Old Edinburgh: 9 stunning photos of Edinburgh’s lost lochs - including Nor' Loch where witches were thrown
Did you know the Nor’ Loch once occupied the site of Edinburgh’s iconic Princes Street Gardens, or that for every hill in the Capital there was a loch?
Indeed, Auld Reekie was once dominated by rugged hills, volcanic crags and deep bodies of water.
Tens of millions of years of intense volcanic activity followed by several thousand years of glacial erosion in the Lothians carved out a dramatic and picturesque landscape.
Some of Edinburgh most famous lost lochs include Canonmills Loch, the Burgh Loch, and the aforemntioned Nor’ Loch, where more than 300 men and women were sentenced to be tried for wizardry and witchcraft either in the loch itself or around its banks.
Others – such as Duddingston Loch and Lochend Loch – survive to this day, but are much smaller than they once were.
Some of Edinburgh most famous lost lochs include Canonmills Loch, the Burgh Loch, and the aforemntioned Nor’ Loch, where more than 300 men and women were sentenced to be tried for wizardry and witchcraft either in the loch itself or around its banks.
5. Holyrood Loch
Whether intended or not, the artificial ponds located outside today's Scottish Parliament hint at Holyrood's prehistoric past. Study of sediments during a dig in the 1990s revealed there had once been a natural body of water in the area.
Photo: Ian Georgeson
6. Lochend Loch
Another loch that has shrunk considerably in recent centuries is Lochend Loch. Once supplying the town of Leith with drinking water, the loch was originally in the grounds of Lochend Castle. Remains of an ancient crannog were discovered in the loch in 1931.
Photo: Stan Warburton
7. Nor' Loch
The most famous of Edinburgh's lost lochs is the Nor' Loch. Situated to the immediate north of the castle, the man-made Nor' Loch survived around 600 years before being drained in the late 18th century. Princes Street Gardens, developed in stages between 1830 and 1876, now occupies the former Nor’ Loch valley.
Photo: UNKNOWN
8. Corstorphine Loch
The former village of Corstorphine was once situated between two bodies of water: the now-drained Corstorphine Loch and Gogar Loch. Corstorphine Loch was by far the biggest of the two and fed into the Water of Leith.
Photo: Freelance Photographer Steven Sc