| Restalrig | |
|---|---|
 Restalrig Church with St. Triduana's Chapel in the foreground | |
  Restalrig Location within theCity of Edinburgh council area Show map of the City of Edinburgh council area | |
| OS grid reference | NT285749 |
| Council area | |
| Lieutenancy area |
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| Country | Scotland |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | EDINBURGH |
| Postcode district | EH7 |
| Dialling code | 0131 |
| Police | Scotland |
| Fire | Scottish |
| Ambulance | Scottish |
| UK Parliament | |
| Scottish Parliament | |
| 55°57′35″N3°09′02″W / 55.95972°N 3.15056°W /55.95972; -3.15056 | |
Restalrig (/ˈrɛslrɪɡ/RESL-rig)[1][2] is a small residential suburb ofEdinburgh,Scotland (historically, an estate and independent parish). It is located east of the city centre, west ofCraigentinny and to the east ofLochend, both of which it overlaps. Restalrig Road is the main route through the area, running from London Road, atJock's Lodge, toLeith Links.
The place nameRestalrig means "ridge of the miry land" (fromlestal, a northern dialect term meaning "mire", andrig, the northern form of "ridge"). It is first mentioned as Lestalric in 1165, when Edward de Lestalric built a church on the site. The church was completed in 1210 by his grandson, Sir Thomas de Lestalric.[3] The area, over the following centuries, is variously named as Lestalryk, Restalric or Rastalrig.[4] TheNorman noble family the de Lestalrics were the ancient landowners in the area (including nearby SouthLeith). Sir John de Lestalric died in 1382, leaving his estate to his daughter Katharine and her husband, Sir Robert Logan, who became thelaird.[5]
The castle of theLogan family stood on the site ofLochend House, overlooking Lochend Loch. The castle was largely destroyed by fire in the late 16th century. The present house on the site incorporates fragments of the pre-existing tower house. Visually it is now dominated by an 1820 villa built on the foundations of the older buildings. It is now owned by theCity of Edinburgh Council, and is a category Blisted 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-centurydoocot at its northern end, sometimes speculated to have 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]
According toRaphael Holinshed,Richard III of England camped at Restalrig in August 1482 after capturingBerwick upon Tweed.[9]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 pretenderPerkin Warbeck.[10]
During theSiege of Leith in Spring 1560, the headquarters of the English army was located at Restalrig Deanery near the kirk.[11][12] In April 1572 at the height of theMarian civil war,Thomas Randolph and SirWilliam Drury stayed in the Deanery. SirWilliam Kirkcaldy of Grange decorated the house with theroyal tapestry fromEdinburgh Castle.[13] The English ambassadors plotted withArchibald Douglas to kidnapGeorge, Lord Seton from the shore of Leith, but the plan did not take effect.[14]
Around 1604, the Logans soldCalton and Restalrig, otherwise known as Wester and Easter Restalrig, toLord Balmerino and theCraigentinny part of the estate to Edinburgh merchant James Nisbet.[15]
The most impressive remaining villa in the area is Marionville House, slightly west of the village centre. This was called Viewfrith when it was built by Ann andKatherine Ramsay starting in 1769. They sold it in 1783 to Capt. James M'Rae or McRae[16] cousin of theEarl of Glencairn who called it Marionville. Other owners were Capt. Thomas Grindlay master ofTrinity House of Leith, Robert Dudgeon founder of theRoyal Insurance Company, and his sonPatrick DudgeonFRSE was born and raised here.[17][18][19]
By 1857, Restalrig had become what the ordnance gazetteer of Scotland called "a decayed village". The area was mostly farmland and dairies. Around 1925, public housing was built to the north and east. Restalrig House whose entrance was at Restalrig Drive/Restalrig Road South was demolished in 1963.[15]
St Margaret's Well stood here until 1859 when it was moved toHolyrood Park by theSociety of Antiquaries of Scotland to avoid destruction by railway workshop construction.
Piershill Square at the head of Smokey Brae was built by the City Architect,Ebenezer James MacRae in 1937.[20] It replacedPiershill Barracks, the former home of theRoyal Scots Greys, the cavalry regiment most famous for their charge atWaterloo, and the subject of the well-known, and much reproduced, head-on view painted byElizabeth Thompson, "Scotland Forever!". The parish church at Waterloo contains several monuments specifically to various soldiers "of Restalrig".
Within Restalrig are two multi-storey flats, Nisbet Court and Hawkhill Court. Both are owned by City of Edinburgh Council.
In 1784, the first British manned hot air balloon landed in Restalrig after taking off from nearby Abbeyhill.[15]
There has been a church at Restalrig as far back as 1178[15] and originally its parish incorporated South Leith. In 1296, Adam of St. Edmunds, the pastor of 'Restalric', swore fealty to English kingEdward I.[21]
It is not known whether the church was built because ofSt. Triduana, but the church, a rectangular building, housed her relics, and her cult prospered under the patronage ofJames III of Scotland. He built a hexagonal chapel royal there, adjacent to the kirk, dedicated to the Virgin Mary and the Holy Trinity,[22] and endowed it a chaplaincy in 1477.[23] It became known as the King's Chapel. Payment for the roof was made in 1486-7. At the same time, he made the kirk acollegiate establishment called the Deanery of Restalrig, and initiated a programme of extension. Originally built on two levels, the surviving lower level of the hexagon was anundercroft for the chapel above. Sometimes referred to as a "well-house", this is probably a misnomer, the flooding being accidental. The lower aisle was used as a burial chamber for the Logan family.[24]James IV added sixprebendaries andJames V a choir of boys.[23]
The kirk was ordered to be removed in December 1560 at the time of theScottish Reformation. Some parts of the choir walls survived, however, and in 1836 were incorporated in the rebuilt church byWilliam Burn[24] which served as achapel of ease for the parish of South Leith. Restalrig was disjoined as aquoad sacra parish from South Leith in 1912.[25]
The church is a category Alisted building. St. Triduana's Aisle is further protected as aScheduled Ancient Monument.[26]
Ss Ninian and Triduana’s Church, Edinburgh is aCatholic church in Restalrig dedicated to St.Triduana. The church on Marionville Road was designed in 1929 byGiles Gilbert Scott.[27]
Residential areas in theEdinburgh (settlement) urban area | ||||
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| East Lothian |
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See also:Areas of Edinburgh | ||||
