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Gilmerton
Gilmerton Post Office, Edinburgh.jpg
Gilmerton Post Office
Gilmerton is located in Edinburgh
Gilmerton
Gilmerton
OS grid reference NT2969
• Edinburgh 4 miles (6.4 km)
Council area
Lieutenancy area
Country Scotland
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town Edinburgh
Police Lothian and Borders
Fire Lothian and Borders
Ambulance Scottish
EU Parliament Scotland
UK Parliament
  • Edinburgh South
Scottish Parliament
  • Edinburgh Eastern
List of places
UK
Scotland
Edinburgh
55°54′25″N 3°08′04″W / 55.9069°N 3.1344°W / 55.9069; -3.1344

Gilmerton (Scottish Gaelic: Baile GhilleMhoire, IPA:[ˈpaləˈʝiːʎəˈvɔɾʲə]) 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.

Gilmerton used to be a coal mining village. Below its centre is a series of shallow linked caves collectively called Gilmerton Cove. Traditionally they were attributed to the work of a local blacksmith, George Paterson, who supposedly completed excavations in 1724 and lived in the caves for several years, although there may be reasons to doubt this.

A street in the Dunedin, New Zealand suburb of Corstorphine, Gilmerton Street, is named after the suburb.

Ethnicity

Gilmerton compared Gilmerton Edinburgh
White 89.7% 91.7%
Asian 7.3% 5.5%
Black 1.1% 1.2%
Mixed 0.6% 0.9%
Other 1.3% 0.8%

Demographics

Ethnicity Gilmerton Edinburgh
White 89.7% 91.7%
Asian 7.3% 5.5%
Black 1.1% 1.2%
Mixed 0.6% 0.9%
Other 1.3% 0.8%

Famous Residents

  • Dr Joseph Tillie FRSE
  • Dr Louis Miller
  • David Paton
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