Lauriston Castle is a 16th-century

tower house A tower house is a particular type of stone structure, built for defensive purposes as well as habitation. Tower houses began to appear in the Middle Ages, especially in mountainous or limited access areas, to command and defend strategic points ...

with 19th-century extensions overlooking the

Firth of Forth The Firth of Forth () is a firth in Scotland, an inlet of the North Sea that separates Fife to its north and Lothian to its south. Further inland, it becomes the estuary of the River Forth and several other rivers. Name ''Firth'' is a cognate ...

, in

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. It lies on Cramond Road South, between

Cramond Cramond Village (; ) is a village and suburb in the north-west of Edinburgh, Scotland, at the mouth of the River Almond where it enters the Firth of Forth. The Cramond area has evidence of Mesolithic, Bronze Age and Roman activity. In modern ...

Davidson's Mains Davidson's Mains is a former village and now a district in the north-west of Edinburgh, Scotland. It is adjacent to the districts of Barnton, Cramond, Silverknowes, Blackhall and Corbiehill/House O'Hill. It was absorbed into Edinburgh as p ...

, and Silverknowes. The substantial grounds, Lauriston Castle Gardens, operate as a local park. The castle was bequeathed to the Edinburgh Corporation (post 1975 known as Edinburgh City Council) and hosts the

Lord Provost A lord provost () is the convenor of the local authority, the civic head and the lord-lieutenant of one of the principal cities of Scotland. The office is similar to that of a lord mayor. Only the cities of Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Stirlin ...

's annual Garden Party. The house is a Category A

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

and the grounds are included in the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland.

History

A Lauriston Castle which stood on the site in medieval times was almost totally destroyed in the raids on Edinburgh in 1544 by the

Earl of Hertford Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. In modern Britain, an earl is a member of the Peerages in the United Kingdom, peerage, ranking below a marquess and above a viscount. A feminine form of ''earl'' never developed; instead, ...

's troops. A tower house was rebuilt around 1590 by Sir Archibald Napier of Merchiston, father of the mathematician

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 ...

, for his first son by his second marriage, also named Archibald (1575–1600), known as Napier of Woolmet. After Laurieston died in 1629 his widow and three young children lived there. In 1683 the estate was purchased by Edinburgh goldsmith and financier William Law, father of economist John Law, shortly before his death. John Law then inherited the estate and it stayed in his family until 1823 when sold to banker and mineralogist Thomas Allan. In 1827 Allan commissioned

William Burn William Burn (20 December 1789 – 15 February 1870) was a Scottish architect. He received major commissions from the age of 20 until his death at 81. He built in many styles and was a pioneer of the Scottish Baronial Revival, often referred ...

(1789–1870) to extend the house. Subsequent owners were the Right Hon. Andrew Lord Rutherfurd (1791–1854), and Thomas Macknight Crawfurd of Cartsburn and Lauriston Castle, 8th Baron of Cartsburn from 1871 to 1902. On 3 December 1827 Sir Walter Scott wrote in his journal: William Robert Reid, proprietor of Morison & Co., an Edinburgh cabinetmaking business, acquired Lauriston Castle in 1902, and left their home to Scotland on the condition that it should be preserved unchanged. The

City of Edinburgh Council The City of Edinburgh Council (Scottish Gaelic: ''Comhairle Baile Dhùn Èideann'') is the local government authority covering the City of Edinburgh council area. Almost half of the council area is the built-up area of Edinburgh, capital of Sco ...

has administered the house since her death in 1926, when it was bequeathed to the nation of Scotland. In 2013 it was suggested that the castle could be renovated and turned into an official residence for the Lord Provost of Edinburgh. The proposal did not go ahead due to costs and other reasons. Scotia_Depicta_-_Laureston_Castle_-Plate-

Scotia_Depicta_-_Laureston_Castle_-Plate-

Design

Lauriston Castle was originally a four-storey, stone L plan tower house, with a circular stair tower, with two-storey angle turrets complete with gun loops. A Jacobean range was added in 1827, to convert it to a country manor. This was designed by the prominent architect

. The majority of the interior is Edwardian.

Gardens

The extensive gardens at Lauriston are open to the public at no charge and include a number of different styles and forms. A

Japanese garden are traditional gardens whose designs are accompanied by Japanese aesthetics and philosophical ideas, avoid artificial ornamentation, and highlight the natural landscape. Plants and worn, aged materials are generally used by Japanese garden desig ...

of one hectare built by Takashi Sawano as the Edinburgh–

Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...

Friendship Garden, opened in August 2002."Public Japanese Gardens: UK and Ireland Survey". ''Journal of Japanese Gardening'' No. 35, September/October 2003

accessed 16 October 2006.

References

External links

Description of Lauriston with photoLauriston Castle official websiteEdinburgh Croquet ClubFriendship Garden"Stravaiging Around Scotland: 'Lauriston Castle'"Engraving of Lauriston Castle
by

James Fittler James Fittler (October 1758, in London – 2 December 1835) was an English engraver of portraits and landscapes and an illustrator of books. He was appointed by King George III to be his marine engraver. Life Fittler was born in London in Oct ...

in the digitised copy o
Scotia Depicta, or the antiquities, castles, public buildings, noblemen and gentlemen's seats, cities, towns and picturesque scenery of Scotland
1804 at

National Library of Scotland The National Library of Scotland (NLS; ; ) is one of Scotland's National Collections. It is one of the largest libraries in the United Kingdom. As well as a public programme of exhibitions, events, workshops, and tours, the National Library of ...

{{Parks and gardens in Edinburgh Castles in Edinburgh Houses in Edinburgh Clan Napier Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes Category A listed buildings in Edinburgh Listed castles in Scotland Japanese gardens Gardens in Edinburgh Parks and commons in Edinburgh Historic house museums in Edinburgh Reportedly haunted locations in Edinburgh Tower houses in Scotland