Scattered houses on the farmlands which originally made up Broughton eventually gave way to more general housing in the century prior to the formation of Edinburgh's New Town which adjoined the parish of Broughton. Its modern borders are defined, approximately, as being Leith Walk in the south east, Broughton Street in the south west, Broughton Road in the north west and McDonald Road in the north east. Moving clockwise from south east, Broughton is bordered by Greenside and Calton, the New Town, Canonmills, and Pilrig.
Broughton Street
View north down Broughton Street, with the coast of Fife visible in the distance, over the Firth of ForthTenements in Broughton Street
Broughton's main thoroughfare is Broughton Street. The street has many independent speciality shops. Broughton is today at the centre of Edinburgh's "pink triangle", an area of the city with a number of gay bars and clubs.
Edinburgh's first traffic lights were installed in Broughton Street in 1928. The Scottish folk band Silly Wizard were based for some time in a flat located at 69 Broughton Street. Phil Cunningham, member of Silly Wizard and younger brother of the band's founder, Johnny Cunningham, lived in Broughton.
Edinburgh's biggest health food store, Real Foods, has traded on Broughton Street for over forty years. Opening in 1976 within a former drapers shop, the shop sells natural and organic food, with its goods being completely vegetarian or vegan.[5]
The Broughton Spurtle: Broughton's Free Independent Stirrer is a community newspaper for Broughton and adjacent areas in north-east and central Edinburgh [1]. It has been running since February 1994 and has no political, religious or commercial affiliation. It reports hyperlocally relevant political, planning, environment, transport, licensing, cultural, historic and plain odd stories, and tries to be equally rude to all sides without fear or favour especially during elections. Generally speaking, it does not see eye to eye with the Edinburgh Evening News.
Gayfield House
Gayfield House
Gayfield House is a Category A listed building at 18 East London Street, Edinburgh. Father and son builders Charles and William Butler built Gayfield House between 1761 and 1764 as a stylish country villa combining Scots Palladian with Dutch details and a touch of French decor, within walking distance of the crowded Old Town of Edinburgh. In 1765 the Butlers sold it for £2,000 to Thomas, Lord Erskine (the eldest son of the Earl of Mar who had led the Jacobite rising of 1715) and his wife Lady Charlotte Hope. In 1767, after Lord Erskine's death it was sold to the David Leslie, 6th Earl of Leven. An entry in the Scots Magazine in 1766 states: "Marriage. June 10th. At Gayfield, near Edinburgh, the Earl of Hopetoun to Lady Betty Leven."
A late 18th century print shows Gayfield House standing in attractive grounds, surrounded by fields and by orchards, bounded to the South East by Leith Walk. The fortunes of the house gradually declined in the 19th century as Edinburgh expanded. Loss of garden ground and the ever-approaching tenements around made it less attractive as a private house. In 1873, it was sold to William Williams as Edinburgh's New Veterinary College.[6] This closed in 1904 and it was then bought by a merchant who stored manure in the downstairs rooms. After World War 1 it was used as a laundry which also manufactured ammonia and bleach. In the 1970s it was used as a garage and for car repairs, a hole was opened in its facade and the basement was used as a garage. By 1990 it had fallen into disrepair, was vandalised and much was stolen including carved wood and gesso chimneypieces. A roofer Trevor Harding bought it in 1991, renovated much of it and sub-divided the interior into basement and upper floors. He sold it in 2013.[7][8][9]
Gayfield Square
Gayfield Square Police station, which is featured in the Inspector Rebus stories written by Edinburgh-based writer Ian Rankin, is located on Gayfield Square in the south east of Broughton.[10]
Broughton High School
Broughton High School was formerly located in Broughton, but is now located further west in Comely Bank.[11] The Scottish poet Hugh MacDiarmid undertook part of his formal education at Broughton High. Schools still located in Broughton include Drummond Community High School, Broughton Primary School and St Marys RC Primary School.
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