Newcraighall


City of Edinburgh

Newcraighall village
©2022 Gazetteer for Scotland

Newcraighall village

A former mining village and suburb of E Edinburgh, Newcraighall lies to the east of the city centre, a mile (1.5 km) southeast of Portobello. The modern village lies to the east of the A1 trunk road and comprises refurbished rows of miners' cottages with distinctive red pantile roofs, housing from the 1930s and 1970s (replacing further miners' cottages), a primary school, fire station, and public park, together with a railway station and park-and-ride facility. Rows of miners cottages and associated brickworks were developed in the 1890s, alongside the Newcraighall Colliery (known as 'The Klondyke'), which opened in 1897. At its peak, this pit employed more than 800 men and had an output of 900 tons of coal per day. The pit included a vertical shaft some 249m (817 feet) in depth, together with the older inclined adit 207m (680 feet) in length, the combination providing a good circulation of air. It eventually closed in 1968. In the 1990s the Fort Kinnaird Shopping Park was developed on the western part of the former colliery, now divided by the A1 road and separated from the village. The eastern part, where most of the pit-head buildings were located is now the site of a hotel and pub-restaurant.

The Spirit of Community, by sculptor Jake Harvey, was unveiled in the village in 1989 to commemorate its mining heritage.


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