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St Paul's Parish Church was a parish church of the Church of Scotland located in St Leonard's, Edinburgh, Scotland. Its building served as a church between 1836 and 1942 before being demolished in 1980. St Paul's was founded in 1836 as part of the Church of Scotland's Church Extension Scheme to serve the expanding industrial neighbourhood of St Leonard's. At the Disruption of 1843, the congregation left the established church for the Free Church. The congregation was allowed to keep the building, which became St Paul's Free Church. With most of the Free Church, the congregation joined the United Free Church in 1900 and rejoined the Church of Scotland in 1929. The congregation united with Newington East Parish Church in 1942 to form St Paul's Newington Parish Church. The St Paul's buildings were subsequently used as a theatre and as a school annexe before their demolition in 1980.
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105 m
Holyrood distillery
Holyrood distillery is a distillery in Edinburgh, Scotland. It opened in 2019 as the first new distillery in the city in nearly one hundred years. The distillery building was once the Goods shed building of St Leonards railway station.
The company produces Scotch whisky and gin. Whisky production has experimented with heirloom varieties of barley.
In May 2023, was voted the fourth best gin distillery in the UK by the South Western Railway.
In October 2023, Holyrood Distillery released its first single malt whisky. The distillery's second single malt whisky and its first whisky with smoky notes followed in 2024. A year later, the distillery was honoured as ‘Distiller of the Year’ at the World Whiskies Awards in London and released its next whisky, ‘Pitch’.
110 m
Hermits and Termits
Hermits and Termits is a Georgian house in St Leonard's, Edinburgh, Scotland. Named for the lands of St Leonard's Hospital, it was completed around 1734 and restored from 1982 after a period of dereliction.
The name Hermits and Termits most likely derives from the crofts of the nearby St Leonard's Hospital. Although the hospital closed some time after the Reformation, the name continued to be applied to its lands and was given to the current house, constructed for William Clifton around 1734. In the early 19th century, the house was the boyhood home of the artists William Bell Scott and David Scott. In 1826, its lands were sold to the Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway and it remained in railway use until the closure of the surrounding depot in 1968. In this period, it was known as The Coalyard House. After a period of dereliction and threatened demolition, the house was restored in 1982 by Benjamin Tindall. It is currently a private residence.
The house has been described as an outstanding example of vernacular architecture in Edinburgh. Its harled exterior is distinguished by a gablet and a plaque with the Cliftons' crest. The interior retains much original woodwork and plasterwork. It has been a Category B listed building since 1974.
114 m
St Leonard's Hospital, Edinburgh
The Hospital of St Leonard was a mediaeval hospital in the St Leonard's area of Edinburgh, Scotland, to which it gave its name. Founded by David I, it existed until some time after the Scottish Reformation.
The hospital was founded by David I and re-founded in 1493 by James IV at the bequest of Robert Bellenden, abbot of Holyrood. The abbots of Holyrood served as the hospital's superiors and the manse of the hospital's vicar was located near the Abbey in the Canongate. The hospital supported support six "hospitallers" or "bedemen", who worked the hospital's two crofts: the Hermit's Croft and the Terrar's Croft. It is notable for having served as a meeting place for the Incoporation of Hammermen and as the site of a gathering of conspirators in an unsuccessful plot to kill James V in 1529. The hospital continued in use after the Reformation but its buildings were ruinous by 1653.
Attached to the hospital was St Leonard's Chapel, whose ruins were excavated and demolished between 1854 and 1855. All that then remained of the hospital was its chapel, which stood around 70 ft (21m) long by 20 ft (6m) wide. The excavations uncovered a large number of burials in its vicinity. James Clark Technical School was built over the site in 1913. The hospital's name lives on in the name of St Leonard's, Edinburgh while its crofts gave their names to Hermits and Termits.
230 m
St Leonards railway station (Scotland)
St. Leonards railway station is a closed railway station in St Leonard's, Edinburgh, on the Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway. It was Edinburgh's first railway station. The railway was built in 1831 to transport coal from the mining towns south of the city; and the following year opened passenger services. St. Leonards was the terminus for the south of the city and was named after the nearby region.
Passenger services ceased in 1846, when the North British Railway opened a station at North Bridge which later developed into Waverley station. Services from Dalkeith were re-routed via Portobello. The station reopened briefly between 1 June 1860 and 30 September 1860 when a service was temporarily re-introduced from St. Leonard's to Dalkeith, Portobello and Leith, but it closed again within a few months. The railhead continued to see heavy use in its original intended role as a coal yard until 1968.
Both the coal depot and part of the railway line have been redeveloped as housing. The goods shed is the only surviving building; it has been designated a Category B listed building by Historic Environment Scotland. In 2019 it was converted into a whisky and gin distillery, operated by Holyrood distillery. The remaining trackbed is now a footpath and cycle path, forming part of the National Cycle Network Route 1.