Balerno

Coordinates: 55°53′07″N 3°20′15″W / 55.88518°N 3.337526°W / 55.88518; -3.337526

Balerno (Scottish Gaelic: Baile Àirneach) is a suburb of Edinburgh, Scotland situated 8 miles south west of the city centre, next to Juniper Green and Currie. Administratively, Balerno falls within the jurisdiction of the City of Edinburgh Council.

History

Its name derives from the Scottish Gaelic Baile Airneach, meaning "townland/town of the hawthorns". The earliest written records of Balhernoch or Balernach are found in the late 13th century.

The 18th Century brought substantial development to the area, with many new flax, snuff and paper mills springing up around the Water of Leith and its tributary, the Bavelaw Burn (evidence of flax production can be seen in Harlaw Woods). The largest of these mills, Balerno Bank Paper Mill located near the centre of the old village closed in the early 1970s. After the First World War house building began in earnest in the area and since then residential pressures have almost overwhelmed commercial and industrial ones. There was a short loop railway running over what is now the Water of Leith Walkway.