North Leith Poorhouse

The poorhouse as shown on the Ordnance Survey map for 1876.

Extracted from Ordnance Survey Town Plan of Edinburgh - Sheet Sheet 12. Surveyed: 1877, Published: 1878-81. Original scale 1:1056. Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland.

Unlike South Leith, North Leith had its own version of a poorhouse as far back as the sixteenth century, adjacent to North Leith Church - then at what is now Quayside Street. In 1763, a new poorhouse was built in the Citadel area, but in the 1860s the Parochial Board, which had been established in 1845, decided that it was time to build a new Poorhouse on a site in North Junction Street. This new building opened in 1863 and although smaller than South Leith Poorhouse had a similar layout with the Parochial Ofices on the street and the Poorhouse located behind. The chapel had a central position between the living accommodation and work areas.

The building was replaced by a new poorhouse at Seafield, built 1906-1908, which also served South Leith and the site was re-used for David Kilpatrick School which was completed in 1915. Following its demolition, Ferrylee home for older people was built on the site. A pair of gate pillars survives on North Junction Street, but these may have been relocated at some stage, perhaps when the school was built.