Water Street, Leith

Category

Library Item

Item no

38622

Title

Water Street, Leith

Artist / maker

Unknown

Engraver

Unknown

Date

1953

Size

4.5 x 6.8 cm

Type

Photograph

A view of Water Street from 1953, with old tenement building's west of the water of Leith.
Water Street is between the East end of Tollbooth Wynd and Commercial Street, Leith.

The Town Council Minutes of 3rd April 1924 proposed the demolition or reconstruction of "certain houses, courts, and alleys unfit for human habitation". The concerns of William Robertson, Medical Officer of Health for the City and Royal Burgh of Edinburgh, were that the "narrowness, closeness, and bad arrangement, or the bad condition of the streets and houses, the want of light, air, ventilation or proper conveniences or other sanitary defects & are dangerous or injurious to the health of the inhabitants of the buildings in the said areas, or of the neighbouring buildings ". The scheme involved large-scale demolition in this area of Leith, and the re-housing of most displaced residents outwith the areas covered by the scheme.

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Related images

Related subjects

Architecture > Architectural features > Chimneys

Architecture > Architectural features > Doors and doorways

Architecture > Architectural features > Windows

Homes > Residential buildings > Tenements

Places > Edinburgh areas > Leith

Places > Scotland > Edinburgh

Transport > Infrastructure > Cobbled streets

Transport > Infrastructure > Drainpipes

Transport > Infrastructure > Pavements