Davidson's Mains

Davidson's Mains is a former village and now a district in the north-west of Edinburgh, Scotland. It is adjacent to the districts of Barnton, Cramond, Silverknowes, Blackhall and Corbiehill/House O'Hill. It was absorbed into Edinburgh as part of the boundary changes in 1920 and is part of the EH4 postcode area. Locals sometimes abbreviate the name to D'Mains.

1. Etymology

Davidson's Mains is named after William Davidson, a wealthy merchant who bought the nearby estate of Muirhouse in 1776. "Mains" is the Scots word for an estate farm or home farm. Prior to the 19th century, it was known as Muttonhole. That name appears on an 1845 map, but was replaced by Davidson's Mains on the 1852 Ordnance Survey. Locals continued to use the name Muttonhole until at least 1860. According to Stuart Harris, a suggestion that mutton- derives from the Anglian (ge)mythe, meaning the junction of roads or streams, does not stand up in the light of several other places named Muttonhole in lowland Scotland. Rather, the name is Early Scots mouton holh or halh, a place were moutons or wedder lambs were pastured.

1. History

The original village runs east-west and is still identifiable as a series of modest cottages on each side of the road. Quality Street was added in 1827, designed by James Gillespie Graham. The church on Quality Street was built as Cramond Free Church in 1843 and is by David Cousin. The railway arrived late in 1894 but spurred villa development to the north and north-west.

1. Description

Within the district there is a variety of shops and businesses, ranging from cobblers to large supermarkets, as well as food outlets of various kinds. The district is also served by four churches, a Tesco, a doctor's surgery, two dental surgeries, the Corbie and other takeaways, Davidson's Mains Primary School and a Greggs. The state secondary school that serves the area is the Royal High School. Davidson's Mains Park is near the high school which has a play park and a football pitch.

1. Public Transport

Davidson's Mains railway station closed in 1951 prior to the Beeching cuts due to underuse. The area lay beyond the Edinburgh tram network. The district is currently served by two bus routes run by Lothian Buses: the 21, which runs between the Gyle Centre and the Royal Infirmary, and the 47, which runs between Cammo and Penicuik.

1. References


1. External links

Davidson's Mains Parish Church (Church of Scotland) Church of the Holy Cross Davidson's Mains (Scottish Episcopal)

Nearby Places View Menu

Davidson's Mains railway station

Davidson's Mains railway station served the district of Davidson's Mains, Edinburgh, Scotland from 1894 to 1951 on the Barnton Branch.

Landmark Train

Silverknowes

Silverknowes is a district of Edinburgh, Scotland, lying to the northwest of the city. The district contains over 2000 homes, ranging in size from bungalow to semi-detached housing, much of it built during the mid-twentieth century.

Neighbourhood

Barnton Quarry

Barnton Quarry is a disused stone quarry in Corstorphine Hill, Clermiston, Edinburgh, Scotland. The site was later used as a military command centre, and is now being converted into a museum. Stone was extracted from the quarry until 1914. During the Second World War, the Royal Air Force (RAF) built a Fighter Command operations room in the quarry. In 1952, during the Cold War, this facility was expanded into a central coordination facility for radar stations throughout Scotland. The military authorities closed the site and in 1983 and transferred ownership to the local council. The site was subsequently vandalised and damaged by fire. The site is now being cleaned and restored with the goal of creating a local Cold War museum and education centre. The project is being undertaken by volunteers, with funding from the owners of Scotland's Secret Bunker, a disused bunker near Anstruther which is now run as a tourist attraction.

710 m

Royal High School, Edinburgh

The Royal High School (RHS) of Edinburgh is a co-educational school administered by the City of Edinburgh Council. The school was founded in 1128 and is one of the oldest schools in Scotland. It serves around 1,400 pupils drawn from four feeder primaries in the north-west of the city: Blackhall primary school, Clermiston primary school, Cramond and Davidson's Mains. The school's profile has given it a flagship role in education, piloting such experiments as the introduction of the Certificate of Secondary Education, the provision of setting in English and mathematics, and the curricular integration of European Studies and the International Baccalaureate. The Royal High School was last inspected by Education Scotland in February 2023. Pauline Walker is the current Rector, having taken on the role in 2014. She is the second woman to lead the school, following Jane Frith.

School University