Walk No. 201: Historic Walk - Drumsheaugh - Dean Village
Date: Monday 25th January 2016
Started at: Charlotte Square, outside West Register House
Finished at: Dean Village / Stockbridge
Forty Strollers
turned out for the January History Walk led by our Blue Badge Guides Karen and
Helen. Changing the day of the walk proved to be very fortuitous on the weather
front as it remained dry and mild though a trifle windy. Gathering together at Charlotte Square,
we made our way into what was known as the Drumsheugh Estate when the Edinburgh
New Town extended westwards.
At the start of Melville Street we learned about the fine
wrought iron work and the history of Lord Melville. This street used to be home
to Melville College, the all boys school, before it
merged with Daniel Stewarts. In addition, St Georges, the all girls’ school,
used to be here before moving to Ravelston. The Girl Guide Association still
has its headquarters here as well as the Consulates of around 30 different
countries and the Edinburgh office of the Secretary
of State for Scotland.
We then stopped in Stafford Street
to see the site of a Turkish Baths that existed there in the 19th and early
20th Century, for both men and women, though at different times. It was one of
several in the city but the only one surviving now is in Portobello baths. Moving
on to Walker Street,
we heard about the first site of the Elsie Inglis medical centre, the
forerunner to the better known Edinburgh
hospital. At the outbreak of the First World War she offered to set up nursing
units but was refused by the British Government, however her offer was accepted
by the French and she also worked in Serbia
and Russia.
She died in 1917 but her work was recognised by the countries she served in and
the hospital in Serbia
still bears her name.
We moved on to Rothesay Terrace to B+B Edinburgh, a
boutique bed and breakfast hotel. No, not time for a nap, but time to see the
former home of John Ritchie Findlay, once the owner of the Scotsman newspaper. It
has a lovely view over the Dean
Village from the window
at the back. Its architect, Sydney Mitchell, also oversaw the apprenticeship of
Findlay's son, James Leslie, who went on to
design the Scotsman Newspaper's former headquarters on North Bridge,
which is also now a hotel.
Leaving the Drumsheugh Estate, we headed down to the Dean Village
to visit the site of all the grain mills that used to exist. Collectively known
as 'The Baxters' or baker's guild, they provided the whole of Edinburgh and
surrounding villages with meal and thrived until the 19th Century, when the
larger flour mills in Leith eventually made them redundant. They
have all gone now or converted to housing but the Miller Row name reminds us of
who has been there, as does the engraving of paddles on the Brae Bridge.
This was the main route out of Edinburgh to
Queensferry before the Dean
Bridge (designed by
Thomas Telford) was built in 1832. The name of the village comes from the word
dene meaning "deep valley”. The most striking building in the Dean Village
is Well Court, recently restored with the help of Edinburgh World Heritage but
built in the 1880s as model housing for local workers by John Ritchie Findlay,
to improve the view from his house in Rothesay Terrace!. What goes down must
come up again and so we did - up Bells Brae to Kirkbrae House which at one time
was a tavern for the Dean Village Baxters. It has an engraving on the wall in
keeping with its clientele: "In the sweat of thy face shall thou eat bread
Gen 3 verse 19". Here we ended our walk.
Our thanks once again tour guides, Karen and Helen, for all the information we
enjoyed on the walk. See you next month.
