Entering the picturesque Dean Village is like stepping back in time. Its history can be traced back as far as 1128. Originally named the Village of the Water of Leith, the word Dean or 'Dene' meaning a deep valley. The village, half a mile west of Deanhaugh Street, was once a busy industrial village with eleven mills powered by the fast flowing river.

'The Baxters' or baker's guild provided the whole of Edinburgh and surrounding villages with meal and thrived until the 19th Century when the larger flour mills in Leith eventually made them redundant.

Archictect Sydney Mitchell was commissioned in 1884 by J. R. Finlay, (proprietor of The Scotsman newspaper) to build Well Court to provide housing for the village workers. The building with the clock tower was the local community hall. It is now an office.

The half timber building on the south bank, named Hawthorn Buildings were built in 1895.

There are many reminders of the baxters of Dean in the form of stone carvings and inscriptions above door lintels. One carries the inscription;

" In the sweat of thy face shall thou eat bread" Genesis 3/19

The two crossed 'peels' carved on Brae Bridge date from 1643 and represent the paddles used for taking bread from a hot oven.

The Water of Leith Walkway passes through Dean Village and continues on Westward towards the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art and Dean Gallery.