Dean Village

Dean Village (from dene, meaning 'deep valley') is a former village immediately northwest of the city centre of Edinburgh, Scotland. It was known as the "Water of Leith Village" and was the centre of a successful grain milling area for more than 800 years. At one time there were no fewer than eleven working mills there, driven by the strong currents of the Water of Leith

The area remained a separate village until the 19th century. In 1826, John Learmonth, a future Lord Provost of Edinburgh, purchased the Dean Estate


Dean Village as seen from Dean Bridge over the Water of Leith

The Water of Leith flowing through Dean Village

Well Court, Edinburgh

The Great Cauld, a dam below West Mill

The Dean Orphanage, now the Dean Gallery

The Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, built as John Watson's Institution in the Dean

Daniel Stewart's School

The Dean Cemetery

Green with samarae in April, one of the last old Cornish Elms in Britain tops the skyline over Dean Village (2007)
Dean Village (from dene, meaning 'deep valley') is a former village immediately northwest of the city centre of Edinburgh, Scotland. It was known as the "Water of Leith Village" and was the centre of a successful grain milling area for more than 800 years. At one time there were no fewer than eleven working mills there, driven by the strong currents of the Water of Leith.

History
The mills of Dene were first mentioned in King David I's founding charter of Holyrood Abbey, usually dated c. 1145, in which he granted one of his mills of Dene to the Abbey.

The area remained a separate village until the 19th century. In 1826, John Learmonth, a future Lord Provost of Edinburgh, purchased the Dean Estate from the Nisbets of Dean.

A bridge was needed to access from one side of the high valley to the other (the low-lying village was more or less an irrelevance). The Cramond Road Trustees discarded plans by other engineers and insisted upon the use of Thomas Telford. They also insisted that the bridge be toll-free. This was built 1831-2 and opened in 1833.

The four-arched Dean Bridge, spans a width of over 400 feet and is 106 feet above the water level. It carries the Queensferry Road over the Dean Gorge, and was built at the joint expense of John Learmonth and the Cramond Road Trustees. The bridge trThe area has now become a desirable residential area.ansformed access westwards from the city and opened up the potential to develop the Dean estate.

The area has now become a desirable residential area.
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