Water of Leith

Today's the day ....................... for a view from the bridge

This the view from Belford Bridge in the Dean Village area of Edinburgh to the northwest of the city centre.

Dean Village (from dene, meaning 'deep valley') was a successful grain milling hamlet for more than 800 years, the mills being driven by the strong currents of the Water of Leith.

Records show that in the early 1100s, King David I awarded the income from a number of water mills already in operation here to Holyrood Abbey. At this time Edinburgh covered only the area now known as the Old Town with no development west of the castle. What was for centuries known as Water of Leith Village developed in isolation with up to eleven grain mills providing food for Edinburgh's growing population.

Nowadays, of course, the mills are long gone or have been converted into very expensive residential accommodation .......................