Pedestrian footbridge at former Morningside Road Station, Edinburgh

Pedestrian Footbridge at Former Morningside Road Station, Edinburgh

This cast iron lattice-style pedestrian footbridge dates from 1877 to 1884 and was possibly built by George Smith and Company. It spans the railway track to the west of the former Morningside Road railway station, connecting Balcarres Street and Maxwell Street, and remains in use as a pedestrian footbridge.

The footbridge has an arched span that rests directly on a sandstone pier at the south side. On the north side, four cast iron columns support the landing, resting on the north platform. The columns have fluted circular pedestals, moulded bases and plain shafts surmounted by cast and wrought iron capitals. The capitals feature decorative foliate detailing surmounted by projecting square slabs and ball friezes. Above the columns are spandrels decorated with foil tracery. The main balustrades and stair parapets are constructed in a riveted diamond-trellis pattern, with the outer face of the balustrades featuring curved loop braces that project outwards.

The north approach from Maxwell Street comprises two flights of steps with lattice decorated risers, separated by a landing. The south approach has one flight of five steps with plain risers leading up to the walkway. The steps and walkway are now covered in asphalt. The footbridge has three pairs of chamfered, square-section, cast-iron newel posts with ball finials on the north approach and one pair of similar newel posts at the south approach. Later cylindrical iron handrails have been added on both approaches at each set of stairs.

Attached handrails and later security fencing are excluded from the listing.

Historical Context

While a station and pedestrian crossing are shown on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1877, the present footbridge dates from no later than 1884 when the suburban railway opened. In the late 18th century, Morningside was a rural agricultural village southwest of Edinburgh, located on the principal drove road from the south and serving nearby farms and estates. From the early to mid-19th century, Morningside developed as a suburb of Edinburgh, attracting wealthy residents who built large villas within private grounds. By mid-century, the area largely comprised large villas interspersed with cottages in small garden plots, together with the Royal Edinburgh Asylum to the west, which opened in 1813. The southern edge of Morningside remained bounded by the Jordan Burn, with several large farms still operating at this time.

Morningside expanded considerably between 1852 and 1877, merging with Newington to the east and Merchiston to the north to become a residential suburb of the city. Improvements in transport links accelerated this growth, first through the introduction of a tram service after 1871 and subsequently through the opening of the suburban railway line in 1884.

Morningside Station is recorded on the 1877 Ordnance Survey map at the southern edge of Morningside on the Edinburgh Suburban and Southside Junction Line. The map shows the station comprising two rectangular-plan platform buildings, a ticket office, signal box and signal posts. The pedestrian footbridge is shown to the west of the station spanning the railway line, connecting two fields and providing pedestrian access to a goods yard and sidings. However, historic newspapers record that construction of the suburban line began in August 1881, following the passing of the Edinburgh Suburban and Southside Railway Bill in August 1880. The suburban line opened to freight transport on 31 October 1884 and for passenger services on 1 December 1884. Morningside Station was one of eleven intermediate stations on this circular suburban line.

Some sources record that Morningside Station was renamed Morningside Road Station in 1886 when the Edinburgh Suburban and Southside Junction Line was legally incorporated into the North British Railway on 1 March 1885. By the 1890s, the circular Edinburgh Suburban line comprised stations at Duddingston and Craigmillar, Newington, Blackford Hill, Morningside Road, Craiglockhart, Gorgie East, Haymarket, Waverley, Abbeyhill, Piershill and Portobello. The second edition Ordnance Survey map of 1893 shows the station largely unchanged from the 1877 map, with tenements built in 1887 shown to the north of the line and Morningside Cemetery added to the south. The pedestrian footbridge is now shown connecting Balcarres Street to Maxwell Street.

The suburban railway line encouraged increasing numbers of people to move to Edinburgh's expanding suburbs by providing a regular passenger service to Edinburgh Waverley. Early 20th-century photographs indicate Morningside Road Station retained largely the same footprint as that shown on the 1877 and 1893 maps. The ticket office was located at street level on the road bridge spanning the railway line, with the two platforms accessed via two gates and staircases on both sides of the ticket office. A cast iron pillar station clock was added to the station complex in 1910, originally located in the middle of Morningside Road and now on the pavement on the east side of Morningside Road.

Morningside Road Station closed to passenger traffic on 10 September 1962. The line remains in use for freight transport and is owned by Network Rail. Some station buildings were dismantled in the early 1970s, including the two waiting rooms. Historic photographs show the south platform and staircase were removed sometime in the 1970s. The buildings to the south of the former ticket office were replaced with another building, now a Bank of Scotland branch. The former goods yard is now covered by flats and car parks. The footbridge continues to be used as a pedestrian walkway between Balcarres Street and Maxwell Street. The north platform and north steps survive, and the former ticket office is now used as a shop.