Lochend House, also known as Restalrig Castle Coventry, Martin (2001) ''The Castles of Scotland''. Goblinshead. p.300 and Lochend Castle, is an occupied house, incorporating the remains of a 16th-century L-plan

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, in order to command and defend strate ...

, in

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 Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...

. It is located in the Lochend area, about east of

Edinburgh Castle Edinburgh Castle is a historic castle in Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland. It stands on Castle Rock (Edinburgh), Castle Rock, which has been occupied by humans since at least the Iron Age, although the nature of the early settlement is unclear. ...

. The house is protected as a category 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 I ...

History

The original castle was built on lands originally belonging to the Lestalric family, but which had passed to the Logan family of

Restalrig Restalrig () is a small residential suburb of Edinburgh, Scotland (historically, an estate and independent parish). It is located east of the city centre, west of Craigentinny and to the east of Lochend, both of which it overlaps. Restalri ...

early in the 14th century. That family retained possession until

forfeit Forfeit or forfeiture may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Forfeit'', a 2007 thriller film starring Billy Burke * "Forfeit", a song by Chevelle from '' Wonder What's Next'' * '' Forfeit/Fortune'', a 2008 album by Crooked Fingers ...

ed for their part in the

Gowrie conspiracy John Ruthven, 3rd Earl of Gowrie (c. 1577 – 5 August 1600), was a Scottish nobleman who died in mysterious circumstances, referred to as the "Gowrie Conspiracy", in which he and/or his brother Alexander were attempting to kill or kidnap King ...

against

King James VI James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until h ...

. The castle was burned by William Gilmour of

the Inch The Inch is a district of Edinburgh, Scotland, located to the south of Inch Park in the south of the city. It is located 2 miles (3 km) south south-east of central Edinburgh. It incorporates the Inch housing development, Inch Park and the li ...

at that time.

Sir Robert Logan ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as ...

was the last member of the family to own the property. Thereafter the property was in the hands of

Arthur Elphinstone, 6th Lord Balmerino Arthur Elphinstone, 6th Lord Balmerino and 5th Lord Cupar (1688 – 18 August 1746) was a Scottish nobleman and Jacobite, or supporter of the claim of the exiled House of Stuart to the British throne. As a military officer, he served in both t ...

, from 1704. He was executed in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

for his part in the

Jacobite rising of 1745 The Jacobite rising of 1745, also known as the Forty-five Rebellion or simply the '45 ( gd, Bliadhna Theàrlaich, , ), was an attempt by Charles Edward Stuart to regain the British throne for his father, James Francis Edward Stuart. It took ...

, having been captured after the

battle of Culloden The Battle of Culloden (; gd, Blàr Chùil Lodair) was the final confrontation of the Jacobite rising of 1745. On 16 April 1746, the Jacobite Army (1745), Jacobite army of Charles Edward Stuart was decisively defeated by a Kingdom of Great Bri ...

. The gable end of the tower is incorporated into the present house, which was built around 1820. The building was owned by the City of Edinburgh Council and it was used as a children's centre until 2016 when a fire burned out the roof. Following the rebuilding of the roof, the property was sold in 2018 and is now in private ownership.

Structure

The house is located on a crag in Lochend Park, with steep slopes down to a small loch on its west side. The original part of the building comprises a three-storey L-plan block, which has a steeply pitched roof. The interior has been completely altered, but there are still some aumbries in the thick walls, and there are remnants of a fireplace large enough for an ox to be roasted in it. Nearby within the park is a 16th-century

doocot A dovecote or dovecot , doocot (Scots) or columbarium is a structure intended to house pigeons or doves. Dovecotes may be free-standing structures in a variety of shapes, or built into the end of a house or barn. They generally contain pigeo ...

, which was used in the 19th century as a boat house, and is now also Category B listed.

Lochend Loch

Lochend House sits atop a 10-metre rock escarpment. At the bottom of this lies Lochend Loch. This loch forms a natural hollow in the local topography, and with no outlet, is effectively a large puddle, whose depth varies according to rainfall. For at least part of its history, the loch served as a water supply to

Leith Leith (; gd, Lìte) is a port area in the north of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith. In 2021, it was ranked by ''Time Out'' as one of the top five neighbourhoods to live in the world. The earliest ...

to the north-west. However, even by olden standards the quality of the water was poor, being largely stagnant, and Leith people preferred to use local wells instead.

James IV of Scotland James IV (17 March 1473 – 9 September 1513) was King of Scotland from 11 June 1488 until his death at the Battle of Flodden in 1513. He inherited the throne at the age of fifteen on the death of his father, James III, at the Battle of Sauc ...

came to the Lochend to hunt wildfowl in September 1507, and four men were paid to row a boat on the "loch of Restalrig" to start the birds. James Balfour Paul
''Accounts of the Treasurer: 1507-1513'', vol. 4 (Edinburgh, 1902), p. 72
/ref>

References

External links

{{Defence infrastructure in Edinburgh Castles in Edinburgh Houses in Edinburgh Category B listed buildings in Edinburgh Listed houses in Scotland Buildings and structures in Leith