The ‘B’ listed flats here were designed by Sir Basil Spence, one of Scotland’s most celebrated post-war architects, known for Coventry Cathedral, New Zealand’s parliament known as The Beehive, the British Embassy in Rome, and Glasgow Airport. Built in 1959, It was a time of great optimism and hope for the future, a period where planners and architectures came together to build for the people not for profit-motivated developers.

However, for centuries prior, this land between Whale Brae and Hawthornvale was known as the Fishermen’s Park, or to every child in the district “Fishie Park”, the last remaining portion of the original Newhaven Links, which stretched from Anchorfield to Trinity Road.

In 1510 Edinburgh Town Council purchased the feu for Newhaven and its surrounding lands from King James IV largely to secure the area because the city was fearful of the area replacing Leith as a port. Much of the original Links was let by the city for grazing, but by1595, the coastal lands were shrinking with the sea having swept away significant portions. A section of this coastal route was famously nicknamed the “Man Trap” due to the danger of falling into the sea.

By the turn of the 19th century, the part of the Links (running from Whale Brae to what is now New Lane) was owned by the Government and managed by the Admiralty. Its original name was St Peter’s Field and appeared on 1804 maps as such with a building known as the Admiral’s Office in its south-west corner. As early as 1807 there was a proposal to erect a Naval Yard on the site and this was still shown on maps of 1831 but nothing came of these proposals.

Recognising the need for a place to dry and maintain nets, local fishermen petitioned the Board of Fisheries for access to the land. An application was sent to the Board of Admiralty and they agreed providing that the Boxmaster (Treasurer) of the Society would accept responsibility for the land. The Society of Free Fishermen managed the land for twenty years.

In 1870 the Admiralty gave notice that they were to sell the land that they had in Newhaven which included the parks. This caused some concern to the fishermen and again they approached the Secretary of the Board of Fisheries to pursue their claim to the use of the parks. This resulted in the Society being granted a 999-year lease on the park for which they had to pay an annual sum of £15. The Preses and the Boxmaster signed the lease on 15th July 1871; the ground to the east of New Lane was sold.

In its heyday, the Park was a hive of activity. It featured vats for tanning and barking nets, space for over-wintering boats (yawls), a kippering shed, a blacksmith’s forge, and a sailmaker’s loft. It was also home to the boat-building yard of Allan & Brown between 1920 and 1928 that built the last fishing yawl launched in Newhaven, the Reliance LH210.

As fishing methods evolved, with motorised boats requiring fewer sails and different net types, the park was used less for industry and reverted to a grassy common area for locals, popular for sledging, bonfires, and children’s play. Only the grass was used with which to line the baskets that the fishing lines were stored in order to stop them being tangled when they were put in the water, or “shot” - a tenuous connection to fishing was still there.

In 1934, red sandstone tenement buildings on the north side at Annfield were built and on the lower stretch of the Whale Brae. In 1959, Edinburgh Corporation commissioned Sir Basil Spence to re-develop New Lane and build Great Michael Rise on the former Fishermen’s Park. With their painted harled exteriors and sensitive use of wooden cladding, this development was a Saltire Award winner, designed to re-house many residents of old New Lane. In 1966, the flats were given a B-listing by Historic Scotland, which was renamed to become Historic Environment Scotland (HES) in 2015.

Sir Basil Spence, aiming to maintain the character of the village, proposed retaining some older characteristics in his design. While Great Michael Rise was built, his wider proposals to preserve the integrity of the rest of the village’s architecture were unfortunately ignored, leading to the nondescript developments that now define much of the north side of the Main Street. Today, Great Michael Rise stands as a legacy of both the area’s maritime history and a significant moment in Scottish modernist architecture.

More on this essay by Mr Dougie Ratcliffe at boxmaster@gmail.com