Restalrig
Restalrig is a suburb of Edinburgh, Scotland. It is located east of the city centre, west of the A199 road, and to the east of Lochend, with which it overlaps. Restalrig Road is the main route through the area, running from London Road at Jock's Lodge, to Leith Links at the south edge of Leith.
[edit] History and buildings
The oldest building is the chapel of St. Triduana in Restalrig village. This is attached to the village church, which was once far grander, having served as a Royal Chapel until the Scottish Reformation of 1560.[1] The church dates from the 15th century, and is a category A listed building. St. Triduana's Aisle is further protected as a Scheduled Ancient Monument.[2]
According to Raphael Holinshed, Richard III of England camped at Restalrig in August 1482 after capturing Berwick upon Tweed.[3] James IV of Scotland was a frequent visitor; giving offerings for masses before the altars of Our Lady and Saint Triduana and for keeping Our Lady's Light in September 1496, while his gunners assembled the royal artillery nearby for his mission to England with the pretender Perkin Warbeck.[4] During the Siege of Leith in Spring 1560, the headquarters of the English army was located at Restalrig Deanery near the kirk.[5]
The castle of the Logan family stood on the site of Lochend House, overlooking Lochend Loch. The present house incorporates fragments of the pre-existing tower house which was destroyed by fire in the late 16th century. Visually it is dominated by an 1820 villa built on the foundations of the older buildings. It is now owned by the City of Edinburgh Council, and is a category B [listed building.[6]
Lochend Loch below it was for many centuries the main water supply for Leith. The park which occupies the site of the now much reduced loch contains a 16th century doocot at its northern end, sometimes speculated as having served as a kiln for burning infected clothing and belongings during the plague of 1645.[7] It was later used as a boat house, and is now also category B listed.[8]
Piershill Square at the head of Smokey Brae was built by the City Architect, Ebenezer James Macrae in 1937.[9] It replaced Piershill Barracks, the former home of the Royal Scots Greys, the cavalry regiment most famous for their charge at Waterloo, and the subject of the well-known, and much reproduced, head-on view painted by Elizabeth Thompson, "Scotland Forever!". The parish church at Waterloo contains several monuments specifically to various soldiers "of Restalrig".
St Ninian's RC Church on Marionville Road was designed in 1929 by Giles Gilbert Scott.[10] Within Restalrig are two multi-storey flats, Nisbet Court and Hawkhill Court. Both are owned by City of Edinburgh Council.
[edit] References
- ^ Iain McIvor, Proccedings of the Society of Antiquaries Scotland, vol. 96, (1962-3), 237-63, "The King's Chapel at Restalrig and St. Triduana's Aisle". http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/adsdata/PSAS_2002/pdf/vol_096/96_247_263.pdf.
- ^ "Restalrig Parish Church, including St Triduana's Aisle, Listed Building Report". Historic Scotland. http://hsewsf.sedsh.gov.uk/hslive/hsstart?P_HBNUM=27250. Retrieved 11 June 2010.
- ^ Holinshed, Raphael, The Scottish chronicle or, a complete history and description of Scotland, Arbroath (1805), pp.108-110
- ^ Accounts of the Lord High Treasurer of Scotland, vol. 1, Edinburgh (1877), 296, 366.
- ^ Calendar State Papers Scotland, vol. 1 (1898), 366.
- ^ "Lochend House, Listed Building Report". Historic Scotland. http://hsewsf.sedsh.gov.uk/hslive/hsstart?P_HBNUM=28087. Retrieved 11 June 2010.
- ^ "Lochend - Loch, Doocot and Plague Kiln". Geograph Britain and Ireland. http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/318967. Retrieved 2010-07-16.
- ^ "Lochend Castle Doocot, Listed Building Report". Historic Scotland. http://hsewsf.sedsh.gov.uk/hslive/hsstart?P_HBNUM=28142. Retrieved 11 June 2010.
- ^ "Piershill Square, Listed Building Report". Historic Scotland. http://hsewsf.sedsh.gov.uk/hslive/hsstart?P_HBNUM=49047. Retrieved 11 June 2010.
- ^ The Buildings of Scotland: Edinburgh, by Colin McWilliam.
