Merchiston ( ) is a residential area around Merchiston Avenue in the south-west of
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...
,
Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
.
Location
Merchiston Avenue is southwest of the West End of Edinburgh's principal street, Princes Street. Other areas near Merchiston include
Morningside to the southeast,
Burghmuirhead (including
Holy Corner and
Church Hill) to the east and
Bruntsfield
Bruntsfield is a largely residential area around Bruntsfield Place in Southern Edinburgh, Scotland. In feudal times, it fell within the barony of Colinton.
Location
Bruntsfield Place is less than south on the A702 road (Great Britain), A70 ...
to the northeast.
History
The first known reference to Merchiston is found in the 1266
Exchequer Rolls of Scotland. At this point Merchiston consisted of one of a number of independently owned estates to the southwest of the
Burgh Muir
The Burgh Muir is the historic term for an extensive area of land lying to the south of Edinburgh city centre, upon which much of the southern part of the city now stands following its gradual spread and more especially its rapid expansion in t ...
.
Alexander Napier, a wealthy Edinburgh merchant and provost of the city, acquired the estate from
King James I in 1436. He or his son, also
Alexander Napier, were responsible for the construction of
Merchiston Tower (or Castle) in the mid 15th century.
Merchiston Tower was later the home of
John Napier
John Napier of Merchiston ( ; Latinisation of names, Latinized as Ioannes Neper; 1 February 1550 – 4 April 1617), nicknamed Marvellous Merchiston, was a Scottish landowner known as a mathematician, physicist, and astronomer. He was the 8 ...
, 8th
Laird
Laird () is a Scottish word for minor lord (or landlord) and is a designation that applies to an owner of a large, long-established Scotland, Scottish estate. In the traditional Scottish order of precedence, a laird ranked below a Baronage of ...
of Merchiston and the inventor of
logarithms
In mathematics, the logarithm of a number is the exponent by which another fixed value, the base, must be raised to produce that number. For example, the logarithm of to base is , because is to the rd power: . More generally, if , the ...
. The tower was sold by the Honourable John Scott Napier, 14th Laird of Merchiston, in 1914 to the
Merchiston Castle School and today forms part of
Edinburgh Napier University
Edinburgh Napier University () is a public university in Edinburgh, Scotland. Napier Technical College, the predecessor of the university, was founded in 1964, taking its name from 16th-century Scottish mathematician and philosopher John Napie ...
.
Housing
The housing is primarily a mixture of large, late
Georgian,
Victorian and
Edwardian
In the United Kingdom, the Edwardian era was a period in the early 20th century that spanned the reign of King Edward VII from 1901 to 1910. It is commonly extended to the start of the First World War in 1914, during the early reign of King Ge ...
villas – several of the latter by
Edward Calvert – together with a smaller number of Victorian tenements and some relatively large, early-20th century villas. In recent years many of these villas have been subjected to development with blocks of flats being built in their once expansive gardens and the original houses themselves being divided into small numbers of flats.
Education

Primary education in Merchiston is provided by
Craiglockhart Primary School and Bruntsfield Primary School. Merchiston spans the catchment areas for
Boroughmuir and
Tynecastle secondary schools. Also in the area are a number of independent schools including
George Watson's College
George Watson's College is a co-educational Private schools in the United Kingdom, private day school in Scotland, situated on Colinton Road, in the Merchiston area of Edinburgh. It was first established as a Scottish education in the eighteenth ...
and a
Steiner School.
Merchiston Castle School was founded in the area in 1828, moving to Merchiston Tower in 1833. In 1914 the Merchiston Castle School board purchased Merchiston Tower from the Honourable John Scott Napier, 14th Laird of Merchiston, and used it up until 1930 when the school moved to a new site at
Colinton
Colinton is a suburb of Edinburgh, Scotland situated southwest of the city centre. Up until the late 18th century it appears on maps as Collington. It is bordered by Dreghorn to the south and Craiglockhart to the north-east. To the north-w ...
(whilst retaining the Merchiston Castle name).
Today, Merchiston Tower is part of the
campus
A campus traditionally refers to the land and buildings of a college or university. This will often include libraries, lecture halls, student centers and, for residential universities, residence halls and dining halls.
By extension, a corp ...
of
Edinburgh Napier University
Edinburgh Napier University () is a public university in Edinburgh, Scotland. Napier Technical College, the predecessor of the university, was founded in 1964, taking its name from 16th-century Scottish mathematician and philosopher John Napie ...
. The university also uses a variety of other buildings in this and surrounding areas, such as former schools and churches, some of which would otherwise have been demolished or made into further flats.
Transportation
On the fringes of the area where it meets
Craiglockhart (to the west) is the
South Suburban railway line, which closed to passenger traffic in 1962. To the north of the area is the
Union Canal. North of the canal (in the area sometimes known as North Merchiston or
Shandon and sometimes taken to be part of
Polwarth) is the site of the former
Merchiston railway station, a railway station on the now-closed
Caledonian Railway
The Caledonian Railway (CR) was one of the two biggest of the five major Scottish railway companies prior to the 1923 Grouping. It was formed in 1845 with the objective of forming a link between English railways and Glasgow. It progressively ex ...
line to
Edinburgh Princes Street railway station
Princes Street Station was a mainline railway station which stood at the west end of Princes Street, in Edinburgh, Scotland, for almost 100 years. Temporary stations were opened in 1848 and 1870, with construction of the main station commencin ...
.
Parks

Harrison Park, a popular community park roughly in size is located to the northwest of Merchiston. The park provides a range of recreational facilities including pitches, play area, cycle path and a formal garden.
Notable people
The area is home to writers
Lin Anderson,
Colin Douglas,
Alexander McCall Smith
Sir Alexander "Sandy" McCall Smith (born 24 August 1948) is a Scottish legal scholar and author of fiction. He was raised in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and was formerly Professor of Medical Law at the University of Edinburgh. He became an ...
(author of
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency novels), politician Sir Graham Watson and comedian
Dylan Moran.
J. K. Rowling
Joanne Rowling ( ; born 31 July 1965), known by her pen name , is a British author and philanthropist. She is the author of ''Harry Potter'', a seven-volume fantasy novel series published from 1997 to 2007. The series has List of best-sell ...
had her Edinburgh home in Merchiston for many years but has since moved to
Killiechassie.
Ian Rankin
Sir Ian James Rankin (born 28 April 1960) is a Scottish crime writer and philanthropist, best known for his Inspector Rebus novels.
Early life
Rankin was born in Cardenden, Fife. His father, James, owned a grocery shop, and his mother, Isobel ...
(author of the
Inspector Rebus
The ''Inspector Rebus'' books are a series of detective novels by the Scottish author Ian Rankin, Sir Ian Rankin. The novels, centred on Inspector#United Kingdom, Detective Inspector John Rebus, are mostly based in and around Edinburgh. They ...
novels), lived in Merchiston before moving to the
Quartermile
Quartermile is the marketing name given to the Mixed-use development, mixed use redevelopment of the former Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh site, in Lauriston, Edinburgh. It was master-planned by architect Foster + Partners and takes its name fro ...
development in 2019.
The district was also the childhood home of Scotland and British Lions rugby players
Gavin Hastings
Andrew Gavin Hastings, (born 3 January 1962) is a Scottish former rugby union player. A fullback, he is widely regarded to be one of the best ever Scottish rugby players and was one of the outstanding players of his generation, winning 61 c ...
and
Scott Hastings.
References
External links
Entry in Gazetteer for ScotlandMerchiston Community Council*
Community Council map showing boundary of areaCraiglockhart Primary School
{{Areas of Edinburgh
Areas of Edinburgh