Murrayfield is an affluent area to the west of

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 ...

city centre in

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 to the east of Corstorphine and north of Balgreen and Roseburn. The A8 road runs east–west through the south of the area. Murrayfield is often considered to include the smaller neighbouring areas of Ravelston (to the north) and Roseburn (to the south).

History

The name comes from the estate of Archibald Murray who built Murrayfield House for himself in 1735 on the south-facing slopes over the area. Archibald Murray bought the land from Nisbet of Dean in 1733; it was previously Nisbet's Park. Alexander Murray, Lord Henderland was born here the year after its construction. Much of the Murrayfield area was semi-rural up until the early 19th century. Among mansion houses built then was Belmont House in 1828 by architect William Playfair for Lord Mackenzie and a large villa known as Rock Villa (later Rockshiel) appears on the

Ordnance Survey Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of 1745. There was ...

Map of 1855. The OS map from the 1890s suggests this area remained spacious with scattered individual houses and villas throughout the nineteenth-century. Easter Belmont Road (a private road), is one of Edinburgh's "Millionaire's Rows" and is home to local businessman David Murray. Aside from sports facilities, there is much residential land use and a private hospital,

Spire Murrayfield Hospital A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spires are ...

, part of the Spire Healthcare group. There are also a few shops, businesses and hotels.

Sports

Murrayfield is known for

Murrayfield Stadium Murrayfield Stadium (known as BT Murrayfield Stadium for sponsorship reasons, or popularly as Murrayfield) is a Rugby stadium located in the Murrayfield area of Edinburgh, Scotland. It has a seating capacity of 67,144 making it the largest st ...

, home to the Scottish national rugby union team and venue for many sporting events. In the shadow of the stadium is Murrayfield Ice Rink, which currently hosts the

Edinburgh Capitals The Edinburgh Capitals are a Scottish ice hockey club, playing in the Scottish National League (SNL). They are based in the Scottish capital, Edinburgh. The team play at the Murrayfield Ice Rink, close to Murrayfield Rugby stadium. In Apr ...

ice hockey team and previously played host to the famous

Murrayfield Racers The Murrayfield Racers were an ice hockey team based in Edinburgh, Scotland who were founded in 1952 as the Murrayfield Royals before changing their name to the Murrayfield Racers in 1966. The team won the British Championship four times in ...

. In the 2006-07 season, Heart of Midlothian played their

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

ties at Murrayfield.

has also been the venue for some large concerts. In addition to the stadium, there are Murrayfield Lawn Tennis Club and Murrayfield golf course which is between Ravelston and Corstorphine Hill. The tennis club was founded in 1904 as The West Edinburgh Tennis and Croquet Club. Murrayfield Golf Club was founded in 1896 and its initial membership was limited to '300 gentlemen and 200 ladies'; in 1904 it was laid out on Ravelston Estate west of Murrayfield Road. Murrayfield Golf Club is notable for having been a mixed club from the start with female members having the same rights and privileges as the men.

Schools

The well-known independent schools, St. George's School for Girls and the Merchant Company of Edinburgh's The Mary Erskine School for girls are situated in the Murrayfield area. The local primary school for most is Roseburn Primary School and Murrayfield is part of the Craigmount High School catchment area. The nearest Roman Catholic schools are Fox Covert R.C. Primary School and St. Augustine's High School.

Notable residents

Chris Hoy Sir Christopher Andrew Hoy MBE (born 23 March 1976) is a former track cyclist and Racing driver from Scotland who represented Great Britain at the Olympic and World Championships and Scotland at the Commonwealth Games. Hoy is eleven-times a w ...

grew up on the boundary of Corstorphine and Murrayfield.

References

External links