49-51 Albany Street, Edinburgh

Image: © Ian Dodds Taken: 27 Sep 2023

Edinburgh has had a deaf and dumb society for over 250 years which has gone through lots of name changes in its time and is now called 'Deaf Action', as seen on the nameplate to the left of the door of Number 49. The society moved here in the 1880s and established the 'Church of the Deaf and Dumb', whose name is still displayed in the stone above the door. Services stopped 20 years ago (probably due to rising levels of atheism) - freeing up space for more academic activities - but continue at Greenside Parish Church, near Morningside. The society bought the house next door in the 1920s and then linked the two buildings. A far more detailed description of Deaf Action's history can be read on an easily-found website devoted entirely to the history of Albany Street. There is no mention, unfortunately though, of the story behind the faded letters above Number 51 which look a bit like 'A Heural'. What it does mention, however, is that the first premises were situated close to Dumbiedykes, now a small area of council flats backing onto the Scottish Parliament. The area (or perhaps originally the road that gave the area its name) was so-called because the sight of people communicating with each other through sign language was so commonplace there.

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