Trinity, Edinburgh
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...
, once a part of Greater Leith
Leith
-South Leith v. North Leith:Up until the late 16th century Leith , comprised two separate towns on either side of the river....
(itself a part of the city since 1920) it is one of the more desirable neighbourhoods in Edinburgh. It is bordered by Wardie to the west, Newhaven
Newhaven, Edinburgh
Newhaven is a district in the City of Edinburgh, Scotland, between Leith and Granton. Formerly a village and harbour on the Firth of Forth, it currently has approximately 5,000 inhabitants....
to the east and Bangholm to the south.
The name derives from Trinity House in Leith, who formerly held these lands and had a large estate farm, Trinity Mains, in the area. The coat of arms from the farm is preserved on the gable of a modern block on Newhaven Main Street.
Although having some buildings from the 18th century the area was largely developed in the early 19th century, as a mansion house district, broadly comparable in style to The Grange area of Edinburgh (Trinity is sometimes referred to as Leith's Grange). Ironically many buildings were "second homes" to rich families in the New Town and were treated as a "country retreat".
The style of housing is now very mixed as the area has always been seen as desirable and developers have accordingly been keen to build, usually in the preferred architectural style of their period. The area has many attractive streets and The Victoria Park adds to the area's amenity as does a large number of cycle paths and walkways derived from the city's disused northern suburban railway lines. East Trinity Road is typical in having property types ranging from original mansions, victorian terraces and fine victorian tenements, cottages and a plethora of modern developments. Craighall Crescent offers one of Edinburgh's finest Victorian Crescents on one side of the street with much later houses on the other side.
Buildings of Interest
The remnant NE wing of the 15th century Wardie Castle (later Wardie House) survives on Wardie House Lane. This was rebuilt in 1780 by Sir Alexander Boswall who gives his name to Boswall Road.Numbers 17 to 23 Boswall Road were built in 1815 by Donald Pollock, Chancellor of Edinburgh University. The westmost (containing a telescope viewing area to the harbour was his own house. the central and east blocks were built as the Pollock Missionary School. The fine doorpiece on 21 seems a later addition to embellish this otherwise plainer block.
The most notable building on Boswall Road was Wardie Lodge, later renamed Challenger Lodge by Sir John Murray in 1914 after his Challenger Expedition investigating abyssal lifeforms in the deep oceans. After use as a children's home it was converted to St Columba's Hospice, providing care for the terminally ill, in 1977.
11 Boswall Road, East Cottage, dates from the 17th century and was a part time summer home for Professor John Wilson pen-named "Christopher North".
Wardie Parish Church is one of a number of Church of Scotland churches in Trinity.
Trinity Academy
Trinity Academy
Trinity Academy is a state-run secondary school in the north of Edinburgh, Scotland. It is located on the border between the upscale leafy suburb of Trinity and Leith, next to Victoria Park, and a short distance from the banks of the Firth of Forth at Newhaven.-Admissions:Trinity Academy was...
is one of the historic schools of the city.
Trinity Park House, an unusual low-rise office block built on the site of the former Trinity Cottage (demolished in 1969) for the National Health Service
National Health Service
The National Health Service is the shared name of three of the four publicly funded healthcare systems in the United Kingdom. They provide a comprehensive range of health services, the vast majority of which are free at the point of use to residents of the United Kingdom...
(NHS) in the 1970s, was demolished between 2006 and 2008 and is to be replaced with a development of apartments, retaining the walled garden. The office, set in 26,480 m² of grounds, attracted fans and critics, being of a modern style unlike anything in its surroundings, but nevertheless sensitively incorporating mature trees into its grounds and using gentle curves and a muted gold colour-scheme. The proposed replacement housing development attracted its own controversy because of its scale and proposed style. Although many of the mature trees on the site were cut down to allow a larger building footprint for the new development, a rare Strawberry tree was relocated on-site. The original development stalled and was later abandoned in the wake of the Financial crisis of 2007–2010 and by April 2010 all construction equipment had been removed from the site. In 2011, development of a new, more mixed development is now underway. The NHS department has relocated to the edge of the city at 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...
.
See also
- The city's Trinity House Maritime Museum, run by Historic ScotlandHistoric ScotlandHistoric Scotland is an executive agency of the Scottish Government, responsible for historic monuments in Scotland.-Role:As its website states:...
, is not in the Trinity area and should not be confused with Trinity Park House.