Edit Historic Craigmillar
Craigmillar Castle
The Greater Craigmillar area includes estates like Craigmillar, Niddrie, Greendykes, and Bingham, as well as Newcraighall, and the area around Fort Kinnaird.
Once home to thriving brewing and mining industry, as well a creamery and brickworks, latterly Craigmillar has come to be more associated with urban deprivation.
However, with huge resources being ploughed into regeneration, this is beginning to change, with new houses built at Craigmillar Castle and the Hays paving the way for developments like the St Francis and Niddrie Mill joint campus at Niddrie Mains, proposals for an overhauled town centre, as well as building initiatives set for Greendykes and Wauchope.
Home to a vibrant sense of community, a thriving local arts scene, and one of Scotland's best preserved late-medieval castles, Craigmillar also has a rich history.
Now it's your turn!
This is the briefest possible history of Craigmillar - but there's lots of local knowledge out there!
You can use the edit button to add your own information about historic Craigmillar into this piece, use the comment box to leave an opinion, or you can start a new article about any aspect of Craigmillar's history you like.
Feel free to share any old photos you have - or add some memories of the recent past!
- Thistle Foundation. An estate built in the late forties and the fifties, the only estate in Europe where they have a purpose-built estate with 202 houses. First of its kind, as all the houses cater for one or two disabled people. Where they can live a normal life, with their own house, paying rent, working if they can, just like you guys in Craigmillar. As it over the years became run down. Today Castlerock/Edinvar have taken the housing stock over. And are almost into there 2nd year of renovating the houses. A 5 year program. The renovations so far have updated the houses, You always get a few snagging problems, but overall they are doing a super job. I myself cannot wait until I get my car port, and own garden space. The only downside is with it looking like a building site, which it is. Lots of smashing glass, and damage with the local children. And the daily passage of Castlebrae School kids knocking all the protective fences and guards down, giving a serious risk for drivers and tenants try to walk safely. Overall, I cannot wait to see the finished estate in hopefully just under another 4 years. Will, Tenant.
- Has anyone got any historical information on Peffermill House, and if it was used for anything other than a domestic residence, especially from around 1830 to 1900. Reason I ask is that my ggg grandfather died there in 1879. No one in my family has any info on this house and I would like to get some background for my research. Regards Stuart Collie
- I remember as a child in the 60's seeing Queen Elizabeth for the first time. She was visiting The Thistle Foundation. I moved to London in the late 70's and lived in SOHO for 3 years. 10 minutes away was Buckingham Palace and I saw the family a number of times.
- Does anyone know if Main Avenue Newcraighall was renamed or totally demolished? I encountered this address in pursuit of a Kinnaird family connection. I note the existance of a Fort Kinnaird nearby; coincidence or relevant to my research?
- I was brought up in Newcraighall but moved to Niddrie then Magdalene, but yes... Main Avenue was demolished, and not renamed although there are a couple of streets bearing the name of Klondyke etc. These were relating to Newcraighall Colliery, which got the nickname of "klondyke" because of the huge output of coal over the years. - Wullie Young