A sizeable district of Edinburgh, lying in the northwest of the New Town. Originally the location of a pedestrian bridge over the Water of Leith, between Dean and Canonmills. A stone bridge was completed in 1786, but until 1813, Stockbridge remained a small village with a few cottages and mills. The painter Sir Henry Raeburn (1756 - 1823) owned two adjoining estates; namely Deanhaugh and St. Bernard's, which he developed with the assistance of architect James Milne. Milne was also responsible for the fine St Bernard's Church (1823) in Saxe Coburg Street. Poet James Hogg (1770 - 1835) lodged in Deanhaugh Street, as did the surgeon Sir James Simpson (1811-70) who stayed there in his brother's bakery. Ann Street, designed by Raeburn and named after his wife, is a rare example of a New Town street with front gardens. Here lived the publisher Robert Chambers (1802-71) and author and editor Professor John Wilson (1785 - 1854), who for a time had Thomas De Quincey (1785 - 1859) as a lodger. The grand sweeping St. Bernard's Crescent, featuring facades replete with Doric columns, was inspired by Raeburn's acquaintance and fellow artist Sir David Wilkie (1785 - 1841). Landscape painter Horatio McCulloch (1805-67) lived opposite in Danube Street. By the river is St. Bernard's Well, a mineral spring housed in a grandiose Doric temple, designed in 1788 by Alexander Nasmyth (1758 - 1840) and restored by publisher William Nelson (1816-87) one hundred years later.
To the north of the area, between Glenogle Road and the Water of Leith, are the eleven parallel streets of the 'Stockbridge Colonies', built by the Edinburgh Co-operative Building Company from 1861, with the aim of providing low-cost housing for working people. The streets are named after those who founded the Company, including geologist and writer, Hugh Miller (1802-56). Stockbridge was the home of 'Golden Wonder' potato crisps, which were first produced here in 1947 by baker William Alexander. Production later moved to a purpose-built factory in Sighthill.
While retaining its village-like character, Stockbridge has become an enormously popular and cosmopolitan residential area within the city.
