ST MARY MAGDALENES

The 49 and 21 buses from the city centre pass the bottom of Mountcastle Drive South on Duddingston Park South - a two minute walk to the church... This burn was variously known as Magdalen or Maidland Water. The early spellings, Maidland(s) in 1448, Medlen in 1661 or Maitland all reflect the medieval pronunciation maudlin, and the third of them may have been influenced by (or confused with) the name of the Maitlands of Thirlestane, who owned nearby Brunstane from 1597 to 1696. The Magdalene Brig is noted in the Town Council Minutes 1557 as decayed to the point of falling down. The ground west of the brig is notable as one of the oldest inhabited sites in Edinburgh since a cemetery of the Food Vessel folk had been found here in 1881. This area was also the site of salt pans belonging to Kelso Abbey in the middle ages, and of a variety of manufactures in later centuries. The housing scheme built on Easter Duddingston ground a mile upstream from the old settlement was named in 1956 as..

Primary location: Edinburgh United Kingdom