Notable Dates and Brief History of Portobello with original Photographs by Elaine Ferguson:

During the 12th century the area of Portobello and Figgate was part of the forest of Drumsheuch and was a favourite hunting ground of King David I. In fact it was while out hunting in the forest that King David narrowly escaped being attacked by a white deer and as a token to God for his brush with death he erected the Palace of Holyrood in 1128.

Right up to the mid eighteenth century there were no dewellings between Jocks Lodge (anciently called Jokis Lodge) and the seaside village of the Joppa Salt Pans. Then in the 1700's the Village of Figget sprung up and became a rendezvous for smugglers and a haunt of highwaymen and robbers. The lands of Figgate at this time were considered to be of little value and were generally used for grazing cattle by the farmers of Duddingston.

A few years after the 1745 rebellion George Hamilton built Porto-Bello House which stood on the ground now covered by the Town Hall. It was this dwelling that later gave Portobello its name. At this time a stage ran twice a day from Edinburgh to Musselburgh and it appears that George Hamilton converted his cottage into a rest for weary travellers. His was the only cottage in the area up to around the mid 1700's.

Around the year 1763 Mr William Jameson , the son of a celebrated Edinburgh builder, feu'd about forty acres from Baron Muir, at a rate of around £3 per acre per annum. He found that there was an underlying deep bed of clay in his land which was ideal for brick making. His first excavations for clay were made where Pipe Street and Bridge Street now stand. This in turn led to the building of workmans cottages in the neighbourhood and so many of the older areas of Pportobello can be found near to Pipe Street and on the High Street in the area of the Blue Bell Inn.

By 1764 William owned 3 brick works the main one being at Brickfield, and by 1779 all the works were producing in excess of 3 million bricks per year. On this highly profitable business William became very wealthy and in 1767 built himself a new dwelling which he called "Rosefield House". The house stood in an extensive and beautiful park which today is know as "Rosefield Park" in which some remnants of the old house can still be seen.

The map below shows where Rosefield House stood as well as number of other dwellings in "Portobello" or "The Village of Figgate" at around 1783. Click the map to enlarge.

When the Village of Figgate became known as Portobello is unclear, but by the late 1700's it was a thriving community providing employment for the many workers in the brickworks owned by William Jameson. And so the village of Portobello was founded at the estuary of the Figgate, or as it used to be known Ficket Burn. On the right is the Figgate Burn today as it winds its way through the Figgate Park. (The burn forms the western boundary of the area. The name Figgate was probably a corruption of the Saxon word for a common pasture for cattle or cattle-gait. )

Shortly after Mr Jameson had built Rosefield House a number of other superior residences appeared in the area. One of the most unusual was built by Mr Cunningham in 1785 and the remains of which can still be seen at the foot of what is now Tower Street. It was built as his summer house and commanded one of the best views in the kingdom.

The above Sundial originally stood at the west gate of Mr Cunningham's summer house and now stands in "Brighton Park".