Liberton, Edinburgh

Liberton is a suburb of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. It is in the south of the city, south of The Inch, east of the Braid Hills and west of Moredun.

Liberton
Liberton Kirk
Liberton is located in the City of Edinburgh council area
Liberton
Liberton
Location within the City of Edinburgh council area
Liberton is located in Scotland
Liberton
Liberton
Location within Scotland
OS grid referenceNT274696
Council area
Lieutenancy area
  • Edinburgh
CountryScotland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townEDINBURGH
Postcode districtEH16
Dialling code0131
PoliceScotland
FireScottish
AmbulanceScottish
UK Parliament
Scottish Parliament
Liberton Tower
Liberton War Memorial, South Edinburgh
Ploughing scene on the Straiton tombstone

Liberton Community Council's area includes Liberton, Gracemount, Kaimes, Alnwickhill and Mortonhall.[1] Historically the parish covered a wide area and included Burdiehouse, Gilmerton, Niddrie and Straiton.[2]

Incorporated into the city in 1920,[3] the area was once home to Arthur Conan Doyle, who lived in a small cottage near the Braid Burn, which is now inside the grounds of the Cameron Toll Shopping Centre car park and is now a small school.

Increased development in the area from the mid 1970s to current times has seen Liberton develop into a popular choice for homeowners with areas such as Double Hedges, Alnwickhill and Howdenhall often representing better value for money than locations closer to the city centre.

In recent years once thriving community pubs and hotels have closed with the likes of the Liberton Inn, Northfield House Hotel and The Marmion, formerly The Captains Cabin, all having been converted to or planning permission being sought for retail premises or flats.

Derivation

The name, of Old English origin and formerly written Libertun,[4] has generally been believed to signify 'Leper Town', the area being supposed at one time to have contained a small colony of lepers exiled from the city. However modern authorities have suggested it may more probably have meant ‘barley farm on a hillside’, from the Old English words hlith, hillside and bere-tūn, barley farm.[5][6]

This rural parish was split into Over Liberton and Nether Liberton, the latter centring on a water mill standing on the Braid Burn.

History

The suburb is home to a prehistoric standing stone just over 6 foot in height.[7]

A chapel of Liberton was granted to the monks of Holyrood Abbey in 1143 by MacBeth, Baron of Liberton. The latter is mentioned in the Charters of King David I from 1124. In 1240 a document records the transfer of the church from St Cuthberts in Edinburgh back to Holyrood Abbey and this control continued until the Reformation.[8]

In 1387 Nether Liberton was under control of Adam Forrester (whose family later owned Corstorphine) and is recorded (with Provost Andrew Yichtson) as benefactor of the repairs and rebuilding of St Giles Cathedral that year.[9]

At the time of the Reformation a church, dedicated to the Virgin Mary, already existed at Liberton, under control of Holyrood Abbey.[10]

The current Liberton Church, designed by James Gillespie Graham, was built in 1815 after the old church was burned beyond repair.[11] The graveyard contains a "table stone" to the south-west of the church bearing one of the earliest known sculpted depictions of ploughing.[12] A modern cemetery lies to the north-west of the older kirkyard. The war memorial at the western entrance (1920) is by Pilkington Jackson.

Liberton Tower is a well-preserved and restored late medieval (15th century) tower house standing to the south of the Braid Hills.[13] Liberton House nearby is a late 16th-century A-listed fortified house, also restored. The house is open to the public free of charge by appointment only.[14][15]

Liberton became part of Edinburgh on 1 November 1920.[16]

Present-day Liberton

Although the area is mostly residential, it has a riding school and stables, which take advantage of the nearby Braid Hills to offer pony trekking leisure activities. Also in the area is Liberton High School, Gracemount High School, numerous primary schools (Liberton, St John Vianny, Gracemount and St Katherine’s) and sporting activities are represented by Liberton Bowling Club (Website) based opposite the Kirk, a Golf club off Gilmerton Road and a Rugby Union club situated at Double Hedges Park.

Southfield Sanatorium once occupied Southfield House; Ellen's Glen House community hospital (2000) was built in the grounds to meet 21st century NHS Lothian needs. Liberton Hospital opened in 1906 and currently specialises in geriatric medicine (NHS Lothian).

Liberton Cemetery and Kirkyard

Local family names include Speedy, Flockhart, Inch, Tod, Plenderleith, Borrowman and Torrance.

Notable Monuments and Interments

Ministers of Liberton

Liberton was a relatively important rural charge.

Other notable residents
  • James Goodwillie FRSE (1866–1953) mathematician, born and raised in Liberton[18]

Trivia

Dunedin, New Zealand, a sister city of Edinburgh's, has a suburb called Liberton.

See also

References
  1. Peggie, Chris. "Liberton and District". The City of Edinburgh Council. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
  2. "Liberton from The Gazetteer for Scotland". www.scottish-places.info. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
  3. ReDrawing Edinburgh: The Edinburgh Boundary Extension Centennial 1920 Project, City of Edinburgh Council
  4. New Statistical Account of Scotland (Family History Library book 941 B4sa, series 2 vol. 1)
  5. A. D. Mills. "Liberton." A Dictionary of British Place-Names. 2003.
  6. Ross, D.(2001) Scottish Place-names Edinburgh: Birlinn, p. 141
  7. "Edinburgh, Liberton, Ravenswood Avenue". canmore.org.uk. Historic Environment Scotland. Retrieved 17 April 2023.
  8. Cassell's Old and New Edinburgh; vol. 6, ch.38
  9. Cassell's Old and New Edinburgh; vol. 6, ch. 38
  10. Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae; by Hew Scott
  11. The Buildings of Scotland; John Gifford, Colin McWilliam, David Walker, Christopher Wilson
  12. Stephen Dickson; research whilst surveyor of graveyards and cemeteries for CEC
  13. "Liberton Tower". Liberton Tower. Archived from the original on 15 September 2017. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
  14. "Canmore". Retrieved 5 December 2016.
  15. "Projects". Groves-Raines Architects. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
  16. Edinburgh and its Environs:Wardlock Guide
  17. "Liberton parish, Midlothian".
  18. Biographical Index of Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783–2002 (PDF). The Royal Society of Edinburgh. July 2006. ISBN 0-902-198-84-X.
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