Located at the foot of a steep hill, low lying Canonmills was for many years the site of the Cannon Mills Loch (the second "n" was dropped in later usage). The loch was drained in three phases in the 18th and 19th centuries, finally disappearing in 1865.
The Water of Leith still runs through Canonmills and was important in establishing the identity of the original small village of Canonmills, which was named after the Augustinian canons of Holyrood Abbey who operated a mill here from the 12th century.
A pantile-roofed former mill building on the corner of Eyre Place and Canon Street is the sole surviving building from the original village.
You can also find a large stone - unearthed during demolition work in 1964 - in the wall of the Canonmills Service Station. It bears the inscription, "The Baxters Land 1686". The Baxters were bakers based in the Canongate who by law had to ground their corn at Canonmills.