Edinburgh Bridges #09 The Stock Brig

This bridge is a bit of misnomer in that in the original term for "stocc brycg" or stock brig was ‘Timber Foot Bridge’ and there was no wood in the first stone bridge in 1786. It was not until bridge which was rebuilt 1801 which is effectively the one seen in the image that the village to the north side of the water of Leith started to grow. The second stone bridge was built when James Milne bought the estates of Deanhaugh & St Bernard’s from the famous painter Henry Raeburn. With the Dean Bridge not being built until 1831 Stockbridge became the main access for traffic coming from Queensferry so for at least thirty years the village grew in the fashion that is seen today, and when the main traffic took the easier road along Learmonth the village was spared further development and is basically the village that remains.