Edinburgh is one of the most architecturally extraordinary cities in Europe — a medieval Old Town above a Georgian New Town, a volcanic rock crowned by a castle and an industrial waterfront at Granton that was once among the busiest ports in Scotland. Here are 5 of the best abandoned places in Edinburgh, selected from our Abandoned Places Map UK — 640+ GPS locations across England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland.
Why Edinburgh Is a Hidden Gem for Urban Exploration
Edinburgh's urbex landscape is defined by the contrast between the preserved grandeur of the Old and New Towns and the industrial waterfront at Granton and Leith where gas holders, gasworks and Victorian bonded warehouses have been quietly decaying for decades. The psychiatric hospital heritage of West Lothian — Bangour in particular — adds a second distinct layer that makes Edinburgh one of the most varied urbex destinations in Scotland.
1. Craigentinny Gas Holders – Craigentinny, Edinburgh — 1890s Victorian Iron Gas Holders, Largest Iron Structures in Edinburgh, Visible on the Eastern Approach to the City (Known Location)
The Craigentinny Gas Holders are among the most dramatically visible Victorian industrial structures in Edinburgh — enormous telescopic iron gas holders built in the 1890s to store coal gas for the city's lighting and heating. The corrugated iron and lattice steel frames rise above the Craigentinny rooflines in extraordinary scale, still visible on Edinburgh's eastern approach. As the gas network converted to North Sea gas, the holders became redundant; they stand decommissioned, their scale and Victorian engineering making them one of the most striking abandoned industrial places in the Scottish capital.
🔗 Learn more: Wikipedia – Granton Gasworks Edinburgh
2. Bangour Village Hospital – West Lothian — 1906 Colony-Model Psychiatric Village, 30 Individual Villas, Ivy-Covered Church, Closed 2004 (Known Location)
Bangour Village Hospital in West Lothian was built on the revolutionary colony model — 30 individual patient villas in a village-scale community rather than a single large asylum, with a church, recreation hall and complete infrastructure. Opened 1906, closed 2004. The empty villa buildings, the ivy-covered church and the village streetscape create one of the most atmospherically extraordinary abandoned institutional sites in Scotland — and one of the most-visited urbex destinations near Edinburgh.
🔗 Also read: Top 5 Abandoned Places in Scotland →
3. Granton Gasworks – Granton, Edinburgh — 1902 Coal Gas Production Complex, Retort House and Purification Buildings, Forth Estuary Waterfront, Category B Listed (Known Location)
Granton Gasworks on the Forth estuary was Edinburgh's primary coal gas production site from 1902 — a complete industrial complex of retort houses where coal was converted to gas, purification buildings and waterfront infrastructure where coal was landed by collier. The original retort house and purification buildings are Category B listed; the wider gasworks complex on the Granton waterfront represents one of the most significant concentrations of early 20th-century gas industry heritage in Scotland. Decommissioned and largely abandoned following the switch to North Sea gas.
🔗 Learn more: British Listed Buildings – Granton Gasworks
4. Abandoned Edinburgh Victorian Asylum – 1870s Kirkbride Campus, Gothic Tower Visible Across the City, Ornate Chapel and 400-Metre Ward Corridor Intact, Lothian (Our Map Exclusive)
A 1870s Kirkbride-plan psychiatric asylum in the Lothian area — the Gothic administrative tower still visible across the Edinburgh rooflines, the bat-wing ward corridor stretching 400 metres from the central block and the hospital chapel with original carved woodwork and stained glass intact. The self-sustaining farm campus and enclosed airing courts complete a Victorian institutional landscape closed by deinstitutionalisation. Discover its exact location on our Scotland Urbex Map.
5. Abandoned Leith Victorian Bonded Warehouse – 1870s-1890s Port Warehouse, Original Iron Hoist Mechanisms and Loading Doors, Cobbled Quayside, Leith Docks (Hidden Gem — Our Map Only)
An 1870s-1890s bonded warehouse in Leith Docks — the original iron hoist mechanisms above the loading doors, iron-shuttered windows and cobbled quayside loading area where carts collected goods from ships. Leith was one of Scotland's busiest Victorian trading ports; when containerisation made traditional warehouses obsolete, the Victorian bonded infrastructure was progressively abandoned. Part of our exclusive Scotland urbex database.
Safety Tips
- Gas site contamination: Granton Gasworks ground contains coal tar residues and potential benzene contamination — wear gloves, never disturb soil and wash hands thoroughly after visiting
- Wet stone surfaces: Edinburgh's damp climate makes Victorian sandstone and cobblestone permanently slippery — ankle boots minimum, no trainers on any stone staircase
- Never explore alone — always file a plan with someone before entering any industrial or institutional site in the city
"Leave it as you found it — the next explorer deserves the same experience."
❓ FAQ
What is the most famous abandoned place in Edinburgh?
The Craigentinny Gas Holders — enormous Victorian iron telescopic gas holders from the 1890s still visible on Edinburgh's eastern approach. Among the most dramatically scaled Victorian industrial structures surviving in the Scottish capital.
What is Bangour Village Hospital?
A 1906 psychiatric hospital in West Lothian built on the colony model — 30 individual patient villas rather than one large asylum. Closed in 2004; the ivy-covered church and empty villa streets make it one of the most-visited abandoned sites near Edinburgh.
What was Granton Gasworks?
Edinburgh's primary coal gas production site from 1902, located on the Forth estuary waterfront at Granton. The original retort house and purification buildings are Category B listed — one of the most significant early 20th-century gas industry complexes in Scotland.
🎯 Summary
Edinburgh's abandoned places range from 1890s iron gas holders visible across the city to a 1906 psychiatric village of 30 ivy-covered villas and a Category B listed gasworks on the Forth estuary. Each of these 5 derelict buildings in Edinburgh represents a different layer of Scotland's most architecturally extraordinary capital.
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