Abbeyhill

A small district of Edinburgh, is centred to the south of London Road, a half-mile (1 km) east of Princes Street, Abbeyhill lies on a ridge that runs east from Calton Hill to Meadowbank. The district takes its name from Holyrood Abbey, indeed there is also a road called Abbeyhill leading from the Abbey which lies a ruin next to the Palace of Holyroodhouse. The area is noted for popular 'Colonies' flatted cottages in seven parallel streets built by the Edinburgh Co-operative Building Company around 1870 with the aim of providing low-cost housing for working people. Between the Abbey and New Calton Burial Ground is a small tasteless modern housing estate (built in 1967), centred around Abbeyhill Crescent. Abbeyhill was previously an industrial area with, for example, the London Road Foundry nearby, but these have closed. Today, there are some small businesses in this largely residential area, for example, Abbeymount Techbase provides accommodation for small high-technology businesses. The main railway line leaves Edinburgh for the south through Abbeyhill, as does the A1 road. A railway station opened here in 1884 as part of the Edinburgh Suburban Railway development, but the station closed in 1962.


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