This thread was originally written and published in December 2019. It has been lightly edited and corrected as applicable for this post.

Lochend loch is a natural loch, fed from its own springs; historically it was also fed by a stream called the Strype which drained the lands from the direction of Easter Road. From the 18th century it was the water supply for the Port of Leith, but the quality was poor and much of the water leaked out of wood and leather pipes on its journey to that town.

The name Lochend comes from the fact this was one “end” of the Barony of Restalrig; the opposite end was the community below the Calton Hill, which for that reason was sometimes known as the Craigend (Craig being Scots for a rock or cliff). As a result the name “Lochend loch” is a self-referential tautology. The loch long had utility as an area for wildfowling, fishing and collecting reeds for thatch. When it froze over it was a popular skating rink.

The loch was formerly bigger and deeper than it is now, a combination of water extraction and improved drainage having lowered the surface. In 1876 the surface is recorded by the Ordnance Survey at 83.4 feet above sea level. In 1894 it is 78.54 feet and in 1944 it is 77.99 feet. That’s a drop of 5.4 feet or 1.64m.

It can be seen on the map below that in 1817 the loch edge is near to the old dovecot (“plague kiln”) – the round building at the top of the map. The water pumping house, just next to the fold in the page, is well within the loch. Both of these are now some distance from the loch edge, so it has retreated significantly since then.

The 1817 survey gives the depth as 23.75 feet at its maximum. Local legend held that it was bottomless, and that a horse and card had been driven in never to be seen again. This may be influence somewhat by the tail of an accused witch, Bessie Dunlop, who was burned at the stake in 1576. Bessie was convicted on the grounds that she had consorted with a man named Tam Reid, who had died at the battle of Pinkie 30 years previous. Tam had conferred healing powers on her. On one occasion, while riding near Lochend Loch she had stopped to water her horse and with Tam had watched an apparition of a company of fairy horse riders charge into the loch to disappear.

When the Corporation built large housing estates in the area; at Lochend, Craigentinny and Restalrig, in the 1920s and 30s, the loch and surrounding grounds was incorporated into a new civic park. The loch was tidied up and became the central feature of the park as a duck pond.

After a drowning in the early 60s, the council made a decision to fill in the loch and a concerted effort was made to backfill it (there was ample demolition rubble going about at the time from slum clearance) and to plant trees to lower the water table.

I’ve overlaid some snippets of aerial photographs through the ages on a modern image to show the rise and fall (or rather, the fall and rise again) of the Loch level.

You can see in the still from 1961 that the infill started in the northwest corner of the loch – a road through the park is obvious, leading onto the spoiltip where it was simply being driven onto the loch and dumped. For some reason the infill migrated to the southeast end. This was planted up with willows, but has been sinking back into the water for the last 40 or so years. One can only assume that whatever was tipped into the loch has either washed away via the outlet, or has sunk deep into the muddy bottom of the loch never to be seen again.

After another drowning in 1997, which saw a 13 year old boy die and eleven others hospitalised after their makeshift raft sank in the loch, consideration was once again given to filling in the loch. However in the end the rotten old wooden fence surrounding the waters edge was removed and replaced by a more substantial steel one.

These days there is no raised ground to be seen within the loch itself and the trees look more like mangrove than a Scottish public park. Nature has won out over the council and has left behind a spooky, flooded and decaying forest.

If you have found this useful, informative or amusing and would like to help contribute towards the running costs of this site (including keeping it ad-free) or to the book-buying budget, why not consider supporting me on ko-fi.

---

_{These threads © 2017-2023, Andy Arthur}