A residential suburban district of Edinburgh lying 3 miles (5 km) south of the city centre, which is perhaps best known for Liberton Brae, a steep ascent on the main A701 road out of the city. Liberton began as a scattered village comprising Kirk Liberton (to the south around the Parish Church), Liberton Dams (where the Braid Burn crosses between Liberton Brae and Mayfield Road), Nether Liberton (around the bottom of Gilmerton Road) and Over Liberton (to the west on the south slope of Blackford Glen), and to some extent it still mirrors this structure.
To the west, towards the Braid Hills, is the early 16th C. Liberton Tower and Liberton House, dating from c.1570. Liberton Parish Church sits proudly on Kirkgate and was built in 1818 by James Gillespie Graham (1776 - 1855), replacing an earlier one lost in a fire. Liberton Northfield Parish Church, located to the east on Gilmerton Road, was built as Gilmerton Free Church in 1869. Hiding behind Cameron Toll Shopping Centre, Nether Liberton House dates from the 18th C. while on the opposite side of Gilmerton Road, Nether Liberton Doocot dates from the 17th C. Next to Alnwickhill is a public water supply treatment works, which takes water through pipes from the Midlothian reservoirs and delivers it to the residents of SE Edinburgh. Liberton Hospital began as a cottage hospital in 1906 and now provides services for the elderly. Liberton High School lies to the east on Gilmerton Road and dates from 1959.
