Gilmerton Cove

Gilmerton Cove is a series of underground passageways and chambers hand-carved from sandstone located beneath the streets of Gilmerton, an ex-mining village, now a southeastern suburb of Edinburgh, Scotland. There has been much speculation about the origins of the Cove and its purpose. The cove was restored and opened as a tourist attraction in 2003. It operated until the COVID-19 pandemic, and is closed as of 2023.

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Gilmerton

Gilmerton is a suburb of Edinburgh, about 4 miles (6.4 km) southeast of the city centre. The toponym "Gilmerton" is derived from a combination of Scottish Gaelic: Gille-Moire– a personal name and later surname meaning "Servant of [the Virgin] Mary", from which comes the first element, "Gilmer", – and Old English: ton meaning "settlement" or "farmstead". Versions of the name are recorded from the middle of the 12th century. Below its centre is a series of shallow linked caves collectively called Gilmerton Cove. Traditionally these were attributed to the work of a local blacksmith, George Paterson (d.1735), who began work in 1720 and completed excavations in 1724 occupying these caves under his house and smiddy for eleven years. Paterson's name is inscribed on the lintel at the entrance.

458 m

Ferniehill

Ferniehill is a residential neighbourhood of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Primarily a low-density (bungalows and terraced houses) 1960s council estate with two small public parks, it is situated in the south-east of the city, lying immediately south of the slightly older Fernieside neighbourhood, east of Moredun, and to the north of Gilmerton's main street, where most local amenities are located. The Drum country estate and some farmland separates it from the village of Danderhall outside the city boundary. In 2001, 35 houses in the area had to be demolished after subsiding due to the presence of limestone mine workings underground which had not been fully infilled or were supported by weak pillars. Despite this issue (which also affected other streets in that part of Edinburgh), in the early 21st century several developments of new housing on the greenbelt land in the vicinity of Ferniehill were approved, leading to concerns from residents over the mine workings, as well as insufficient transport infrastructure.

A772 road

The A772 was a major A road located in Edinburgh, Scotland. The A772 was originally the A7 before a major renumbering of the roads into Edinburgh and also begins there, at a junction with the A701 in the neighbourhood of Nether Liberton. From this junction, the A772 heads south-east through Gilmerton, a suburb of Edinburgh. This part is known as Gilmerton Road and has a 30 mph speed limit. At the edge of Gilmerton, the road becomes Drum Street, where it passes The Drum, an 18th-century country house, before reverting to Gilmerton Road. Approximately 0.5 miles (0.80 km) from its eastern terminus, it crosses over the Edinburgh City Bypass (A720) as a partial grade-separated junction utilizing a pair of roundabouts, where there is evidence of the junction almost having an east-facing sliproad. Continuing along the Gilmerton Road, the A772 has a roundabout for Dobbies Garden Centre and Edinburgh Butterfly and Insect World, and an inn. Shortly afterwards, the A772 meets its eastern terminus at the Gilmerton Road Roundabout with the A7 and B6392 (formerly the A68) at the community of Melville Nurseries, between Lasswade and Dalkeith. The B6392 continues to be called Gilmerton Road as far as the River North Esk.

Landmark

730 m

Gilmerton railway station

Gilmerton railway station served the suburb of Gilmerton, historically in Edinburghshire and Midlothian, Scotland, from 1874 to 1959 on the Edinburgh, Loanhead and Roslin Railway.