Tynecastle High School is a

secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...

in the

Gorgie Gorgie ( ) is a densely populated area of Edinburgh, Scotland. It is located in the west of the city and borders Murrayfield, Ardmillan and Dalry. Name The name is thought to be Brythonic in origin. Early forms suggest it derives from ''gor g ...

area of south west

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, Scotland.

History

Tynecastle High School was opened in 1912 and was for its first 98 years located at 15 McLeod Street, a B listed building.

Move to new school building

On 1 April 2007, The City of Edinburgh Council gave the go ahead to rebuild Tynecastle High School in a different area of McLeod Street. The council approved the sale of the old school building and a nearby nursery to the neighbouring Heart of Midlothian football team. The deal was for the sum of £5.9 million. The Liberal Democrats /

Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party (SNP; sco, Scots National Pairty, gd, Pàrtaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic political party in Scotland. The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence from ...

coalition that took over

The City of Edinburgh Council The City of Edinburgh Council is the Local government in Scotland, local government authority for the city of Edinburgh, capital of Scotland. With a population of in mid-2019, it is Subdivisions of Scotland#Council areas, the second most populo ...

in May 2007 signalled their plan to fight any move to demolish the old school building. Council Leader Jenny Dawe said "I can't see any way that they would get permission to knock it down. It's important for the city that we don't have a repeat of the 1960s when a lot of fine buildings were knocked down and replaced by horrible multi-storey blocks." This school is also a B-

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

and any permission for it to be altered can only be done with the permission of both the council and

Historic Scotland Historic Scotland ( gd, Alba Aosmhor) was an executive agency of the Scottish Office and later the Scottish Government from 1991 to 2015, responsible for safeguarding Scotland's built heritage, and promoting its understanding and enjoyment. ...

. Previous Hearts owner

Vladimir Romanov Vladimir Nikolayevich Romanov ( rus, Владимир Николаевич Романов, p=vlɐˈdʲimʲɪr nʲɪkɐˈlaɪvʲɪtɕ rɐˈmanəf, lt, Vladimiras Romanovas; born 15 June 1947)

intended to build a luxury hotel, sports bars and shops alongside a new main stand for Tynecastle Stadium with a 12,000 capacity. In August 2007 it was reported that the old school would "remain untouched" in the redevelopment. Although at present the development of Tynecastle Stadium is on hold a new purpose built school was built across the road at no 2 McLeod Street. It opened in January 2010.

Notable alumni

* Keith Brown, politician * Jason Cummings, professional footballer * Paul Hanlon, professional footballer *

Tom Hunter Sir Thomas Blane Hunter (born 6 May 1961) is a Scottish businessman, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. Sports Division Tom set up his first business after graduating from the University of Strathclyde as he was, in his own words, "unemployab ...

, recipient of the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

Ian Richardson Ian William Richardson (7 April 19349 February 2007) was a Scottish actor. He portrayed the Machiavellian Tory politician Francis Urquhart in the BBC's '' House of Cards'' (1990–1995) television trilogy. Richardson was also a leading S ...

an actor who played Francis Urquhart in the BBC adaption of ''

House of Cards A house of cards (also known as a card tower or card castle) is a structure created by stacking playing cards on top of each other, often in the shape of a pyramid. "House of cards" is also an expression that dates back to 1645 meaning a structu ...

''. His time at the school was not a happy one though. "It would be very different now but then I don't think they had a clue what to do with me, they certainly didn't understand me. I cannot remember having any friends there either. I hated it." *

Richard Thomson (politician) Richard Gordon Thomson (born 16 June 1976) is a Scottish politician. He is a member of the Scottish National Party (SNP) He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Gordon since the 2019 general election, having previously the leader of the ...

, Member of Parliament for Gordon

Notable former teachers

Wilfred Owen Wilfred Edward Salter Owen MC (18 March 1893 – 4 November 1918) was an English poet and soldier. He was one of the leading poets of the First World War. His war poetry on the horrors of trenches and gas warfare was much influenced by ...

, the First World War poet taught at Tynecastle when he was a patient at Craiglockhart Hospital. His spell at the school lasted three weeks in 1917. Owen praised the school in his published letters (1967).

Arms

References

External links

*
Tynecaste School's page on Scottish Schools Online
{{authority control Secondary schools in Edinburgh Category B listed buildings in Edinburgh Gorgie Educational institutions established in 1912 1912 establishments in Scotland