is long and rises in the Colzium Springs at Millstone Rig of the Pentland Hills...
flows by here.
It is best known for its prison
Prison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
, known officially as "HM Prison Edinburgh", but colloquially as "Saughton Prison" (or just "Saughton"), which lies to the south of the district.
The Calder Road
A71 road
The A71 is a major road in Scotland linking Edinburgh with Lanarkshire and Ayrshire. It adjoins the Livingston Bypass A899.It runs south west from Edinburgh for approximately 70 miles, through Saughton, Wilkieston and south of Livingston, Whitburn and Wishaw, then by way of the Garrion Bridge,...
, one of the main city arteries, runs through it.
More recently Saughton park has become home to an acclaimed outdoor concrete skatepark
Actually situated in the Broomhouse
Broomhouse
Broomhouse is a district of Edinburgh, Scotland. It is mainly residential, low-rise housing. It borders on Sighthill, and Saughton Mains. The Glasgow railway passes to the north but there is no station. The arterial route of Calder Road passes to the south...
area and fronting on Broomhouse Drive, Saughton House is a large Government office which houses the Scottish Executive
Scottish Executive
The Scottish Government is the executive arm of the devolved government of Scotland. It was established in 1999 as the Scottish Executive, from the extant Scottish Office, and the term Scottish Executive remains its legal name under the Scotland Act 1998...
, HM Revenue and Customs, Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency
Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency is the organisation of the UK Government responsible for maintaining a database of drivers and a database of vehicles in Great Britain; its counterpart in Northern Ireland is the Driver & Vehicle Agency...
, and a number of other Government offices. Originally built as a hospital its distinctive spurs are now used as office accommodation.