Dean Village

The Water of Leith drops through a gorge here, and the fall was used for milling from the twelfth century; at its height the Baxters, the incorporation of Edinburgh's bakers, ran eleven mills and two granaries on this stretch, and carved stones with loaves and crossed peels are set into surviving walls. The industry died in the nineteenth century as steam milling took over and the village declined badly before restoration from the 1970s. Well Court, a red sandstone block with a clock tower built in 1884 as model housing for workers, was funded by the owner of The Scotsman partly so that he would have something better than a slum to look at from his house above. Thomas Telford's Dean Bridge of 1832 crosses thirty metres overhead, carrying the road while the village sits below it.

What to look for

• The mill stones - carved loaves and bakers' peels set in surviving walls.
• Well Court - 1884 model housing with a clock tower in red sandstone.
• Dean Bridge - Telford's 1832 crossing passing thirty metres above.
• The Water of Leith - the gorge and walkway running through the village.

When to go

Year-round; autumn colour in the gorge is the best season and winter mornings with low light suit the stone. The village is at its quietest early, before the walking tours arrive.

Good to know

It is a residential village, not an attraction, and the buildings are private homes; residents have had persistent problems with visitors photographing into windows and blocking doorways. There are almost no facilities. The walk in from Princes Street is steeply downhill and back up.

Nearby

The Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art is along the Water of Leith walkway; Stockbridge lies downstream.

Key facts