Granton, Edinburgh
Encyclopedia
Granton is a district in the north of Edinburgh
, Scotland. Granton forms part of Edinburgh's waterfront along the Firth of Forth
and is, historically, an industrial area having a large harbour. Granton is part of Edinburgh's large scale waterfront regeneration programme
.
down to what was Granton Beach. The name is presumed to come from Grant's Town or Grant's Dun (hill).
. Lighthouse engineer Robert Stevenson
oversaw construction, which was completed in 1863, although part of the harbour was open by 1838.
Granton became a successful port for the export of coal, and import of esparto
grass for making paper. The fishing fleet grew considerably, leading to the development of an ice house in the late 19th century, to the west of the harbour. There were some 80 fishing trawlers resident just before World War II
. The first example of the fossil
crustacean
Waterstonella
was found in the Granton shrimp
beds by the keeper of geology at the Royal Scottish Museum, Dr. Charles Waterstone.. The foreshore area between Granton and Newhaven is a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) aimed at encouraging and preserving the resource of fossils in the area.
From 3 February 1850, the world's first ferry-train began operating between Granton and Burntisland
, Fife
. The paddle-steamer Leviathan carried the trains, which formed the main link across the Forth until completion of the Forth Bridge in 1890. Passenger and car ferry services continued into the 1960s.
In 1884, John Murray
set up the Marine Laboratory in Granton, the first of its kind in the United Kingdom. In 1894, this laboratory was moved to Millport, Isle of Cumbrae
, on the Firth of Clyde
, and became the University Marine Biological Station, Millport
, the forerunner of today's Scottish Association for Marine Science at Dunstaffnage
, near Oban
, Argyll and Bute
.
Granton was the key base in Scotland of the Northern Lighthouse Board with their boats taking lighthouse keepers and their supplies to and from lighthouses around the coast of Scotland. Granton also became the base for pilots from 1920, guiding ships into the Firth of Forth
, a service it still provides a base for today.
From 1942 to 1946, Granton harbour was home of shore-based minesweeping training establishment HMS Lochinvar. As the scale of the harbour restricted ship size, it became a site for scrapping former Royal Navy
ships, including HMS Newport
and HMS Hedingham Castle
.
Today two boat clubs jointly run the Edinburgh Marina: the Forth Corinthian Yacht Club and the Royal Forth Yacht Club.
to the west of the harbour was initially developed to provide stone to build the harbour. Later it provided stone for parts of Holyrood Palace
, and for the statue of Lord Nelson on Nelson's Column
in Trafalgar Square
, London
.
The oldest surviving car factory building in Britain is located in Granton. The Madelvic Motor Carriage Company
works were built in 1898 for the manufacture of electric cars. Like the gasometers, the factory is also a listed building. However, approval has been granted for its demolition as part of wider redevelopment of the area.
Granton Gasworks were formerly one of Edinburgh waterfront's most prominent landmarks, comprising three blue gasometer
s which were clearly visible from Fife. Two of the structures, built in the 1930s and 1970s, have now been demolished. The third structure remains, and is listed as an example of Victorian
industrial architecture.
Development during World War Two included the construction of the works of Bruce Peebles (later Parsons Peebles), that made high voltage electrical equipment, including transformers for electricity power stations. The works burnt down in a huge fire in 1999, and is now part of the waterside redevelopment. The firm continues in business as Parsons Peebles Generation Limited, Wood Road, Royal Dockyard, Rosyth. Ferranti
's factory on Ferry Road was built to make electronics for aircraft, including gyro
-based gunsights for the Supermarine Spitfire
.
.
The 16 links to Leith or Silverknowes. 19 and 47 link to the city centre. 32 links to Muirhouse and suburbs to the west.
, which in 1842 opened a line from Canal Street railway station, at right angles to the present Waverley station, Edinburgh, to Trinity Crescent near the Trinity Chain Pier. After Trinity Crescent station was destroyed in a storm, the line was extended in 1838 to Granton harbour, located on the middle pier. The junction in Edinburgh was too steep to be operated by locomotive, and so trains had to be worked by rope. By 1868, a new line was built from Waverley Station through Abbeyhill to Bonnington to remove rope working.
From 1846 to 1890, Burntisland railway station
was part of the main East Coast railway line to Perth
, Dundee
and Aberdeen
. In 1890 when the Forth Bridge opened, the long distance trains started using it and after that the line to Granton was just used by local passenger and goods trains. Passenger trains ran until 1926, when the tram and omnibus services became fully integrated. Goods services ran until 1986, when the lines were lifted.
In 1861 the Caledonian Railway
opened a line to Granton from Dalry, providing goods service to Granton harbour. They agreed a contract to run passenger services to the new gas works from central Edinburgh. In 1864 the Caledonian built a line to Leith, with stations in Granton at Newhaven Road (near Trinity Academy), Granton Road and East Pilton, running to Edinburgh Princes Street. Passenger trains ran until 1962, and goods trains until 1986, when the lines were lifted.
The railway embankment, which separated Lower Granton road from the Forth was removed in the late 1980s to enable a road improvement. The latter never happened, and the area now exists as an informal linear park along the roadside.
s from Leith to Granton. They were joined in 1923 by trams from the Edinburgh Corporation
, resulting at one time in seven tram routes to the area: four from Leith via Lower Granton Road (services 2, 14, 16 and 17); three via Granton Road (services 8, 9 and 13). Trams to Granton were withdrawn in stages, from 1952 to 1956, and replaced by buses.
Proposed to be part of the new Edinburgh Trams systems on Line 1b, in April 2009, the City of Edinburgh Council
announced the cancellation of Phase 1b of the project citing problems caused by the global recession, saving an estimated £75 million. The decision meant that the construction of the line to Granton will not go ahead for the foreseeable future, although the possibility remains open that this phase may be revived in future, subject to available funds.
Dr Charles Munro had developed a general practice
in the area, and when he was called up for national service in World war Two, his locum
was pioneering German
Dr. Ekkehard von Kuenssberg
. Post-war Kuenssberg developed "The Care Trust" that integrated all local government services into one group, becoming one of the first cases of primary care
in what was the newly launched National Health Service
.
Much of West Granton housing was demolished from 1995.
The Edinburgh Waterfront
scheme is bringing about the redevelopment of Leith
and Granton. The gasworks site spread over 110 acre (0.4451546 km²), is to be redeveloped as the ForthQuarter, a mixed use development of housing, offices, local services, a park, and a new campus for Telford College. The area was masterplanned by Foster and Partners
, although the individual 'plots' will be separately designed by other architects. As part of the redevelopment, the main storage building of the National Museums of Scotland
opened in Granton 1996. It does not serve a publicly accessible museum function. A new reception and conservation building was built at its entrance in 2005.
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, Scotland. Granton forms part of Edinburgh's waterfront along the Firth of Forth
Firth of Forth
The Firth of Forth is the estuary or firth of Scotland's River Forth, where it flows into the North Sea, between Fife to the north, and West Lothian, the City of Edinburgh and East Lothian to the south...
and is, historically, an industrial area having a large harbour. Granton is part of Edinburgh's large scale waterfront regeneration programme
Edinburgh Waterfront
Edinburgh Waterfront is a redevelopment of parts of Edinburgh along the shores of the Firth of Forth in Leith and Granton. There are three main landowners: Arcus , National Grid and City of Edinburgh Council...
.
Name
Granton first appears on maps in the 17th century relating to the now demolished Granton Castle. The name also appears in Granton Burn, which now runs through Caroline ParkCaroline Park
Caroline Park was constructed in 1685 for Sir George Mackenzie, 1st Viscount Tarbat, and his wife Anna. It is located in the Granton area of Edinburgh....
down to what was Granton Beach. The name is presumed to come from Grant's Town or Grant's Dun (hill).
Granton harbour
The development of Granton came about through the need for a harbour. This was a harbour for import and export of goods. The fishing needs of the area were met by the neighbouring village of Newhaven. The hamlet developed with the building of Granton Harbour which was begun in 1836 by the 5th Duke of BuccleuchWalter Montagu-Douglas-Scott, 5th Duke of Buccleuch
Walter Francis Montagu Douglas Scott, 5th Duke of Buccleuch, 7th Duke of Queensberry KG, PC , styled Earl of Dalkeith between 1812 and 1819, was a British politician and nobleman.-Background and education:...
. Lighthouse engineer Robert Stevenson
Robert Stevenson (civil engineer)
Robert Stevenson FRSE MInstCE FSAS MWS FGS FRAS FSA was a Scottish civil engineer and famed designer and builder of lighthouses.One of his finest achievements was the construction of the Bell Rock Lighthouse.-Early life:...
oversaw construction, which was completed in 1863, although part of the harbour was open by 1838.
Granton became a successful port for the export of coal, and import of esparto
Esparto
Esparto, or esparto grass, also known as "halfah grass" or "needle grass", Macrochloa tenacissima and Stipa tenacissima, is a perennial grass grown in northwest Africa and the southern part of the Iberian Peninsula employed for crafts .-Esparto paper:It is also used for fiber production for paper...
grass for making paper. The fishing fleet grew considerably, leading to the development of an ice house in the late 19th century, to the west of the harbour. There were some 80 fishing trawlers resident just before World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. The first example of the fossil
Fossil
Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...
crustacean
Crustacean
Crustaceans form a very large group of arthropods, usually treated as a subphylum, which includes such familiar animals as crabs, lobsters, crayfish, shrimp, krill and barnacles. The 50,000 described species range in size from Stygotantulus stocki at , to the Japanese spider crab with a leg span...
Waterstonella
Waterstonella
Waterstonella grantonensis is a species of fossil crustacean so distinct from other crustaceans that it has been placed in its own genus, Waterstonella, family, Waterstonellidae, and order, Waterstonellidea. It is named after Dr...
was found in the Granton shrimp
Shrimp
Shrimp are swimming, decapod crustaceans classified in the infraorder Caridea, found widely around the world in both fresh and salt water. Adult shrimp are filter feeding benthic animals living close to the bottom. They can live in schools and can swim rapidly backwards. Shrimp are an important...
beds by the keeper of geology at the Royal Scottish Museum, Dr. Charles Waterstone.. The foreshore area between Granton and Newhaven is a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) aimed at encouraging and preserving the resource of fossils in the area.
From 3 February 1850, the world's first ferry-train began operating between Granton and Burntisland
Burntisland
Burntisland is a town and former royal burgh in Fife, Scotland on the Firth of Forth. According to an estimate taken in 2008, the town has a population of 5,940....
, Fife
Fife
Fife is a council area and former county of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries to Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire...
. The paddle-steamer Leviathan carried the trains, which formed the main link across the Forth until completion of the Forth Bridge in 1890. Passenger and car ferry services continued into the 1960s.
In 1884, John Murray
John Murray (oceanographer)
Sir John Murray KCB FRS FRSE FRSGS was a pioneering Scottish oceanographer, marine biologist and limnologist.-Early life:...
set up the Marine Laboratory in Granton, the first of its kind in the United Kingdom. In 1894, this laboratory was moved to Millport, Isle of Cumbrae
Millport, Isle of Cumbrae
Millport is the only town on the island of Great Cumbrae in the Firth of Clyde off the coast of North Ayrshire, Scotland. The town is four miles south from the Largs-based Caledonian MacBrayne ferry slipway....
, on the Firth of Clyde
Firth of Clyde
The Firth of Clyde forms a large area of coastal water, sheltered from the Atlantic Ocean by the Kintyre peninsula which encloses the outer firth in Argyll and Ayrshire, Scotland. The Kilbrannan Sound is a large arm of the Firth of Clyde, separating the Kintyre Peninsula from the Isle of Arran.At...
, and became the University Marine Biological Station, Millport
University Marine Biological Station, Millport
The University Marine Biological Station Millport is a higher education institute located on the island of Great Cumbrae in the Firth of Clyde, Scotland...
, the forerunner of today's Scottish Association for Marine Science at Dunstaffnage
Dunstaffnage
Dunstaffnage can refer to:* Dunbeg, the village formerly known as Dunstaffnage* Dunstaffnage Castle...
, near Oban
Oban
Oban Oban Oban ( is a resort town within the Argyll and Bute council area of Scotland. It has a total resident population of 8,120. Despite its small size, it is the largest town between Helensburgh and Fort William and during the tourist season the town can be crowded by up to 25,000 people. Oban...
, Argyll and Bute
Argyll and Bute
Argyll and Bute is both one of 32 unitary council areas; and a Lieutenancy area in Scotland. The administrative centre for the council area is located in Lochgilphead.Argyll and Bute covers the second largest administrative area of any Scottish council...
.
Granton was the key base in Scotland of the Northern Lighthouse Board with their boats taking lighthouse keepers and their supplies to and from lighthouses around the coast of Scotland. Granton also became the base for pilots from 1920, guiding ships into the Firth of Forth
Firth of Forth
The Firth of Forth is the estuary or firth of Scotland's River Forth, where it flows into the North Sea, between Fife to the north, and West Lothian, the City of Edinburgh and East Lothian to the south...
, a service it still provides a base for today.
From 1942 to 1946, Granton harbour was home of shore-based minesweeping training establishment HMS Lochinvar. As the scale of the harbour restricted ship size, it became a site for scrapping former Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
ships, including HMS Newport
USS Sigourney (DD-81)
USS Sigourney was a Wickes class destroyer in the United States Navy during the World War I. She was the first ship named for James Butler Sigourney....
and HMS Hedingham Castle
HMS Hedingham Castle (K529)
HMS Hedingham Castle was a Castle-class corvette of the Royal Navy named after Hedingham Castle in Essex.She was originally to have been called Gorey Castle . She was launched at John Crown & Sons Ltd in Sunderland on 30 October 1944...
.
Today two boat clubs jointly run the Edinburgh Marina: the Forth Corinthian Yacht Club and the Royal Forth Yacht Club.
Industry
Granton quarryQuarry
A quarry is a type of open-pit mine from which rock or minerals are extracted. Quarries are generally used for extracting building materials, such as dimension stone, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, and gravel. They are often collocated with concrete and asphalt plants due to the requirement...
to the west of the harbour was initially developed to provide stone to build the harbour. Later it provided stone for parts of Holyrood Palace
Holyrood Palace
The Palace of Holyroodhouse, commonly referred to as Holyrood Palace, is the official residence of the monarch in Scotland. The palace stands at the bottom of the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, at the opposite end to Edinburgh Castle...
, and for the statue of Lord Nelson on Nelson's Column
Nelson's Column
Nelson's Column is a monument in Trafalgar Square in central London built to commemorate Admiral Horatio Nelson, who died at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. The monument was constructed between 1840 and 1843 to a design by William Railton at a cost of £47,000. It is a column of the Corinthian...
in Trafalgar Square
Trafalgar Square
Trafalgar Square is a public space and tourist attraction in central London, England, United Kingdom. At its centre is Nelson's Column, which is guarded by four lion statues at its base. There are a number of statues and sculptures in the square, with one plinth displaying changing pieces of...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
The oldest surviving car factory building in Britain is located in Granton. The Madelvic Motor Carriage Company
Madelvic Motor Carriage Company
The Madelvic Motor Carriage Company of Granton, Scotland, was an early car manufacturing company.The company was founded by William Peck, Edinburgh City Astronomer at the City Observatory, to develop the emerging technology of electricity. Madelvic produced an 'electric brougham' at their factory...
works were built in 1898 for the manufacture of electric cars. Like the gasometers, the factory is also a listed building. However, approval has been granted for its demolition as part of wider redevelopment of the area.
Granton Gasworks were formerly one of Edinburgh waterfront's most prominent landmarks, comprising three blue gasometer
Gasometer
A gas holder is a large container where natural gas or town gas is stored near atmospheric pressure at ambient temperatures. The volume of the container follows the quantity of stored gas, with pressure coming from the weight of a movable cap...
s which were clearly visible from Fife. Two of the structures, built in the 1930s and 1970s, have now been demolished. The third structure remains, and is listed as an example of Victorian
Victorian architecture
The term Victorian architecture refers collectively to several architectural styles employed predominantly during the middle and late 19th century. The period that it indicates may slightly overlap the actual reign, 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901, of Queen Victoria. This represents the British and...
industrial architecture.
Development during World War Two included the construction of the works of Bruce Peebles (later Parsons Peebles), that made high voltage electrical equipment, including transformers for electricity power stations. The works burnt down in a huge fire in 1999, and is now part of the waterside redevelopment. The firm continues in business as Parsons Peebles Generation Limited, Wood Road, Royal Dockyard, Rosyth. Ferranti
Ferranti
Ferranti or Ferranti International plc was a UK electrical engineering and equipment firm that operated for over a century from 1885 until it went bankrupt in 1993. Known primarily for defence electronics, the Company was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index but ceased trading in 1993.The...
's factory on Ferry Road was built to make electronics for aircraft, including gyro
Gyro
- Science and technology :* An abbreviation for gyroscope, an orientation-stabilizing device* An abbreviation for autogyro, a type of rotary-wing aircraft* The casually used brand name of a detangler mechanism, part of a stunt-adapted BMX bicycle...
-based gunsights for the Supermarine Spitfire
Supermarine Spitfire
The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and many other Allied countries throughout the Second World War. The Spitfire continued to be used as a front line fighter and in secondary roles into the 1950s...
.
Transport
Bus services are mainly provided by Lothian BusesLothian Buses
Lothian Buses Plc is the only municipal bus company in Scotland and the largest provider of bus services in Edinburgh, Scotland. City of Edinburgh Council own 91.01% of the company with the remainder being owned by East Lothian and Midlothian councils. As well as serving Edinburgh, Lothian Buses...
.
The 16 links to Leith or Silverknowes. 19 and 47 link to the city centre. 32 links to Muirhouse and suburbs to the west.
Railways
On development of the harbour, the Duke needed a railway connection to make a profit. He became an investor in the Edinburgh, Leith and Newhaven RailwayEdinburgh, Leith and Newhaven Railway
The Edinburgh, Leith and Newhaven Railway, which later became the Edinburgh, Leith and Granton Railway, was a railway in Edinburgh. It carried passengers and freight between the city centre and the northern ports. It was Edinburgh's second railway, after the Duke of Buccleuch's Edinburgh and...
, which in 1842 opened a line from Canal Street railway station, at right angles to the present Waverley station, Edinburgh, to Trinity Crescent near the Trinity Chain Pier. After Trinity Crescent station was destroyed in a storm, the line was extended in 1838 to Granton harbour, located on the middle pier. The junction in Edinburgh was too steep to be operated by locomotive, and so trains had to be worked by rope. By 1868, a new line was built from Waverley Station through Abbeyhill to Bonnington to remove rope working.
Burntisland railway station
Burntisland railway station is a railway station in the town of Burntisland, Fife, Scotland. The station is managed by First ScotRail and is on the Fife Circle Line.- External links :...
was part of the main East Coast railway line to Perth
Perth, Scotland
Perth is a town and former city and royal burgh in central Scotland. Located on the banks of the River Tay, it is the administrative centre of Perth and Kinross council area and the historic county town of Perthshire...
, Dundee
Dundee
Dundee is the fourth-largest city in Scotland and the 39th most populous settlement in the United Kingdom. It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firth of Tay, which feeds into the North Sea...
and Aberdeen
Aberdeen
Aberdeen is Scotland's third most populous city, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas and the United Kingdom's 25th most populous city, with an official population estimate of ....
. In 1890 when the Forth Bridge opened, the long distance trains started using it and after that the line to Granton was just used by local passenger and goods trains. Passenger trains ran until 1926, when the tram and omnibus services became fully integrated. Goods services ran until 1986, when the lines were lifted.
In 1861 the Caledonian Railway
Caledonian Railway
The Caledonian Railway was a major Scottish railway company. It was formed in the early 19th century and it was absorbed almost a century later into the London, Midland and Scottish Railway, in the 1923 railway grouping, by means of the Railways Act 1921...
opened a line to Granton from Dalry, providing goods service to Granton harbour. They agreed a contract to run passenger services to the new gas works from central Edinburgh. In 1864 the Caledonian built a line to Leith, with stations in Granton at Newhaven Road (near Trinity Academy), Granton Road and East Pilton, running to Edinburgh Princes Street. Passenger trains ran until 1962, and goods trains until 1986, when the lines were lifted.
The railway embankment, which separated Lower Granton road from the Forth was removed in the late 1980s to enable a road improvement. The latter never happened, and the area now exists as an informal linear park along the roadside.
Trams
In 1909, Leith Corporation ran tramTram
A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...
s from Leith to Granton. They were joined in 1923 by trams from the Edinburgh Corporation
Edinburgh Corporation Tramways
Edinburgh Corporation Tramways formerly served the City of Edinburgh, Scotland. The city used four-wheeled double-decked trams painted dark red and white - a livery still used by Lothian Buses.-Origins:...
, resulting at one time in seven tram routes to the area: four from Leith via Lower Granton Road (services 2, 14, 16 and 17); three via Granton Road (services 8, 9 and 13). Trams to Granton were withdrawn in stages, from 1952 to 1956, and replaced by buses.
Proposed to be part of the new Edinburgh Trams systems on Line 1b, in April 2009, the City of Edinburgh Council
Politics of Edinburgh
The politics of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, are evident in the deliberations and decisions of the council of Edinburgh, in elections to the council, the Scottish Parliament, the House of Commons and the European Parliament....
announced the cancellation of Phase 1b of the project citing problems caused by the global recession, saving an estimated £75 million. The decision meant that the construction of the line to Granton will not go ahead for the foreseeable future, although the possibility remains open that this phase may be revived in future, subject to available funds.
Present
General practitioner
A general practitioner is a medical practitioner who treats acute and chronic illnesses and provides preventive care and health education for all ages and both sexes. They have particular skills in treating people with multiple health issues and comorbidities...
in the area, and when he was called up for national service in World war Two, his locum
Locum
Locum, short for the Latin phrase locum tenens , is a person who temporarily fulfills the duties of another. For example, a locum doctor is a doctor who works in the place of the regular doctor when that doctor is absent, or when a hospital/practice is short-staffed...
was pioneering German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
Dr. Ekkehard von Kuenssberg
Ekkehard von Kuenssberg
Ekkehard von Kuenssberg MB ChB CBE PRCPG FRCOG FRCP , was a German-born pioneering Scottish medical doctor...
. Post-war Kuenssberg developed "The Care Trust" that integrated all local government services into one group, becoming one of the first cases of primary care
Primary care
Primary care is the term for the health services by providers who act as the principal point of consultation for patients within a health care system...
in what was the newly launched National Health Service
National Health Service
The National Health Service is the shared name of three of the four publicly funded healthcare systems in the United Kingdom. They provide a comprehensive range of health services, the vast majority of which are free at the point of use to residents of the United Kingdom...
.
Much of West Granton housing was demolished from 1995.
The Edinburgh Waterfront
Edinburgh Waterfront
Edinburgh Waterfront is a redevelopment of parts of Edinburgh along the shores of the Firth of Forth in Leith and Granton. There are three main landowners: Arcus , National Grid and City of Edinburgh Council...
scheme is bringing about the redevelopment of Leith
Leith
-South Leith v. North Leith:Up until the late 16th century Leith , comprised two separate towns on either side of the river....
and Granton. The gasworks site spread over 110 acre (0.4451546 km²), is to be redeveloped as the ForthQuarter, a mixed use development of housing, offices, local services, a park, and a new campus for Telford College. The area was masterplanned by Foster and Partners
Foster and Partners
Foster + Partners is an architectural firm based in London. The practice is led by its founder and Chairman, Norman Foster, and has constructed many high-profile glass-and-steel buildings....
, although the individual 'plots' will be separately designed by other architects. As part of the redevelopment, the main storage building of the National Museums of Scotland
National Museums of Scotland
National Museums Scotland is the organization that runs several national museums of Scotland. It is one of the country's National Collections, and holds internationally important collections of natural sciences, decorative arts, world cultures, science and technology, and Scottish history and...
opened in Granton 1996. It does not serve a publicly accessible museum function. A new reception and conservation building was built at its entrance in 2005.