Jock's Lodge is an area of

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. It centres on the junction of London Road and Willowbrae Road (part of the A1 trunk route to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

), Portobello Road and Restalrig Road South (Smokey Brae) and is an alternative name for the Meadowbank /

Piershill Piershill is a suburb of north east Edinburgh, Scotland, in the shadow of Arthur's Seat. It is mainly residential, with local amenities including a large supermarket and filling station, bank, public library, optician, pharmacy, several takeaw ...

area.

Restalrig Restalrig ( ) is a small residential suburb of Edinburgh, Scotland (historically, an estate and independent parish). It is located east of the city centre, west of Craigentinny and to the east of Lochend, Edinburgh, Lochend, both of which it ...

village lies to its north. The name is mentioned, as ''Jokis Ludge'', in John Nicoll's diary in 1650. A

sasine Sasine in Scots law is the delivery of Feudalism, feudal property, typically land. Feudal property means immovable property, and includes everything that naturally goes with the property. For land, that would include such things as buildings, tre ...

in 1736 refers to "the Bleugowns Lodge commonly called Jocks Lodge". It is recorded that the Bluegowns, the king's

bedesmen Bedesman, or beadsman (Middle English , , from the Old English , ; ; and from the Anglo-Saxon ), was generally a pensioner or almsman whose duty was to pray for his benefactor. Function A beadsman (or beadswoman) in Medieval times occupied thei ...

, were called by themselves and others ''Jockies''. Thus the name of their house was ''Jockies Lodge''. The area is dominated by civil service office blocks, St Margaret's House and Meadowbank House, which were constructed in the early-1970s on the site of the St Margaret's railway locomotive depot, which was primarily for steam locomotives. From 2008, St Margaret's House has been leased to Edinburgh Palette, a registered charity which provides some 200 affordable studio spaces for designers, artists, small businesses and community organisations.

Meadowbank Stadium Meadowbank Stadium (officially the Meadowbank Sports Centre) is a multi-purpose sports facility located in the Meadowbank, Edinburgh, Meadowbank area of Edinburgh, Scotland. Built on the site of the earlier New Meadowbank and Old Meadowbank spo ...

, immediately to the west was the location for the 1970 and 1986

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...

. The

East Coast Main Line The East Coast Main Line (ECML) is a electrified railway between its northern terminus at and southern terminus at . The key towns and cities of , , , , and are on the line. The line is a key transport artery on the eastern side of Grea ...

railway also passes by here. Many of the houses in this area are

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literatur ...

tenements. Both

Royal HSFP Royal High School Former Pupils is a rugby union club based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Royal HSFP was a founder member of the Scottish Rugby Union, the second oldest national governing body in the world. The original club was disbanded in 2003 when ...

and

Lismore RFC Lismore RFC is a rugby union side based in Edinburgh, Scotland. They were founded in 1901.Official ...

were formerly based in the area; Lismore RFC taking its name from nearby Lismore Crescent. Jock's Lodge was the first stop and change of the team horses for the original horse-drawn stagecoach run on the Edinburgh to London journey. At the back of the Jock Lodge Inn were the stables. This journey began at the

White Horse Close White Horse Close, or "Whitehorse Close", is an enclosed courtyard off the Canongate at the foot of the Royal Mile at the eastern end of the Old Town, Edinburgh, Old Town of Edinburgh, Scotland. History It was formerly known as "Ord's Close ...

in the

Canongate The Canongate is a street and associated district in central Edinburgh, the capital city of Scotland. The street forms the main eastern length of the Royal Mile while the district is the main eastern section of Edinburgh's Old Town. David ...

, technically then just outside

References

Gazetteer for Scotland: Jock's Lodge
{{Areas of Edinburgh Areas of Edinburgh