Former chapel

Image: © Ian Dodds Taken: 10 Aug 2023

This former chapel, which according to Historic Environment Scotland - the bestowers of listed building statuses - also incorporated a small mortuary, at 7 Seafield Street, is now a residential property. It once stood within the grounds of the now demolished Eastern General Hospital. Nobody seems too sure exactly when it was built, which is a little surprising since it is only around a century old. It is most likely that it was built around the beginning of the First World War, when the short-lived Leith Poorhouse (completed around 1910, and the last to be built in Scotland) was converted into a hospital, which it remained as, in various forms, until its closure in 2007. Scotland's poor laws were different to those of England and Wales. People deemed able-bodied enough to work were not offered free housing. So even though these institutions were sometimes colloquially referred to as 'workhouses', very little work ever went on in them. And due to the residents being to some extent incapacitated by physical or mental impairments, they were often very like hospitals anyway, which would have made the transition pretty straightforward. There is still healthcare taking place on this part of the old hospital site. A cul-de-sac to the left of the old chapel provides housing and services for elderly mental health patients.

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