These images were taken for the Dumbiedykes Survey in 1959 for the Libraries and Museums Committee of Edinburgh Town Council. The survey was to record the buildings of the area before their demolition and reconstruction in 1964. They provide a systematic record of an area that was home to hundreds of people who shared a real sense of community, people who were scattered over the city following the area's demolition. The images show many rundown tenements and the surrounding unkempt ground, but they also show many happy children, making use of the ruinous landscape in their play.
Dumbiedykes was bordered by Holyrood Park to the east and Holyrood Road to the north. The area and road take their name from the Academy for the Deaf and Dumb established by Thomas Braidwood around 1764 and closed in 1783 (known as Dummie/Dumbie House). Today the name most often refers specifically to the housing estate in the area which comprises two tower blocks, Lockview Court and Holyrood Court, and other housing.
The image library for the collections of Edinburgh Libraries and Museums and Galleries