Around Bughtlin Market a story unfolds. It’s a story of change and growth. A story etched in the very bricks and mortar of this modern Edinburgh suburb.
Bughtlin sits east of the A902. It’s a neighbour to Maybury Cammo East Craigs and Barnton. Many of its buildings are fairly new. This wasn’t always the case.
Before the houses and shops of Bughtlin rose the land was largely farmland. Fields stretched as far as the eye could see. Cereals and potatoes were grown. Cattle grazed peacefully. The names of some roads like Hayfield Mearenside and Burnbrae still echo that agricultural past.
The area’s history is closely tied to East Craigs. Blaeu’s Atlas of Scotland from 1654 shows both places. It even depicts the Bughtlin Burn flowing into the Almond. This shows that Bughtlin has existed for centuries. It simply wasn’t a large settlement.
Change arrived in the 1920s. East Craigs Farm was purchased. New laboratories were built. But the original 1768 Craigs House remained. This is a testament to the area’s layered history. It’s a reminder that new constructions don’t always erase what came before.
Post-war development truly reshaped Bughtlin and East Craigs. Housing estates sprang up. The Maybury Road opened in 1936. It facilitated urban expansion. New housing developments followed.
The Bughtlin Market shopping centre became a hub. Safeway was the anchor tenant. Other shops included a newsagent hairdresser pharmacy and video store. Later Morrisons bought Safeway. Eventually even that closed. The original shops were demolished. New housing replaced them. A smaller shopping centre with a Co-op and other businesses still stands today.
Bughtlin’s story is one of evolution. From farmland to a thriving suburb its history shows resilience adaptation and growth. It shows that the past doesn’t disappear. It merely transforms. It’s a history written in the buildings. The roads and the names of the places around. A history that continues to be written even today.