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The pub’s story
Bennets sits in a late Victorian tenement at the Maxwell Street corner, beside the former Morningside Road station. Inside is the more unusual survival. CAMRA's heritage survey dates the plain, economical refit to about 1960 and notes how little it has changed: a tapering boarded counter, a simple gantry, fixed wall seating and an illuminated hood of the sort borrowed from interwar cocktail bars. Brewery mirrors, old Edinburgh photographs and painted glass soften the room. In 2007 The Scotsman found Roger Bennet still managing Wee Bennet's, linking this house to the family that ran the separate Leven Street Bennets for much of the twentieth century. The opening date and the arrival of the Bennet name here remain unproved, so the story does not stretch them. Today it is still a compact neighbourhood local, with cask ale, a house-badged Bennets Ale and a name regulars continue to shorten to Wee Bennet's.
What to notice
- 01
Look beyond the old-fashioned atmosphere to the plain counter, glass-shelf gantry, fixed seating and illuminated hood. CAMRA dates this unusually intact refit to about 1960.
- 02
The fascia says Bennets of Morningside; Wee Bennet's is the long-used nickname. This is a separate business from Bennets Bar in Leven Street, though the two have a documented family link.
- 03
Children are not admitted. Dogs are welcome, and a few pavement tables sit outside. Hours come from CAMRA because no official venue website was found.
The time rail
The building, the pub and its interior may date from different periods. The timeline keeps documented dates separate from tradition.
The Maxwell Street corner belongs to Morningside's late Victorian tenement expansion; the exact building date is not established.
The suburban railway opened its station beside Maxwell Street, renamed Morningside Road in 1886.
CAMRA's heritage survey dates the surviving low-key bar refit to about 1960 and describes it as remarkably little altered.
The Scotsman recorded Roger Bennet managing Wee Bennet's, linking this house to the family associated with the separate Leven Street bar.
A dated frontage photograph recorded the cream and gold Bennets of Morningside fascia and Murray's ale door glass.
The single-room local remained in use with cask ale, a house-badged beer and a Good Beer Guide listing.
Sources & confidence
Current identity, hours and practical details are supported by CAMRA's national and branch records, with Pubs Galore used only for corroboration. CAMRA's heritage survey supplies the missing premises evidence: the unusually intact bar refit dates to about 1960. The 2007 Scotsman account independently records Roger Bennet managing Wee Bennet's and links the house to the family associated with the separate Leven Street pub. No reviewed source establishes the first licence or the date the Bennet name arrived at Maxwell Street, so neither is claimed. The late Victorian building context and former Morningside Road station are supporting setting rather than a substitute for pub history. A dated frontage photograph preserves the sign and painted glass. Hours remain specialist-directory hours because no official venue website was found.
Research reviewed
- Bennets of Morningside, EdinburghCampaign for Real Ale (CAMRA)specialist
SupportsCurrent identity, address, hours, Good Beer Guide listing, the single-room tenement bar description including the stained glass window at the back, the beer range, facilities and the map point.
- Bennets of Morningside - Edinburgh & South-East Scotland CAMRAEdinburgh & South-East Scotland CAMRAspecialist
SupportsPhone number, ales including the house Bennets Ale, stained glass and brewery mirrors, dog and child policies, front drinking area.
- Let's all raise a glass to pubs steeped in historyThe Scotsmaneditorial
SupportsThe 2007 documentation of Wee Bennet's in Morningside under Roger Bennet, and the Bennet family's tenure at the separate Leven Street bar from about 1910 to the 1970s.
- Morningside RoadRailscotspecialist
SupportsThe adjacent station's 1884 opening, 1886 renaming, 1962 closure and surviving lattice footbridge.
- 19th Century Morningsidenoisybrain.blogeditorial
SupportsAttributed context for Morningside's late Victorian tenement expansion, citing Charles J. Smith's Morningside (1992).
- Bennets of Morningside, Maxwell St, Edinburgh, June 2014Flickr (alljengi), CC BY-SA 2.0appearance
SupportsThe dated 2014 photographic record of the cream and gold fascia, painted window glass, Murray's ale door pane and corner entrance.
- Scotland's True Heritage PubsCAMRA Pub Heritage Groupspecialist
SupportsPremises-specific heritage survey dating the unusually intact low-key refit to about 1960 and describing its counter, gantry, illuminated hood and fixed seating.
