Kate Bowell

Caroline Park House

Jan 152019

The gates to Caroline House Park

Caroline Park Avenue, Edinburgh EH5 1QJ

Caroline Park House, originally known as Royston House, was built around 1585 by Andrew Logan. In 1683 it was bought by Sir George Mackenzie of Tarbat, and in 1739 it was sold to the 2nd Duke of Argyll who renamed it Caroline Park after his daughter who married the Earl of Dalkeith. Through this marriage the house and estate passed in 1793 to the Duke of Buccleuch, a pivotal event in Granton’s history. The house was altered in 1740s by the architect William Adam, father of Robert and John Adam. Subsequent tenants of the house have included Archibald Cockburn (father of Lord Cockburn, the conservationist who lamented the development of Granton Harbour) and Lady John Scott (1810-1900), who produced the standard version of the old Scottish song ‘Annie Laurie’. The house (and adjacent Granton Castle), increasingly disturbed by industrial activity, became less attractive as a formal residency. The Duke initially leased the house as an office to AB Fleming & Co Ltd. which owned the printing ink and chemical works located further west of the house. In 1872 the company bought the house and it remained their HQ until 1966 when the company moved to Corstorphine. Since 1988 the house is in private hands.

The elegant Caroline Park House

Granton Gas Works Train Station

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Jan 152019

Photograph showing the Gas Works holder is on the left, Scottish HQ across the road on the left and the original station on the right

Once you arrive at the crossing, the Gas Works holder is on the left, Scottish HQ across the road on the left and the original station on the right

Waterfront Avenue, Edinburgh EH5 1JD

The Gas Works had railway networks with two types of lines serving goods and workers. An internal system of narrow gauge lines used steam locomotives and dealt with the ashes from the production process and with other waste and by-products. In addition, standard trains, part of the Caledonian Railway Granton Branch, operated from the Princes Street Station. This meant that coal deliveries could be taken into the Gas Works conveniently, and coke and other products sent away. The Granton Gas Works Station was opened on 27 February, 1903. This was a substantial station built to take the workers to and from the Gas Works. As there was no other form of transport to this area at this time, it is suspected that more than just the gas workers took advantage of the service. The station was closed in 1942 by the LMS Railway as transport links to the area improved. During the World War II, the Gas Works was a target for bombing, although it was not actually hit.

Granton Gas Works Station about 1903

Black and white photograph of a Scottish Gas Works, Granton Works locomotive inside the Gas Works

Scottish Gas Works, Granton Works 0-4-0 2′ 0″ locomotive inside the Gas Works

Granton House

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Jan 152019

Photograph of a field near the gasworks where Granton House once stood — The nearby location of Granton House (now demolished)

Forth Quarter, Edinburgh EH5 1FH

Near this site once stood Granton House, a 24-room three-storey mansion with a balustraded roof, built by the Earl of Hopetoun in 1807 on the Duke of Buccleuch’s land as part of a 99-year lease. In 1883, the house became the property of Lord Gifford (1820 – 1887) the Scottish advocate and judge. Visitors to the house included Sir Walter Scott and Florence Nightingale who, following her visit, wrote to the family and said “I think Granton House the most poetic place I ever saw.” The house was purchased by the Edinburgh and Leith Corporations Gas Commissioners around the time that Granton Gas Works was built (opened in 1902), for use as the official residence of the Chief Engineer and Manager. The first Chief Engineer and Manager to occupy the house was Mr W. R. Herring. When Edinburgh and Leith amalgamated in 1920, the house passed to Edinburgh Corporation. From 1946 Edinburgh Corporation used the property to house homeless families following World War II. On 1 January 1954 it was destroyed in a disastrous fire and what was left demolished.

Black and white photograph of Adam Gifford, Lord Gifford — Adam Gifford, Lord Gifford (1820-1887)

Photograph of the edge of a walkway bordered by reeds, titled "Turning Point" by Stuart Ogilvie — “Turning Point” by Stuart Ogilvie

Granton Gasworks

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Jan 152019

The entrance to Forthquarter Park, the location of Granton Gas Works

West Shore Road, Edinburgh EH5 1RH

In the 1890s, gas was being produced in Edinburgh, Leith, and Portobello and the sites were operating at full capacity. It was decided to build a substantial new single-site gasworks capable of future expansion. Following negotiation with the 6th Duke of Buccleuch, a 106¼ acre site at Granton was purchased for £124,000. An impressive structure, the most elegant gas holder in Scotland in terms of its external framing was erected as part of a £450,000 state-of-the-art coal gasworks between 1898 and 1903 under the direction of Dutch engineer W. R. Herring. Gas Holder Number 1, still standing today, had a maximum capacity of 7,000,000 cubic feet. Gas manufacturing stopped in 1987 and the building is now listed. The possibility of retaining this Gas Holder as an outstanding example of Scotland’s industrial heritage is under consideration.

Sepia photograph of the three separate gas holders at Granton Gasworks.. — The three separate gas holders at Granton Gasworks. Photo from the John Dickson collection.

A black and white aerial photograph of Granton Gas Works showing the gasworks, the Caledonian Railway lines going into the site and the station building. — An aerial picture of Granton Gas Works showing the extent of the gasworks, the Caledonian Railway lines going into the site and the station building (bottom right corner)

Photograph of the gasworks — Picture by Gareth Hutchison

Painting of the gasworks — Gasworks by Harry Mafuji

Granton Sea Quarry

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Jan 152019

Photograph of a field with the harbour in the background; this was the original location of the quarry — The original location of the quarry, now near-invisible

West Shore Road, Edinburgh EH5 1QT

This stretch of grassy fields (Gypsy Brae) was the location of Granton Sea Quarry. The earliest recorded use of stone from this quarry is for Holyrood Palace (1532) and Leith Bulwark (1552-53). Later, the stone was used for Granton Harbour’s pier and breakwater, the Granton Hotel, and even the statue on top of Nelson’s Column in Trafalgar Square, London. The quarry, nearly 80 feet deep and over eight acres, collapsed and flooded after a storm in 1855. In 1884, it became the headquarters for the Scottish Marine Station for Scientific Research. This organisation carried out research on marine life in the quarry both from a floating platform and nearby buildings. The inconspicuous rock beds along the Forth shoreline are known as the Muirhouse ‘shrimp-bed’, in which geologists made a major discovery: a complete conodont, an eel-like creature whose teeth are the earliest found in the fossil record. The first trace fossils of the body of a conodont was unknowingly collected in the quarry in the 1920s. Starting in the 1980s, 11 more near-complete conodonts were found and identified, and then more again in 2013.

Extract from Mechanic’s Magazine, Museum, Register, Journal & Gazette, Jan-June 1842, p480

Black and white illustration of the Scottish Marine Station for Scientific Research in the quarry — Scottish Marine Station for Scientific Research in the quarry

Portrait of Patrick Geddes Inga Mantle — Patrick Geddes was the director of Education & Zoology of the Royal Scottish Marine Station (Laboratory) based at Old Sea Quarry in Granton 1884.

Charles Darwin in Granton

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Jan 152019

Granton Harbour wall in the distance and the outlying rock beds

Walking Path, West Shore Road, Edinburgh EH5 1QG

Charles Darwin (1809 – 1882) followed in the footsteps of his father and grandfather and entered Edinburgh University to study medicine in 1825. Interested in natural history, he joined the Plinian Society, a University student club, and collected specimens along the shores of the Firth of Forth. The book The Berwick and Lothian Coasts, by Ian Campbell Hannah (1913), refers to Darwin and notes that, “About this point the coast again becomes rocky, and Charles Darwin found it a convenient spot for the study of seaweed and shells.” In 1859, a little over two decades after he started university, Darwin’s book On the Origin of Species would be published and go on to become a worldwide bestseller.

Black and white photograph of Charles Darwin taken in 1868.

Charles Darwin. Photo taken by Julia Margaret Cameron during the Darwin family’s 1868 holiday in her Isle of Wight cottage

WWII Air Raid – 16 October 1939

Granton, Uncategorized 5 Responses »

Jan 152019

The entrance to the shore path

Walking Path, West Shore Road, Edinburgh EH5 1QG

On October 16th, 1939, the skies over Granton’s shoreline were filled with enemy bombers. In the first major raid against Britain of WWII, the German Luftwaffe sent twelve Junkers Ju88A-1s to intercept Royal Navy Battleship HMS Hood. Approaching from the west, the bomber crews saw they were too late – a battleship already safely docked in Rosyth Dockyard. Seeking alternative targets, the Junkers dived to attack shipping in the river below. With total surprise they dropped their bombs unopposed, narrowly missing HMS Edinburgh and HMS Southampton. Wave after wave of bombing harried the desperately zig-zagging ships. Then a shock… Spitfires! The raiders had been briefed there were no Spitfires in Scotland. Now two squadrons of them swarmed in defence. The bombers broke and fled for their lives, chased back down the river or across Edinburgh at rooftop height. Citizens dived for cover as machine guns rattled and bullet casings cascaded onto the streets. Two bombers were shot down into the Forth, their surviving crew rescued by local fishing boats. The 603 (City of Edinburgh) Squadron had claimed the first ever Spitfire victory. Edinburgh’s skies were safe, but disaster had only narrowly been averted.

The Three Bridges

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Jan 152019

Photograph looking across a road towards the three bridges — The view from the shoreline towards the three bridges

Walking Path, West Shore Road, Edinburgh EH5 1QG

From this viewpoint, you get the first glimpses of the three bridges. The Forth Bridge is the first, and oldest, an iconic railway bridge and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Construction of the bridge began in 1882 and when it was opened on 4 March, 1890, it was the longest single cantilever bridge span in the world. It held that record until 1919 when the Quebec Bridge in Canada was completed. The second bridge is the Forth Road Bridge, a suspension bridge that opened in 1964 and, at the time, was the largest suspension bridge in the world outside of the United States. At its peak, the Forth Road Bridge carried 65,000 vehicles per day. On 5 September 2017, all bridge traffic was transferred to the Queensferry Crossing, the third bridge which stands parallel to the Forth Road Bridge. The new bridge is a cable-stayed structure, with three towers each 207 metres (679 ft) high. Including approaches, the overall length of the bridge is 2.7 kilometres (1.7 miles). Currently, it is the longest triple tower cable-stayed bridge in the world.

Photograph of the three bridges — The three bridges, built in 3 different centuries: 19th, 20th and 21st. Photo from the John Dickson collection.

Painting by Lesley Skeates titled "View at Silverknowes" looking towards the three bridges — View at Silverknowes by Lesley Skeates

Original Entrance to Granton Castle

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Jan 152019

Photograph of the entrance gate to Granton Castle along the shore road

Along the shore road is the location of the entrance gate of Granton Castle

West Shore Road, Edinburgh EH5 1QG

This stone structure is the remnant of the original entrance to Granton Castle. Although the building no longer stands, it was one of the oldest developments in the area, built on what used to be a rocky outcrop on a slope, with fine views across the Forth. The castle was already in existence in 1479 and sacked in 1544 when the Earl of Hertford landed nearby with an English Army on their way to burn Edinburgh and Leith. Rebuilt by 1619, the owner was Sir Thomas Hope of Craighall, an eminent lawyer and politician. In 1740 John Campbell, the 2nd Duke of Argyll, bought Granton Castle from the Hopes of Craighall, and renamed it Royston Castle. He had previously bought the neighbouring estate of Easter Granton in 1739, which he renamed Caroline Park, after his daughter. With Argyll concentrating his efforts on Caroline Park, by 1749 Granton Castle was a ruin. Alas, it stayed that way throughout the 19th and early 20th century when lots of industrial activity developed in the area, contributing to the demise and ultimate destruction of this fine historic building.

Black and white engraving of the old entrance to Caroline Park, with a woman walking past the front gate

The old entrance to Caroline Park. This image is of the gate facing the Forth, visited earlier, but the current gates were modelled on the original entrance

Vintage postcard of Granton Castle along the Firth of Forth shoreline

Granton Castle along the Firth of Forth shoreline, taken from a postcard available at the time

Black and white photograph of Granton Gas Works showing the old Caledonian line passing through the gates of Caroline Park to the West Pier at Granton

Granton Gas Works showing the old Caledonian line passing through the gates of Caroline Park to the West Pier at Granton

Northern Lighthouse Board

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Jan 152019

Photograph of the building that once held the Northern Lighthouse Board — This was the original shoreline, with the building ahead the facilities of the Northern Lighthouse Board

West Harbour Road, EH5 1PN

The Northern Lighthouse Board was created by an Act of Parliament in 1786. From 1802 until 1852, the Board’s main store was in Leith but in 1852 it took a 5-year lease on this site in Granton from the Duke of Buccleuch for £110. The Board relocated its stores and from 1874, the ship Pharos, the lighthouse supply tender, was docked in Granton Harbour. Between 1868-1869, The Board built the red-brick store. The experimental tower was added in 1874. Though the tower was built as a lighthouse, it never served as one. Instead, lighting and optical equipment was tested on this site before it was taken out on the ship to the main lighthouses around Britain. Granton was an ideal site for the stores and in 1907 they were improved and extended, with a railway siding and a travelling crane added. The engineering storage and test facility remained until November 2001, when it moved to a modern site at Oban and ended the Northern Lighthouse Board presence in Granton.

Photograph of Pharoes 1995 on the Forth during the parade of sail — Pharoes 1995 on the Forth during the parade of sail. Photo from the John Dickson collection.

Colorful, abstract artwork titled "Northern Lighthouse Board" by Victor Nobis — Northern Lighthouse Board by Victor Nobis

Pencil illustration titled "Northern Lighthouse Board" by Stephen Paterson — Northern Lighthouse Board by Stephen Paterson

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