South Leith Poorhouse

Provision for the poor in Scotland had traditionally been the responsibility of the Church of Scotland, but this changed after the Disruption of 1843, when a large proportion of church members and ministers left to set up the Free Church of Scotland. In 1845, Parochial Bords were set up - there were separate boards for North Leith and South Leith. The South Leith board established a poorhouse at 97 Giles Street in 1848/49, but presumably this was a temporary arrangement because in 1850 a new, purpose-built, poorhouse was opened in Great Junction Street on the site now occupied by Taylor Gardens. The map extract above shows the Parochial Offices on Great Junction Street with the entrance to the Poorhouse, a chapel at the centre of the building, and separate male and female entrances on either side. Also shown is a school, but in later years the poorhouse children were sent to schools run by Leith School Board.

The diet on the Poorhouse was mainly based on oatmeal and milk, a thowback to Scotland’s agricultural past, but included some meat and some suet pudding. It excluded such items as tea and fish, which was a staple item for most people in Leith at the time. There was an enhanced diet for those who were able to work in the ‘stick factory’, where bundles of sticks for firewood were prepared. The men doing that work were expected to produce 300 bundles of sticks a day.

In 1894, the South Leith and North Leith boards were amalgamated, following which a new poorhouse to serve both areas was built at Seafield in 1906-1908. (It later became the Eastern General Hospital and part of its site is now the location of Findlay house.) The former South Leith Poorhouse was acquired by the managers of the adjacent Leith Hospital and demolished in 1911 to allow more light and air into the hospital. The poorhouse site bacame the location of Taylor Gardens.