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Craiglockhart (; ) is a suburb 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 ...
, lying between
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 ...
to the south, Morningside to the east Merchiston to the north east, and Longstone and Kingsknowe to the west. The
Water of Leith The Water of Leith (Scottish Gaelic: ''Uisge Lìte'') is the main river flowing through central Edinburgh, Scotland, that starts in the Pentlands Hills and flows into the port of Leith and then into the sea via the Firth of Forth. Name The ...
is also to the west.


History

The name is first recorded in 1278 as "Crag quam Stephanus Loccard miles tenuit", thus "Craig (or rock) of Loccard". The family, whose name was changed to Lockhart, are credited by
Historic Scotland Historic Scotland () was an executive agency of the Scottish Government, 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 und ...
with building Craiglockhart Castle in the fifteenth century. The oldest "structure" in the area is the remains of a vitrified fort on the top of Wester Craiglockhart Hill, which is of prehistoric origin. This was somewhat mutilated by the addition of gun-emplacements in World War II, guarding against aerial attack. Excavations show the fort was re-occupied during Roman times. Craiglockhart Castle dates from the 15th century but is now ruined. The hill is also a
Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain, or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland, is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle ...
(SSSI) due to its diverse biological habitat. Redhall (also known was Reidhall) was a
castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...
on the border between Longstone and Craiglockhart beside the Water of Leith. The castle was owned by Adam Otterburn, a Scottish lawyer in the 16th century. It was later besieged and taken by the forces of
Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English statesman, politician and soldier, widely regarded as one of the most important figures in British history. He came to prominence during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, initially ...
in 1650. In the 18th century, the castle was demolished and the stones used to build Redhall House in 1756 under the ownership of George Inglis of Auchendinny. The associated gardens were designed by James Bowie in 1758. The castle's octagonal doocot was kept and a walled garden also created on the north side of the Water of Leith in Longstone. The house was subsequently inherited by his nephew, Vice-Admiral John Inglis. By the early 20th century, the House was purchased by the Edinburgh Corporation and converted to a children's home, now since defunct. Some of the adjacent estate has been converted to housing, with the doocot restored, although the main house remains abandoned. In Victorian times the area was dominated by hospital buildings: The City Hospital (1896); Old Craig House (1565) converted to an asylum in 1878; its "modern" partner, Craighouse, purpose-built as part of the Royal Edinburgh Asylum (1889); the City Poorhouse (1867) later converted to Greenlea's Old People's Home; and Craiglockhart Hydropathic Institution, and in the years 1871-1982 this building rose dramatically above and directly overlooked the home playing grounds of
Edinburgh University RFC Edinburgh University Rugby Football Club is a leading rugby union side based in Edinburgh, Scotland which currently plays its fixtures in the Edinburgh Regional Shield competition and the British Universities Premiership. It is one of the eight ...
. Craighouse and The Hydropathic are now part of the campus 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 ...
. During the First World War, the hospital was used to house officers suffering from the symptoms of
shell-shock Shell shock is a term that originated during World War I to describe symptoms similar to those of combat stress reaction and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which many soldiers suffered during the war. Before PTSD was officially recogni ...
. Invalids here included the poets
Wilfred Owen Wilfred Edward Salter Owen Military Cross, 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 Trench warfare, trenches and Chemi ...
and
Siegfried Sassoon Siegfried Loraine Sassoon (8 September 1886 – 1 September 1967) was an English war poet, writer, and soldier. Decorated for bravery on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front, he became one of the leading poets of the First World ...
, who met while patients. After the war this the building served as a convent and then a theological school, before passing to the then Napier College. The area became part of Edinburgh City in 1920 and consequently the area was developed in the 1930s, largely with bungalows and low density housing on the low-lying ground around the Wester and Easter Craiglockhart Hills. Approximately at the boundary point between Craiglockhart and Merchiston runs the Edinburgh Suburban railway line. There was once a station just off Colinton Road, and this may return, since the line is mooted for re-opening as part of Edinburgh's future transport strategy. Not until 1899 was Craiglockhart granted its own church, designed by Hay and Henderson, technically a
quoad sacra A ''quoad sacra'' parish is a parish of the Church of Scotland which does not represent a civil parish. That is, it had ecclesiastical functions but no local government functions. Since the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1929, civil parishes hav ...
church linked to
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 ...
parish. Its first minister was Robert Walker Mackersy (1833-1902). He was replaced by Alfred William Anderson (b. 1869) in 1903. Craiglockhart today is chiefly residential, with a small proportion of commercial properties, and is in general considered to be a comfortable middle-class area, with a mixture of terraced and detached villas, of a variety of ages.


Demographics


Attractions and amenities

Craiglockhart Tennis Centre plays host to large international tennis competitions, with a series of well kept indoor and outdoor courts. One famous product of the centre is
Andy Murray Sir Andrew Barron Murray (born 15 May 1987) is a British former professional tennis player and coach. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professio ...
, who often trained there. On the same ground is Craiglockhart Sport And Leisure Centre which has a small boating pond which was built in 1887. Today the pond is no longer used for boating, and now serves as an important nest and roost site for urban water birds. A small cluster of commercial premises remain close to the station site, with a further group located opposite the Craiglockhart Tennis Centre. A small
Tesco Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in the United Kingdom at its head offices in Welwyn Garden City, England. The company was founded by Jack Cohen (businessman), Sir Jack Cohen in ...
"Express" supermarket has been built on the site of a former petrol station adjacent to the Meggetland playing fields. The opening of this branch of Tesco was vociferously opposed by the Scottish food writer Joanna Blythman,Edinburgh Evening News
who claimed that opening the store would damage the local grocery store at Happy Valley. There is a Craiglockhart Primary School, although this is a little to the north of Craiglockhart itself, technically within North Merchiston (though commonly described as within Polwarth or Shandon.)


References


External links


Bartholomew's ''Chronological map of Edinburgh'' (1919)

Craiglockhart Community Council

Craiglockhart Primary School
{{coord, 55.918117, N, 3.240194, W, display=title, region:GB Areas of Edinburgh