A northeastern district of the city of Edinburgh, Seafield lies between Leith and Portobello, principally comprising industrial and commercial premises strung out along Seafield Road. Founded in 1883, the Edinburgh Dog and Cat Home moved to extensive premises here in 1957. Seafield Waste Water Treatment Works treats sewage from over 550,000 residents in the Edinburgh and Midlothian before discharging it into the Firth of Forth. Seafield Cemetery and Crematorium lies between Leith Links and the sewage works, on the south side of Seafield Road. Lothian Buses maintains a garage, engineering depot and driver training school at Seafield, situated at the extreme southeast of Seafield Road, beyond a long line of car showrooms.
The Eastern General Hospital was located here until it was demolished in 2008. The hospital opened in 1906 as Leith Poorhouse and Hospital, the last poorhouse to be built in Scotland. It was used as a military hospital during the First World War, and was briefly used by the US Navy in 1918. It was renamed the Eastern General Hospital in 1930, closed in 2007 and considerably damaged by fire shortly thereafter. The site has now been redeveloped for housing, although the original white-harled gatehouse remains, with distinctive red sandstone dressings.
