This thread was originally written and published in August 2022. It has been lightly edited and corrected as applicable for this post.

Guys, if you like old lades* and watermills, get yourself along to the former Canon Mill (Canon Street, Canonmills) as the lade and wheel pit have been exposed at the back by building works and are very visible from just metres away.

(* = no, not “ladies”, but lades; the Scots word for a lead or leat, for the channel diverted off of a rider to supply a watermill)

The lade channel is much more obvious from the other side, it ran clean underneath the millhouse.

Ainslie’s 1804 town plan shows the “Great Lade” coming off the Water of Leith as far upstream as Water of Leith Village (what we now call Dean Village), running to Canonmills Loch then through the mill, returning to the river just north. No prizes for guessing from where Eyre Place took its name – (Mr. Eyre was James Eyre, a Canongate brewer who built a house here which had a brewery on site).

We can see the detail of the substantial community of Canomills in the beautifully illustrated 1759 Feuing map of the North of Edinburgh by Robinson and Fergus.

The 1849 OS Town plan was surveted after Canonmills Loch had been infilled. The lade ran alongside what is now Eyre Place, the demolished building which has exposed the channel that was beneath it I have highlighted in red below.

You can see the definite curved masonry on both sides which I assume is from the wheel pit.

Slightly further down, underneath the concrete of some old car parking bays is a huge void, directly in line with the lade

The south portion of the late 17th / early 18th century mill building was renovated and restored in 1987 and was used until recently as commercial premises. The demolished part was much more substantially rebuilt in the past and had modern extensions and additions.

Milling ceased here in 1865. Although the lade had been increasingly hidden in a culvert and built over, as later as 1903 the part alongside Eyre Place and the vacant footprint of the former Canonmills Loch, now King George V park, was still there.

James Skene’s sketch of Canonmills in 1818 shows the tree-fringed loch, the New Town in the background (to the south), a smoking malt kiln from Eyre’s brewery and a corner of the mill on the right. Note the bridges over the lade as it enters and exits the loch.

An 1836 watercolour by Mary Webster shows the loch looking north towards the mill (behind the bridge). The tenements of Canon St. are to its left, with the red tile roof of the carpet factory on the right. I’m assuming the trees on the left are the same ones as in Skene’s sketch.

Milling here goes back to the time of King David I, who gave the lands to the canons of the Augustinian abbey at Holyrood (hence the name, Canon’s Mills). This areas was then in the jurisdiction of the Barony of Broughton.

The Incorporation of Baxters (Bakers) of Canonmills the Canongate were obliged to use the Canon Mill to grind their corn. Their land (meeting house) was next door, a lintel stone still surviving in the uninspiring environs of a petrols station now on the site.

The below engraving is from 1830 by J. Kidd, in Old & New Edinburgh by Cassell. Canonmills house on the left of those big trees on the west corner of the loch. The owner was the aforesaid James Eyre, a brewer from the Cowgate who had it built and it incorporated a brewery, the malt house of which is in Skene’s picture. The Canon Mill is to the right of the bridge.

It is notable how even at this time the area is largely rural in character. There is a corn field on the banks of the loch with stacks being piled up, and extensive fields to the north towards Inverleith and Bangholm.

A painting by John Knox, probably 1810-1820 shows the original Canonmills Bridge. The Canon Mill is that building beyond with the red roof, below Calton Hill. The buildings on the right are wash houses alongside the Water of Leith.

An remarkably for the early 1840s, a photograph of the area, those big trees again, and the mill lade entering the loch. The wall on the left separated the lade from Eyre Place.

Thanks aplenty to @hendo31 👏 for sharing these amazing drone photos.

https://t.co/Fyac1mXyVh

— Andrew Henderson (@hendo31) August 28, 2022

Picture below highlights the water flow in blue, possible base for the wheel axle in red. These weren’t the most efficient sorts of wheels, but were suited for situations where there was relatively little vertical drop between the header source and the tailrace

I think we can assume this was an “undershot” or a “breastshot” wheel, with the water running under the millwheel where you can see the lade clearly dip downwards.

For those wondering, the rear of the mill has been demolished as part of planning application 18/07826/FUL for “Change of use from office to residential. Partial demolition with retention of corner building and new extension to accommodate 11no. new flats and commercial space. ”

The City archaeologist recommended refusal, however the building was neither listed nor in a conservation area so there were not grounds to refuse. It is my understanding that the walls of the rear building were “not good” and the stones will be included in the rebuild.

The Victorian shop façade will also go, and the window openings will be moved to make them more regularly spaced. A new roof extension is included.

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