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Cramond
is
a
seaside
village
which
became
part
of
suburban
Edinburgh
by
Act
of
Parliament
in
1920.
With
its
moored
yachts,
stately
swans
and
whitewashed
houses
spilling
down
the
hillside
at
the
mouth
of
the
River
Almond
where
it
enters
the
Firth
of
Forth,
Cramond
is
the
most
picturesque
and desirable corner of Edinburgh's residential suburbs.
Four
miles
north
west
of
the
centre
of
Edinburgh,
it
is
almost
cut
off
from
the
western
edge
of
Edinburgh
by
a
line
of
golf
courses
extending
inland
from
the
Forth,
and
its
west
edge
is
sharply
defined
by
the
River
Almond
flowing swiftly into the Estuary.
Recent
archaeological
excavations
have
revealed
evidence
of
a
Bronze
Age
settlement
dating
from
8500
BC,
the
oldest-known
site
in
Scotland
but
the
origins
of
the
village
date
to
Roman
times.
When
the
Romans
invaded
Scotland
for
the
second
time
they
stopped
at
a
line
between
the
Forth
and
the
Clyde
and
built
the
Antonine
Wall.
Between
AD140
and
AD142
they
built
a
fort
at
Cramond
to
protect
the
southern
shore
of
the
Forth,
east
of
the
end
of
the
wall,
and
to
act
as
a
supply
port
for
the
Roman
Army
in
Scotland.
The
fort
was
abandoned
in
AD170,
then
considerably
enlarged
when
the
Romans
briefly
returned
to
Scotland
under
Emperor
Septimius
Severus
in
AD208.
In
the
centuries
that
followed
the
end
of
the
Roman
occupation,
Cramond
passed
into
the
hands
of
the
Votadini,
who
spoke
Cumbric,
a
Brythonic
Celtic
language,
and
gave
the
settlement
its
name.
Cramond
is
derived
from the compound
Caer Amon
, meaning 'fort on the river'.
By
about
AD600
a
chapel
had
been
established
on
the
site
of
part
of
the
Roman
fort
and
this
in
turn
has
been
developed
into
the
current
Cramond
Kirk.
The
building
one
sees
today
was
built
in
1656,
reusing
a
tower
from
the
1400s.
The
interior
of
the
kirk
is
much
more
roomy
than
you
expect
from
outside,
and
the
most
striking
feature
is
the
large
amount
of
attractive
woodwork
on
view
lining
the
ceiling,
panelling
the
lower
parts
of
the
walls,
and
in
the
pews
and galleries. The focus of attention is the pulpit and communion table placed, unusually, at the kirk's south end.
To
the
north
east
of
the
Kirk
and
overlooking
the
River
Forth
is
Cramond
Tower,
also
built
in
the
1400s
and
used
for
over
200
years
by
the
Bishops
of
Dunkeld.
From
1622
the
Edinburgh
merchant
James
Inglis
lived
in
the
tower
until
the
imposing
Cramond
House
was
built
in
the
1680s.
A
more
modern
residence
than
Cramond
Tower,
the
classical
front
was
added
in
1778
and
back
in
1820.
It
has
been
claimed
as
a
possible
original
of
R.
L.
Stevenson’s “House of Shaws” in Kidnapped.
The
Manse
dates
originally
from
the
mid-17
th
C
and
was
rebuilt
in
the
mid-18
th
C
with
the
north
wing
added
c1770
and
a
south
wing
in
1857.
Reverend
Walker,
the
skating
minister in Raeburn's famous portrait, lived here from 1776 to 1784.
Cramond
was
already
becoming
the
upmarket
residential
area
which
it
is
today.
However
the
village
had
another,
very
different,
role
to
fulfil.
The
potential
of
the
River
Almond
flowing
into
the
Forth
led
to
Cramond
becoming
an
important
industrial
centre
in
the
1700s
and
1800s.
By
1799
the
village
had
3
iron
forges,
2
steel
furnaces,
and
3
water-powered
rolling
mills.
7
vessels
operated
from
Cramond
Harbour
exporting
its
steel
to
markets
as
far
away
as
India.
The
iron
industry
failed
in
1860
and
the
mills
were
converted
to saw mills or pulp mills before finally disappearing at the beginning of the 1900s.
Cramond
has
reinvented
itself
a
number
of
times:
the
only
continuing
theme
has
been
its
links
with
the
sea.
The
story
of
Cramond
can
be
explored
in
an
exhibition
mounted
by
the
Cramond
Heritage
Trust
in
the
Maltings,
overlooking the harbour.
Offshore,
Cramond
Island
has
WWII
fortifications
and
is
linked
to
land
by
a
causeway
with
a
line
of
concrete
pylons
on
one
side,
constructed
as
an
anti
shipping
barrier.
At
certain
low
tides
it
is
possible
to
visit
the
island,
though occasionally some visitors are stranded by the incoming tide!
If
you
follow
the
River
Almond
for
just
over
a
mile
inland
from
its
confluence
with
the
Firth
of
Forth
you
come
to
Cramond
Old
Bridge,
or
"Cramond
Brig",
until
1964
the
main
crossing
over
the
River
Almond
on
this
side
of
Edinburgh.
This
dates
back
to
the
early
1400s
and
remains
in
use
as
a
footbridge.
The
nearby
Cramond
Brig
restaurant
and pub remembers the old bridge.