It lies east of the Silvermills area and Stockbridge, south of Inverleith and west of Bellevue, in a low hollow north of Edinburgh's New Town on ground that was uneconomic to connect to the higher New Town street levels.
John Lauder of Silvermills (d. July 28, 1838), owner of the tannery, and father to the famous brother artists Robert Scott Lauder (1803-1869) and James Eckford Lauder (1811-1869), both born in Silvermills had a house south of the 'Great Mill Lade' (or Lead or Dam), just behind where St. Stephen's Church now stands; the land for the church was purchased by the City of Edinburgh from Mr. Lauder in 1822.
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The low-lying land of Silvermills and Canonmills proved an impediment to the further northern extension of the New Town.
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Mill lades serving the mills led from the Water of Leith at a point just north of Stockbridge, through the area and on to Canonmills Loch at Canonmills.