Fort House, Leith

Yonmei

Fort House, Leith

The remnants of Leith Fort (built 1779) still stand on North Fort Street in Leith. The Fort was built to defend the Port of Leith (the architect was James Craig (1744 – 95) who planned the layout of Edinburgh’s New Town). Leith Fort was used as a prison for the French during the Napoleonic Wars and as an army base until the end of WWII, but it was mostly demolished in the 1950s, leaving only the original entrance and boundary wall with the original guardhouse and adjutant’s office just inside the gate. This photograph shows the iron gates and the adjutant’s office, now the concierge office for the red brick tower blocks of Fort House, the worst housing estate in Edinburgh. The black cannon are a modern addition.

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Fort House, Leith by Yonmei
  • Chris Clark

    Chris Clark

    brilliant historical image and love the research you have done on this one

  • Yonmei replied

    Thanks! The research isn’t much – just what you can read in any history of Leith. It’s a weird construction, Fort House, and fascinates me every time I pass it.

  • Jen Whyte

    Jen Whyte

    Your composition is good as you have the contrast of the modern block of flats against the old Fort …

  • Yonmei replied

    Thanks for the comment. I tend to do a lot of photos very rapidly and then sort through them later: it’s nice to know when it works!

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