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Craiglockhart Castle

Craiglockhart · 1.9 miles

Craiglockhart Castle is a ruined tower house in the Craiglockhart district of Edinburgh, Scotland.

Merchiston Tower

Church Hill · 3.7 miles

Birth place of John Napier (Inventor of logarithms)

Bavelaw Castle

Balerno · 4.3 miles

Perched above Threipmuir Reservoir in the Pentland Hills, the former hunting lodge lies two miles south of Balerno and four miles west of Penicuik, within the City of Edinburgh council area. The site, recorded as a Category A listed building since 1971, presents a harled rubble tower of three storeys, an adjoining circular turret on the north-eastern corner and a later single-storey wing projecting to the south-east. Vaulted ground-floor chambers and a distinctive lower northern room hint at the original 16th-century L-plan tower erected by Walter Dundas; the first-floor chamber above is known locally as Queen Mary’s Room. Ownership passed from the Braids to the Fairlies, then through marriage to the Forresters of Niddry, and later to the Mowbrays of Barnbougle in the 1500s. King James VI granted Easter and Wester Bavelaw to Laurence Scott of Harperrig in 1628, after which Scott enlarged the house, possibly adding the south-east wing. Following a period of decline, Sir Robert Lorimer restored and extended the structure in 1900, linking outbuildings, enlarging windows, adding a turret to the attic and converting the basement. A further alteration occurred in 1938 under the architectural practice Dick Peddie & McKay. The castle’s historic fabric and its association with Mary, Queen of Scots and James VI provide a tangible link to Scotland’s royal past, while its remote hill-top setting offers a clear view of the surrounding landscape.

The Royal Scots Regimental Museum

Lauriston · 4.3 miles

Housed within the historic Royal Scots drill hall at Edinburgh Castle, the museum presents the heritage of the Royal Scots and its successor, the Royal Regiment of Scotland. The drill hall, erected in 1900 for the regiment, was refurbished and reopened as the Royal Scots Museum by the Princess Royal on 27 June 1991. Since the formation of the Royal Regiment of Scotland in 2006, its own collection has been added to the existing displays, creating a combined narrative of the units’ long service. Exhibits are arranged along a series of wall panels that trace the regiment’s origins under Sir John Hepburn through to recent operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Dioramas, display cases and a modest selection of artefacts illustrate key moments, while seven Victoria Crosses awarded to Royal Scots soldiers form a focal point of the collection. An extensive medal archive is stored in drawers that can be opened on request, although only a fraction is on public view. Admission is free, and the site is nearest to the town of Lauriston. No additional visitor facilities are recorded in the source material.

Scottish National War Memorial

Lauriston · 4.3 miles

Within the walls of Edinburgh Castle, a dedicated space honours the Scots who fell in the twentieth-century wars and later conflicts. The memorial occupies a converted north barrack block on Crown Square, the central courtyard of the fortress, and was realised under the direction of architect Robert Lorimer after his commission in 1919. Officially opened on 14 July 1927 by the then Prince of Wales, the building displays external stonework embellished with gargoyles and sculptures by artists such as Pilkington Jackson, John Marshall and Phyllis Bone, while the interior features stained-glass windows by Douglas Strachan and a series of wall monuments for individual regiments. The core of the tribute is the Rolls of Honour, a collection of name panels that records roughly 135 000 casualties of the First World War and more than 50 000 of the Second World War, together with later losses from the Malayan Emergency, the Korean War, the Troubles, the Falklands, the Gulf and the recent campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan. Names are added as new conflicts conclude, although the surrounding structure has remained unchanged since its inauguration. The monument is overseen by the charitable Scottish National War Memorial Trust. The nearest town identified on mapping data is Lauriston, and visitors to the castle can view the memorial as part of the broader historic attraction.

West Princes Street Gardens

Old Town · 4.3 miles

Stretching 29 acres along the south side of Princes Street, West Princes Street Gardens provide a sizeable green space in the centre of Edinburgh, Scotland. The park lies in the shadow of Edinburgh Castle and extends westwards to the churches of St John's and St Cuthbert's near Lothian Road. It is situated near the Old Town. The gardens are bounded by Princes Street to the north, with a series of statues lining the widened road after the 1880 widening. Opening times are published on the park's listing, and the site operates as a public park. Originally owned by the Princes Street Proprietors, the land passed to the council in 1816 and was opened to subscribers in 1821 under strict rules that excluded dogs, cricket, perambulators and smoking. In the mid-nineteenth century the Scottish Association for Suppressing Drunkenness successfully petitioned for the gardens to be opened on Christmas Day, New Year's Day and one additional day each year. The town council reacquired the grounds in 1876, despite local opposition, and commissioned City Architect Robert Morham to lay out the public park, including the picturesque gardener's cottage at the east end. A later agreement around 1880 widened Princes Street, creating a steeper embankment and allowing a series of statues to be placed along the road's edge. Current discussions about modernising the site are being driven by the Quaich Project, a fundraising effort managed by the Ross Development Trust. The gardens include a series of statues along the road edge, a gardener's cottage at the east end, and they provide a view towards Edinburgh Castle; the adjacent churches add architectural interest.