Water of Leith Walkway & Antony Gormley Statues

Flowing gently from its source in the Pentland Hills to the sea at Leith, the Water of Leith is the historic lifeblood of Edinburgh. For over eight hundred years, its fast-flowing waters powered more than seventy mills producing flour, paper, textiles, and snuff. Today, the river has returned to nature, flanked by a continuous thirteen-mile public walkway that offers a tranquil ribbon of green cutting directly through the heart of the capital.

The most dramatic section of the walkway winds through the deep wooded gorge beneath Dean Village. Here, walkers gaze upward at the colossal stone arches of Dean Bridge, engineered in 1831 by Thomas Telford to carry traffic forty meters above the riverbed. Further downstream, the path passes St Bernard's Well, an exquisite 1789 classical Roman Doric rotunda designed by Alexander Nasmyth around a natural mineral spring.

The river's most mesmerizing modern feature is '6 Times', a permanent public art installation by internationally acclaimed sculptor Sir Antony Gormley. Commissioned for the National Galleries of Scotland, Gormley cast six life-sized human figures from his own body using solid iron. Four of these figures stand directly in the flowing riverbed—submerged to their chests or knees depending on river water levels—gazing silently downstream.

Walking along the pathway, visitors frequently spot brown trout darting through clear shallows, grey herons standing motionlessly on riverside boulders, and bright flashes of electric-blue kingfishers skimming the water. The walkway connects seamlessly with Stockbridge, the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, and the historic docks of Leith, offering an off-grid walking journey through Edinburgh's industrial and natural heritage.