Leith Fort Flats
Introduction
The photograph on this page of Leith Fort Flats by kim traynor as part of the Geograph project.
The Geograph project started in 2005 with the aim of publishing, organising and preserving representative images for every square kilometre of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.
There are currently over 7.5m images from over 14,400 individuals and you can help contribute to the project by visiting https://www.geograph.org.uk
Leith Fort Flats
Image: © kim traynor Taken: 21 May 2009
Leith Fort, built in 1799, was one of Edinburgh's main Victorian military barracks. A fine Hill & Adamson photograph exists of Royal Artillery gunners posing with a cannon inside the Fort in 1846.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Artillery_at_Leith_Fort,_1846.jpg The barracks were demolished in the 1950s and replaced with modern flats, though some original features were retained, such as the boundary wall seen here. Sadly, the housing scheme within has had more than its fair share of social problems and is slated for demolition. http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/Notorious-Leith-housing-estate-set.5041228.jp But the remains of the fort, designed by the architect of Edinburgh's New Town, James Craig, to defend Leith against possible attack by the U.S. naval raider, John Paul Jones, must surely be preserved in one way or another.
Images are licensed for reuse under creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0
Image Location
Latitude
55.976508
Longitude
-3.18448