Login | Register
Accessibility

Font Size

100% 150% 200%

Background Colour

Default Contrast
Close Reset

Edinburgh, Gilmore Park, Union Canal Lifting Bridge

  • Details
  • Collections
  • Images

Road Bridge (20th Century)

Site Name Edinburgh, Gilmore Park, Union Canal Lifting Bridge

Classification Road Bridge (20th Century)

Alternative Name(s) Edinburgh And Glasgow Union Canal; Leamington Lift Bridge; Leamington Terrace; Lochrin; Leamington Road; Lochrin

Canmore ID 52717

Site Number NT27SW 88

NGR NT 24453 72692

Datum OSGB36 - NGR

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/52717

Ordnance Survey licence number AC0000807262. All rights reserved.
Canmore Disclaimer. © Bluesky International Limited 2025. Public Sector Viewing Terms

Toggle Aerial | View on large map
  • Correction

Digital Images

Edinburgh, Union Canal, Gilmore Park Lifting Bridge General View
Edinburgh, Union Canal, Gilmore Park Lifting Bridge General ViewEdinburgh, Gilmore Park, Union Canal Lifting Bridge View from W showing SW front of E halfGeneral view of Leamington Lifting Bridge and New Lochrin Basin, Union Canal, Edinburgh, from the eastOblique aerial view of Edinburgh centred on the Fountain Brewery and the Union Canal, taken from the SW.Oblique aerial view centred on the brewery with the leisure centre and cinema, canal, canal basin and canal bridge adjacent, taken from the W.Oblique aerial view centred on the brewery with the leisure centre and cinema, canal, canal basin and canal bridge adjacent, taken from the NE.Edinburgh, Gilmore Park, Union Canal Lifting Bridge, NT27SW 88, Ordnance Survey index card, RectoEdinburgh, Union Canal, Leamington Lift Bridge View from South.Edinburgh, Gilmore Park, Union Canal, vertical lifting bridge. General view of bridge.Edinburgh, Gilmore Park, Union Canal, vertical lifting bridge. General view of bridge.Edinburgh, Gilmore Park, Union Canal Lifting Bridge View from NE showing noticeboard on hut next to Union Canal Lifting BridgeEdinburgh, Gilmore Park, Union Canal Lifting Bridge View from WSW showing SW front of lifting bridge with number 6 Leamington Road in backgroundEdinburgh, Union Canal, Leamington Lift Bridge View from South.Edinburgh, Union Canal, Leamington Lift Bridge View of gate.General view of Leamington Lifting Bridge, Union Canal, Gilmore Park, Edinburgh, in raised position, from the northGeneral view of Leamington Lifting Bridge, Union Canal, Gilmore Park, Edinburgh, in raised position with a barge passing through, from the north-eastOblique aerial view of Edinburgh centred on the Fountain Brewery, Fountainbridge, taken from the SSE.Oblique aerial view of Edinburgh centred on the Fountain Brewery, Fountainbridge, taken from the SE.Oblique aerial view centred on the brewery with the canal, canal basin and canal bridge adjacent, taken from the SE.Oblique aerial view centred on the brewery with the canal, canal basin and canal bridge adjacent, taken from the WNW.Edinburgh, Union Canal, Leamington Lift Bridge View from West.Edinburgh, Union Canal, Leamington Lift Bridge View from West.Edinburgh, Union Canal, Leamington Lift Bridge View of gate.Edinburgh, Gilmore Park, Union Canal, vertical lifting bridge. General view of bridge.Edinburgh, Dundee Street, North British Rubber Company Works View over Union Canal basinEdinburgh, Gilmore Park, Union Canal, vertical lifting bridge. General view of bridge. Digital image of ED/6936.Edinburgh, Gilmore Park, Union Canal, vertical lifting bridge. General view of iron bridge in new position. General oblique aerial view centred on the canal basin, road bridge and canal boat yard, taken from the SE.Edinburgh, Union Canal, Leamington Lift Bridge View of gate.General view of Leamington Lifting Bridge, Union Canal, Gilmore Park, Edinburgh, from the north-westGeneral view of Leamington Lifting Bridge, Union Canal, Gilmore Park, Edinburgh, from the north-eastOblique aerial view centred on the brewery with the leisure centre and cinema, canal, canal basin and canal bridge adjacent, taken from the ENE.Edinburgh, Union Canal, Leamington Lift Bridge View from South.Edinburgh, Gilmore Park, Union Canal, vertical lifting bridge. General view of iron bridge in new position. Edinburgh, Gilmore Park, Union Canal, vertical lifting bridge. General view of bridge in original position pre-1922.Edinburgh, Gilmore Park, Union Canal, vertical lifting bridge. General view of iron bridge in new position.Edinburgh, Union Canal, Leamington Lift Bridge View from West.General view of Leamington Lifting Bridge, Union Canal, Gilmore Park, Edinburgh, from the northOblique aerial view of Edinburgh centred on the Fountain Brewery and the Union Canal, taken from the SSW.Oblique aerial view centred on the brewery with the leisure centre and cinema, canal, canal basin and canal bridge adjacent, taken from the ENE.Oblique aerial view centred on the brewery with the canal, canal basin and canal bridge adjacent, taken from the WSW.Oblique aerial view centred on the brewery with the canal, canal basin and canal bridge adjacent, taken from the NNE.Edinburgh, Gilmore Park, Union Canal Lifting Bridge, NT27SW 88, Ordnance Survey index card, RectoEdinburgh, Gilmore Park, Union Canal, vertical lifting bridge. General view from West (top, 7) and E (lower, 6).Edingburgh, Union Canal, Gilmore Park Lifting Bridge General ViewOblique aerial view of Edinburgh centred on the Fountain Brewery and the Union Canal, taken from the SSW.Oblique aerial view centred on the brewery with the canal, canal basin and canal bridge adjacent, taken from the SSW.Edinburgh, Gilmore Park, Union Canal Lifting Bridge View from WSW showing SW front of lifting bridge with number 6 Leamington Road in backgroundEdinburgh, Union Canal, Leamington Lift Bridge View of gate.General view of Leamington Lifting Bridge, Union Canal, Gilmore Park, Edinburgh, from the north-eastGeneral view of Leamington Lifting Bridge, Union Canal, Gilmore Park, Edinburgh, from the north-westOblique aerial view centred on the brewery with the canal, canal basin and canal bridge adjacent, taken from the SSW.Oblique aerial view centred on the brewery with the canal, canal basin and canal bridge adjacent, taken from the SSE.Oblique aerial view centred on the brewery with the leisure centre and cinema, canal, canal basin and canal bridge adjacent, taken from the E.Oblique aerial view showing the former Fountain Brewery with the leisure centre and cinema, canal, canal basin and canal bridge adjacent, EdinburghView of vertical lifting bridge on Union Canal, Gilmore Park, Edinburgh. General view.Edinburgh, Gilmore Park, Union Canal, vertical lifting bridge. General view from South-East.View from ESE showing NE front of W half of bridge with part of W half of works in backgroundView of Union Canal from vertical lifting bridge at Gilmore Park, Edinburgh looking West Edinburgh, Lower Gilmore Place, Union Canal. General view from South-West showing vertical lifting bridge.Edinburgh, Gilmore Park, Union Canal, vertical lifting bridge. General view of bridge from South-West. Digital image of ED 6945Edinburgh, Gilmore Park, Union Canal, vertical lifting bridge. General view of iron bridge in new position.General view of Leamington Lifting Bridge and New Lochrin Basin, Union Canal, Edinburgh, from the eastGeneral view of Leamington Lifting Bridge, Union Canal, Gilmore Park, Edinburgh, from the south-eastOblique aerial view centred on the brewery with the leisure centre and cinema, canal, canal basin and canal bridge adjacent, taken from the SE.Oblique aerial view.Edinburgh, Union Canal, Leamington Lift Bridge View of gate.Edinburgh, Union Canal, Leamington Lift Bridge View from North East.Edinburgh, Gilmore Park, Union Canal, vertical lifting bridge. General view of bridge.View from SE showing W half of bridge with part of W half of works in backgroundGeneral oblique aerial view centred on the development site, taken from the SE.General view of Leamington Lifting Bridge, Union Canal, Gilmore Park, Edinburgh, from the southOblique aerial view of Edinburgh centred on the Fountain Brewery, Fountainbridge, taken from the E.Oblique aerial view centred on the brewery with the leisure centre and cinema, canal, canal basin and canal bridge adjacent, taken from the ESE.Oblique aerial view centred on the brewery with the canal, canal basin and canal bridge adjacent, taken from the SW.Edinburgh, Gilmore Park, Union Canal, vertical lifting bridge. General view from West (top, 7) and E (lower, 6).

Administrative Areas

  • Council Edinburgh, City Of
  • Parish Edinburgh (Edinburgh, City Of)
  • Former Region Lothian
  • Former District City Of Edinburgh
  • Former County Midlothian

Archaeology Notes

NT27SW 88 24453 72692

Foot Bridge [NAT]

OS (GIS) AIB, May 2006.

A distinctive and unusual early 20th century lifting bridge. It has a rivetted steel framework and a short lifting span. The control cabin is incorporated within the framework, and when the bridge was lifted, pedestrians could still cross by the lattice girder footbridge.

J R Baldwin 1985; G Hutton 1993a.

This 'Leamington Bridge', an electrically operated bridge in which the deck was raised between gantries on each side of the road so that boats could pass, was originally at Fountainbridge. It replaced a wooden drawbridge at the time of the closure of the city basins in 1922.

G Hutton 1993.

This lifting bridge, with 'Leamington Bridge' inscribed on it, was originally sited at Fountainbridge near the Port Hamilton Tavern (NT27SW 3134). The current location is close to the present end of the canal.

H Brown 1997.

During February 2000, RCAHMS conducted a photographic survey of Leamington Lift Bridge. The purpose of this survey was to enhance and augment the National Monuments Record Scotland.

Visited by RCAHMS (MKO), February 2000

This iron vertical lifting bridge joins Gilmore Park (to the NW) and Leamington Road (to the SE) within the inner suburbs of SW Edinburgh and a short distance SW of the former terminal basin of the Union Canal. It remains in regular use by vehicles and pedestrians.

Information from RCAHMS (RJCM), 15 May 2006.

Further Details

Activities

Construction (1906)

Civil Engineering heritage: Scotland - Lowlands and Borders

Designed by Sir W G Armstrong-Whitworth. originally constructed at Fountainbridge, moved 1922.

Further Details

Project (2007)

This project was undertaken to input site information listed in 'Civil engineering heritage: Scotland - Lowlands and Borders' by R Paxton and J Shipway, 2007.

Further Details

Publication Account (2007)

Civil Engineering heritage: Scotland - Lowlands and Borders

Leamington Lift Bridge is the only surviving example of an electrical lifting bridge on the Union Canal. It was designed by Sir W. G. Armstrong Whitworth of Newcastle for the canal owners, the North British Railway, and installed in ca. 1906, not at this site but at Fountainbridge as a replacement for a lift bridge of 1869 [see RCAHMS NT27SW 3133]. This was the next road crossing to the north, just before the terminal basins of Port Hamilton and Port Hopetoun. Because of the decline in canal traffic, these basins were closed and filled in by 1922 and, as the canal then ended south of Fountainbridge, the bridge was dismantled in November 1922 and later re-erected at its present site. Twin portals of riveted steel box sections support the lifting mechanism and deck during operation, house the motors and keep the deck in position as it is raised and lowered. The navigational headroom is 9 ft. The bridge, after finally ceasing to operate in the 1960s, was refurbished as part of the Millennium Link Project and has been in regular use since its re-opening on 22 March 2005. It is the first bridge west of the new terminal facility at Lochrin Basin.

R Paxton and S Shipway 2007

Reproduced from 'Civil Engineering heritage: Scotland - Lowlands and Borders' with kind permission of Thomas Telford Publishers.

Further Details

References

MyCanmore Image Contributions


Contribute an Image

MyCanmore Text Contributions


Contribute Text