An idyllic setting and calm in Dean Village

Dean Village Edinburgh

Where can a person go when they need more than a moment? Dean Village is the answer.

Edinburgh, Scotland’s densely packed capital, is renowned for its neoclassical architecture and romantic blend of cityscape, open water and rolling mountains.

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While many of its buildings are from a bygone era, Edinburgh cannot be mistaken for a sleepy city. The roads roar with endless streams of vehicles.

Sidewalks, whether narrow or wide, are always packed with locals and tourists alike. Admiration for your surroundings can only last a fleeting moment as you head from one task to the next.

Dean village is just a five-minute walk from Princes Street, the former milling village is a storybook configuration of charming architectural eras.

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Few cars are allowed to pass through. Most traverse through its cobblestone streets on foot or by bicycle.

Set in a low dam, it is easy to accidentally bypass the area. But if you need a moment of reprieve, take the time for a little exploration.

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Initially referred to as the “Water of Leith” village, it comes as no surprise that the eponymous river runs through the area (or that there used to be many water mills located here).

The district originally served as a successful grain milling spot, a role it held for more than eight hundred years. At the peak of its operations, Dean Village was home to eleven working mills.

Miller’s village

So ubiquitous to the Dean’s success, in 1535 it was referred to as “the miller’s village”. In fact, Dean’s name is derived from the old Scottish term “dene”, which translates to the deep valley of a stream.

As one of the oldest villages surrounding the city’s original royal burgh (a town either established with or given a royal charter), mention of Dean Village in historical records dates back to King David I’s reign in the early 1100s. Besides grain mills, the area also housed a distillery and a skin factory.

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As useful as the Water of Leith was to the milling business, it forced reliance on bridges to pass from one side of Edinburgh to the other.

Dean Bridge, the primary route over the Water of Leith guiding people from Edinburgh to Queensferry, was built for such a purpose. In the early eighteenth century, the four-arched bridge wide enough for a horse-drawn carriage was constructed.

This was among the last major works of Scottish civil engineer Thomas Telford and was finished in 1831. More than four hundred feet wide, Dean Bridge sits one hundred and six feet above water level.

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It aids the Queensferry Road in bypassing the Dean Gorge. During its creation, the bridge innovated westward access.

Dean Village Bridge

Prior to its construction, the river had been crossed by a single-arch stone bridge at the foot of Bell’s Brae, which still exists. An unintended side effect of Dean Bridge was that traffic could avoid Dean Village altogether.

The area as a whole remained a separate village until the nineteenth century. With the development of bigger, modernised flour mills in Leith, Dean Village’s trade fell.

Over time, its mills were removed. As work dried up, workers started to leave in search of better prospects. The area fell into ruin, especially in the second half of the twentieth century.

Things got to a point where the village became known as one of the city’s slums. For many years, the area was associated with decay, hitting its lowest point in the 1960s.

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Then, in the mid-1970s, interest was reignited. Redevelopment and restoration projects started with the conversion of workers’ cottages, warehouses and mill buildings into liveable spaces.

Since then, Dean Village has become a highly sought-after residential area in the Stockbridge district.

When visiting Dean Village, its eclectic blend of styles from different eras makes it a truly unique walk through the past.

One of the most breathtaking sites, Well Court, sits at the heart of the village. Commissioned in the 1880s by Sir John Findlay, then-owner of the Scotsman newspaper, he bought land in Dean Village in order to build accommodations.

These were originally intended for local workers. Architect Sydney Mitchell designed the housing project. Work was completed in 1886, with many carved red sandstone plaques to commemorate its building.

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At the centre of the housing development sits a clock tower, which rises above what was once the social hall. The clock tower was intended to help the court’s inhabitants stick to the strict curfew imposed by Findlay (in exchange for staying at Well Court).

Modern residents, thankfully, have no such restrictions set upon them. Besides the clock tower, Well Court is comprised of four- and five-storey tenement flats that enclose a communal courtyard.

It is evocative of old squares, such as James Square in the Old Town. Now privately owned, in 2007 Well Court was restored through the joint efforts of the World Heritage Foundation and the building owners.

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Besides the outstanding marvels of Well Court and Dean Bridge, there is still much to be admired about Dean Village.

Bell’s Brae House, a spring-yellow sixteenth-century miller’s house, is one of Edinburgh’s oldest inhabited domestic buildings.

God bless the Baxter

Its street-facing exterior holds a stone plaque decorated with two angel figures, grain, and baker’s tools (bags of flour and long-handled oven peels to collect piping-hot baked goods from searing ovens).

Below, an engraved stone sign reads “God bless the Baxters”. Here, visitors of Dean Village had to pay a toll to cross over Brae Bridge.

These days, the bridge is a scenic spot open to all, and the pastel yellow house is a quiet and cosy Bed and Breakfast. Stone walls line the right of the Water of Leith.

On the other side of Dean Village, several pathways lead into the river. A private stone garden sits neatly above the waterway.

Common ivy is threaded through much of the wrought iron fencing that separates side streets. Pink roses bloom in abundance, as do Cotoneaster, a popular type of evergreen shrub that provides colour and texture year-round.

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Farther along the Water of Leith sits St Bernard’s Well, which was also designed by Thomas Telford. The well’s water, considered to have healing properties, brought in people from all over the world.

While its technical aspects were managed by Telford, the well’s aesthetics were designed by Edinburgh-based landscape painter Alexander Nasmyth.

The well resembles the Temple of Vesta, a classical Roman temple in Tivoli. A statue of the Roman goddess of health, Hygieia, is set in the centre of the spring.

Above her, visitors can admire a mural ceiling. While it has been closed to the public since the 1940s, its beauty can still be admired from the outside.

The path to St Bernard’s Well is shrouded by tall, willowy trees. A low stone wall is ever-present between the walkway and the river.

Steps down to the river pop up several times during the walk. On one instance, while examining one of these side trails, I came across a group of young artists sketching the afternoon scenery while perched atop jagged stones that only just sat above the surface of the water.

Returning to the main path, joggers, dog walkers, and families aplenty gave the route a cheerful atmosphere.

Situated immediately northwest of the city centre, the tranquillity of Dean Village and the Water of Leith is immediately noticeable.

Upon stepping into the area, visitors are basked in a sense of calm, so much so that one has to consciously remind themselves that this was once a bustling workers’ site.

But as times change, places such as Dean Village inevitably do as well.

Thankfully in this case, the people’s call for preservation was answered in the affirmative, and the visual culture of the former mill’s village can be admired for years to come.

Text & Photos Victoria Mae Martyn

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