Colinton timeline

Heightened taxation following the First World War meant that many professionals could no longer afford to buy larger houses and villas. Consequently, speculative builders rapidly purchased land and constructed more modest houses, causing rapid expansion of the built-up area of Colinton. Edinburgh argued that since it already provided services including water, sewage, gas, and electricity, […]

In opening a spur line between Slateford and Balerno, the Caledonian Railway Company created Colinton tunnel and station in 1874. With its fresh air and scenery, Colinton was a summer holiday resort for Edinburgh families and became increasingly popular as a day trip destination for city residents. The railway altered the character of the area

Whilst still dominantly agricultural, Colinton saw increasing industrial activity during this period, becoming one of the most economically productive parts of the country. Manufacturing growth primarily stemmed from mills on the Water of Leith. A survey in the late 18th century recorded 71 mills along the river near Colinton, producing flour, corn, barley, snuff, and

The dominance of the feudal barons, and relative quiescence of Colinton’s rural existence, was broken in the mid-17th Century by national religious and political turmoil which culminated in the Scottish Civil War. Events came to a head locally in 1650 when 10 companies of Cromwell’s troops (now the Coldstream guards) occupied the village and took

The first settlement – Hailes (“mounds” or “hillocks”) – was sited in a wooded glen at the foot of the Pentlands next to a ford straddling the Water of Leith. A church was constructed at the end of the 11th century at the current site of St Cuthbert’s Parish Church by Ethelred, the third son