Stockbridge and St Bernard's
Engraved by Robertson for the Edinburgh Magazine or Literary Miscellany,
December 1790

This view shows a rural scene enhanced by the new stone bridge over the Water of Leith designed by Alexander Steven in 1785. The previous timber bridge at the foot of Stockbridge Brae was probably for foot traffic only. The bridge is still in use today, though widened frequently over the years. To the left the thickly wooded banks of the Water of Leith line the boundary of the Earl of Moray's pleasure grounds, and viewed through the trees are the bowed wings added to Drumsheugh House by Lord Moray who purchased the property in 1780. In the Articles and Conditions for laying out his thirteen acres of ground drawn up in 1822 he 'resolved to preserve the beauty of the bank on the south side of the river' by provision for its protection and maintenance. The row of simple cottages on this side gave way during the early nineteenth-century building boom to India Place and Saunders Street. These streets were demolished in the early 1960s as part of a city improvement scheme and new housing was erected, designed by Michael Laird and Partners.

The circular Roman temple in the middle distance is St Bernard's Well, built in 1789 by Frances Garden of Troup to designs by Alexander Nasmyth. On the right of the print is St Bernard's House, the property of Walter Ross, ws, well known for his interest in the acquisition of sculptured stones saved from buildings demolished in the Old Town. These he built into a square tower in his grounds, known as Ross's Folly. In the left-hand gabled and turreted projection of his house is a fine Gothic window. The square castellated projection to the right also exhibits a Gothic window, but according to Cumberland Hill, author of Historic Memorials and Reminiscences of Stockbridge (1887) this was a painted imitation - showing some flair on Ross's part for picturesque invention. Ross died in 1789 and St Bernard's House was bought by Sir Henry Raeburn to consolidate his property for feuing. Ross's Folly was demolished to make way for Ann Street, planned in 1814; the sculptured stones were saved for posterity by Sir Walter Scott and moved to Abbotsford. St Bernard's House, demolished in 1826, stood on the site of Carlton Street, and Danube Street and St Bernard's Crescent progressively covered the orchards and kitchen garden. Today the wooded banks and walk along the river still preserve some elements of the original character of this rural scene.

By courtesy of lan Gow

return