Stockbridge, Edinburgh facts for kids
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Stockbridge is a cool neighborhood in Edinburgh, Scotland. It's just north of the city center, next to the New Town and Comely Bank. The name "Stockbridge" comes from an old Scots word, stock brig, which means a wooden bridge.
Long ago, Stockbridge was a small village outside Edinburgh. It became part of the city in the 1800s. The main bridge you see today, called the "Stock Bridge," was built in 1801. It's made of stone and crosses the Water of Leith river.
A famous painter named Henry Raeburn (who lived from 1756 to 1823) owned land here. He helped plan some of the streets, like Ann Street, which he named after his wife. Ann Street is special because it's one of the first streets in the New Town area to have private front gardens.
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Cool Places and Buildings
As you enter Stockbridge from the east, you'll see St Stephen's Church. Its tall tower can be seen from far away. This church was designed by William Henry Playfair in 1827. It's unique because the main church part is raised up, and you have to climb many steps to get to it. Guess what? Its clock pendulum is the longest in all of Europe!
The church is at one end of St Stephen Street. This street curves and has old Georgian buildings with shops, cafes, and offices on the ground floor. A small path called St Stephen Place leads to the old Stockbridge Market. You can still see the original archway where people used to enter the market.
Close by, you'll find Circus Lane, which is a mix of old and new buildings.
The main street in Stockbridge is Raeburn Place. It's full of small shops. To get from here to the New Town, you go through Deanhaugh Street and North West Circus Place.
Saunders Street was built in 1974, and a medical center is nearby.
Gloucester Lane follows an old path from the village to St Cuthbert's Church. There's an old merchant's house from around 1790 on this lane. A famous painter named David Roberts was born there. He used to paint scenes for theaters in Edinburgh and London.
Later streets like Leslie Place, St Bernards Crescent, and Ann Street connect Stockbridge to other parts of the New Town. North of these are smaller, winding streets like Dean Street and Cheyne Street.
If you head northeast towards Leith, you'll go along Hamilton Place. This street has the local library (built in 1898) and the primary school (built in 1874). Saxe Coburg Street is a small street nearby that leads to Saxe Coburg Place. This area also has the Glenogle Baths, a swimming pool built in 1897.
Further north, St Bernard's Row takes you past Malta Terrace to Inverleith and the beautiful Botanic Gardens.
The Stockbridge Colonies
Between Glenogle Road and the Water of Leith river, there are eleven streets known as the "Stockbridge Colonies." These homes were built between 1861 and 1911. They were made by the Edinburgh Co-operative Building Company to provide affordable homes for working-class people.
The streets are named after the people who started the company, like the writer Hugh Miller. Today, these "colony houses" are very popular. They are close to the Royal Botanic Gardens and Inverleith Park, and it's easy to get to the city center from here.
St Bernard's Well
This special mineral water well is on the south bank of the Water of Leith. It was first built in 1760. People believed the water from the well had healing powers. Rich people used to stay in the valley during summer to drink the water and enjoy the fresh air.
In 1788, a judge named Lord Gardenstone, who felt better after drinking the water, asked Alexander Nasmyth to design a new building for the well. It looks like a round Greek temple with ten tall columns. In the middle, there's a statue of Hygieia, the Greek goddess of health, made in 1791.
A football team called St Bernard's F.C. was even named after this famous well!
The well was closed to the public in the 1940s. But it was fixed up in 2013 and is now looked after by the City of Edinburgh Council. You can visit it for a few hours on some Sundays from June to November.
Fun and Sports
Raeburn Place is not just for shops; it also has sports fields. This is where the very first international rugby match was played! It happened on March 27, 1871, between Scotland and England.
Stockbridge has many unique shops, including a cheese shop and several charity shops. The Bailie Bar is a well-known pub. Every Sunday, there's a popular farmers' market at Jubilee Gardens, near the Water of Leith.
The sports grounds of the Edinburgh Academy are next to The Grange Club. This is where the Scottish cricket team plays. The venue even hosted two games during the 1999 Cricket World Cup.
Stockbridge also has its own Stockbridge Pipe Band, started in 1994. They are champions in many pipe band competitions!
Every year, Stockbridge holds a community festival for about nine days in late June. Since 1988, the festival has had a fun event called the Stockbridge Duck Race. One thousand rubber ducks are released into the Water of Leith to raise money for local charities. The first ducks to cross the finish line win prizes for the people who sponsored them. Many people come to watch and cheer for their ducks!
Famous Connections
A lady known as Madame Doubtfire used to live and run a second-hand clothes shop in Stockbridge. Her shop was in a basement in South East Circus Place. Her name, "Madame Doubtfire," stayed on the shop sign for many years after she passed away in 1979.
The writer Anne Fine lived in the area at the time and was interested by the name. She used it for her book Madame Doubtfire. This book was later made into a movie starring Robin Williams. The character in the movie, Mrs. Doubtfire, is not like the real Madame Doubtfire from Stockbridge. Madame Doubtfire's favorite saying was "walls have ears."
