Early years

The area was originally known as Figgate Muir, an expanse of moorland through which the Figgate Burn flowed, from Duddingston Loch fed by the Braid Burn to the west, to the sea, with a broad sandy beach on the Firth of Forth. The name "Figgate" has been thought to come from an Old English term for "cow's ditch", but the land was used as pasture for cattle by the monks of Holyrood Abbey and the name is more likely to mean "cow road", as in Cowgate in Edinburgh.^[1] In 1650 it was the supposed scene of a secret meeting between Oliver Cromwell and Scottish leaders. A report from 1661 describes a race in which twelve browster-wives ran from the Burn (recorded as the Thicket Burn) to the top of Arthur's Seat.^[2]

1700s

By the 18th century the area had become a haunt of seamen and smugglers. A cottage was built in 1742 on what is now the High Street (close to the junction with Brighton Place) by a seaman called George Hamilton, who had served under Admiral Edward Vernon in the capture of Porto Bello, Panama, in 1739, and he named the cottage Portobello Hut in honour of the victory. By 1753 there were other houses around it. The cottage remained intact until 1851, when it became a hostelry for travellers known as the Shepherd's Ha.^[2]

In 1763 the lands known as the Figgate Whins were sold by Lord Milton to Baron Mure for about £1,500. They were afterwards feued out by the latter to William Jameson or Jamieson at the rate of £3 per acre.^[3] Jameson discovered a valuable bed of clay near the burn, and built a brick and tile works beside the stream. He later built an earthenware pottery factory, and the local population grew into a thriving village.^[2] Land values subsequently rose, and by the beginning of the 19th century some parts had been sold at a yearly feu duty of £40 per annum per acre.^[4]

An advertisement for bathing machines for hire on Portobello beach appeared in the Edinburgh Evening Courant of 11 June 1795, according to a report in the Evening Dispatch. It says the bathing machines have steady horses and careful drivers, and the bathing sands are perfectly free from stones and "danders", the water clear and the beach very retired.^[5]

1800s

Portobello Sands were used at that time by the Edinburgh Light Horse for drill practice. Walter Scott was their quartermaster. While riding in a charge in 1802 he was kicked by a horse and confined to his lodgings for three days. While recovering he finished The Lay of the Last Minstrel.^[2] The Scots Magazine in 1806 noted that the lands were "a perfect waste covered almost entirely with whins or furze". Portobello grew into a bathing resort, and in 1807 new salt-water baths at the foot of Bath Street and Regent Street were erected at a cost of £5,000.^[4][3] In 1822, a visit of King George IV to Scotland organised by Scott included a review of troops and Highlanders held on the sands, with spectators crowding the dunes.^[2]

Three pillars in Coade stone from a local garden, re-erected on Portobello Promenade

Before Portobello had a promenade and public beach, there was only a belt of dry sand between the firmer sand of the beach and the private properties adjoining the shore. Access to the beach was restricted by these property holders, as Sir William Rae discovered in 1842 when he tried to gain access to his favourite section for bathing. The proprietor of a villa adjoining the shore had extended his garden to include the sand and had built a wall leading right down to the sea. Sir William, a former Lord Advocate, viewed this as interfering with his right of way, as a private citizen and as an officer of the Crown. After legal action over several years and an appeal right up to the House of Lords,^[6] the proprietor and his neighbours were forced in July 1849 to demolish the walls they had erected. Fifteen years later, Portobello Town Council began to build the Promenade, so securing public access to the beach along its two miles (three kilometres).^[7]

Portobello became industrialized in the 19th century, manufacturing bricks ("Portobello brick"), glass, lead, paper, pottery, soap and mustard. Joppa to the east was important as a salt producer.

In 1833 the town was made a burgh, and jointly with Leith and Musselburgh, it was represented by one member of Parliament. Then in 1896 Portobello was incorporated into Edinburgh by Act of Parliament.^[8] The Scotsman in 1912 noted that "It was by the provisions of the Edinburgh Extension Act of 1895 under which Portobello was amalgamated with the city, that Edinburgh gave an undertaking to build and maintain the town hall in Portobello, and in February of this year the Corporation decided to implement the bargain". A formidable red-brick power station was built in 1923 at the west end of the beach. It was extended by Ebenezer James MacRae) in 1938, and operated until 1977 when it was closed. It was demolished in the following 18 months.^[9]

Between 1846 and 1964 a railway station provided access for visitors to the resort, whose facilities came to include a large open-air swimming pool, heated by waste from the power station. The actor Sean Connery once worked there as a lifeguard. The pool was closed in 1979. There was also a lido (now demolished) and a permanent funfair, which closed in 2007 and was also eventually demolished to make way for new housing.

1900s

Portobello Baths were constructed in 1898 and completed in 1901 on The Promenade overlooking the beach.^[10] These, now known as Portobello Swim Centre, include one of only three remaining public Turkish baths in Scotland.^[11]

Portobello Pier was a pleasure pier near the end of Bath Street, open from 23 May 1871 until the start of the First World War. At 1,250 feet (381 m) long with a restaurant and observatory at the end, it cost £7,000 to build to a design by Sir Thomas Bouch, who was infamously linked to the Tay Bridge disaster. The iron supports rusted away and the pier was demolished as uneconomic to repair in 1917.

The Edinburgh Marine Gardens laid out north of Kings Road in 1908–1909 included an open-air theatre, an industrial hall, a ballroom (later a skating rink), a scenic railway, a "rustic mill and water-wheel" and a speedway track. It fell out of use in the First World War and never recovered, although the speedway/motor cycle track remained in use until the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939. The site was cleared in 1966 for the Lothian Buses Marine bus depot.

The 1933 Portobello Lido received police and media attention with the July 1983 abduction of five-year-old Caroline Hogg from the Promenade area and her murder by Robert Black.^[12]

Portobello's peak as a resort in the late 19th century gave way to slow decline through the 20th century. Whilst visitors were mainly from Edinburgh,^[13] it was also once popular with Glaswegians, particularly as the Glasgow Fair "trade holiday" signalled the start of a two-week holiday for the west of Scotland.^[14] By the 1960s, it had become an area of amusement arcades and permanent funfair attractions. From the 1980s these gradually disappeared, and by the end of the 20th century the Promenade had hardly any attractions specific to a seaside location, although the Tower Amusements arcade remains in business.

2000s

The 21st century has seen the emergence of community activities, some focused on the Promenade. The beach hosts regular beach volleyball, including Olympic beach-volleyball qualifiers,^[15] and the annual Big Beach Busk event.^[16] Other community activities focus more on the sea. They include the Portobello, Sailing, Kayaking and Rowing Club,^[17] Rowporty,^[18] and Eastern Amateur Coastal Rowing Club.^[19] Others concern community gardens,^[20] a monthly local food market,^[21] a youth theatre (now using a new web address),^[22] and culture and music.^[23] Artistic activity has become popular, including the annual Art Walk Porty.^[24] In April 2020 the Portobello Pencil Sharpening Project, thought to be an art installation, went viral on Twitter.^[25]

In 2019 Portobello was voted the best neighbourhood in the UK at the 2020 Urbanism Awards.^[26] In 2021 it was considered by a Sunday Times panel to be one of the top eight places to live in Scotland.^[27]

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) classed the quality of the swimming water as "sufficient" in its 2019 survey, a small improvement on the previous year,^[28] when dolphins were sighted off the coast.^[29] In 2020 there was a sighting of what was thought to be a swordfish.^[30] A wild swimmers' club has been braving the waves through the year since 2010.^[31] Meanwhile, a warmer alternative is provided by the Turkish Baths in Portobello Swim Centre.^[32]

In October 2016 Portobello became the first urban community in Scotland to register a Community Right to Buy after the 2016 expansion of Land reform in Scotland to cover urban areas.^[33] Purchase of Bellfield Old Parish Church and Halls by Action Porty for £600,000 was confirmed by Scottish Government Ministers on 3 May 2017. The purchase was funded partly by the Scottish Land Fund and partly by community donations and borrowing.^[34] The buildings and grounds formally passed from the Church of Scotland to Action Porty on 6 September 2017 and opened as Bellfield (Community Centre), Portobello on 23 June 2018.^[35]

Work in 2019 on re-laying the paving setts in Brighton Place caused controversy over the cost and duration: the main road was closed to traffic until the end of 2019 while the work was done.^[36][37] Ultimately, the new surface proved of high quality, including smooth sets for cycling and a refuge for safe turning into the Christian Path. The final cost of about £750,000 was less than predicted. Minor problems remaining with drainage were to be dealt with when the spring 2020 lockdown was lifted.

During the 2020 Coronavirus Lockdown, police praised the public for curbing the spread of the virus by avoiding Portobello over Easter weekend,^[38] although as the weather improved in May the visitor numbers increased, causing concern to politicians.^[39][40] Portobello continued busy over the summer of 2020, with some disturbances reported.^[41] In August a Ferris wheel appeared on the old Fun City site, but its licence was suspended before it opened, as it broke government rules on the reopening of funfairs; despite this, some smaller attractions in the area have come and gone since.^[42] Concerns about overcrowding on Portobello promenade continued into 2021.^[43]

In September 2021, it was announced that the Swim Centre would shortly close for a £2.5 million refurbishment.^[44]

Buses

Portobello is served by Lothian Buses which provide eleven services to the area, continuing towards Joppa and Eastfield to Musselburgh, Port Seton, Tranent or North Berwick, down Brighton Place to Fort Kinnaird or Royal Infirmary, and from Kings Road to Craigentinny.^[45] The former electric tramways operated by Edinburgh Corporation Transport Department were replaced by diesel buses in November 1956.

Railway

Portobello's first railway station was initially served by the Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway. The Portobello (E&DR) railway station operated from 1832 until 1846, when it was replaced by the Portobello (NBR) railway station operated by the North British Railway. The station closed in 1964 under the Beeching cuts.

Hovercraft

For two weeks in 2007 there was an experimental hovercraft service to Kirkcaldy in Fife. Stagecoach was interested in running a regular service, but the local authority refused planning permission for the infrastructure.^[46] Stagecoach planned to use a terminal to be built in Leith using public funds, which failed to materialise.^[47]

Extant

• St John the Evangelist RC Church, Portobello
• Bellfield Community Centre (previously Bellfield Church)
• George Cinema
• Portobello Library
• Portobello Swim Centre

Demolished

• Portobello Open Air Pool
• Portobello Power Station
• Portobello Marine Gardens
• Portobello Railway Station

Portobello Parish Church

Portobello Parish Kirk, Bellfield Street

The building was designed by William Sibbald^[74] and the foundation stone was laid on 27 October 1808 with the church opening for worship in 1810. It originally had the status of Chapel of Ease for Duddingston Parish Church to the west. In May 1834 the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland gave it the status of a quoad sacra church. It received full independent parish status in 1861.^[75]

The church hall, built in 1964, stands on the former graveyard, but several stones survive, for instance in the narrow gap behind the back of the hall and the boundary.

In 2017 the church was sold by the Church of Scotland to the local community and reopened in 2018 as Bellfield community centre.^[76][77][78]