Edinburgh

Towns & Villages

ABERCORN

Lying on the banks of the Firth of Forth, Abercorn is home to one of Scotland’s most splendid mansions, Hopetoun House, the seat of the Marquis of Linlithgow.

The main part of the property was built by Sir William Bruce Kinross in the late 17th century. Its two wings with domed octagonal tower were later added by the famous Adams family. Within is Chippendale furniture and important paintings; without is parkland and formal gardens overlooking the Forth.

Abercorn Hopetoun House -
Photo: Brian MacLennan CCL

ABERLADY

Aberlady Point - Photo: David Dickson CCL

This coastal village in East Lothian lies on the southern shore of the Firth of Forth and has a fine view over Aberlady Bay where sands and mudflats attract thousands of wading and sea birds.


The Myreton Motor Museum has a collection of old bicycles and motor vehicles dating from 1866.
 

BATHGATE

Lying to the west of Edinburgh, Bathgate is overlooked by beautiful hills and was the birthplace in the early 19th century of Sir James Simpson who pioneered the use of ether and chloroform as anaesthetics.





The Bathgate Hills form part of a local country park.
 

Bathgate - Photo: Richard Webb CCL

BO’NESS

Bo' Ness - Photo: Steve Kent CCL

Once an important seaport and coal mining centre on the Firth of Forth, the town of Bo’ness (or Borrowstoness) lies at what was the eastern end of the Roman Antonine Wall.





Among its attractions is 16th century Kinneil House, rebuilt as the stately home of the Hamilton family.





It was in the grounds of the House that James Watt built his first full-scale Newcomen steam engine in 1769. His ruined cottage still survives.
 

The Bo’ness area was noted for both the manufacture of salt from seawater.






The Bo’ness and Kinneil steam railway is a major tourist attraction.

 

Bo'ness Railway Museum - Photo: Ron Hann CCL

BONNYRIGG & LASSWADE

Pittendreich House -  Photo: Jeff Wells CCL

These picturesque towns are only a cockstride from the busy centre of big-city Edinburgh yet are surrounded by lovely countryside in a region noted for its heritage and history.

BRUNTSFIELD

Take a brisk walk from Edinburgh city centre and you will reach this outer-city village noted for its high, sandstone tenements dating back to the Victorian period.





It boasts a lively shopping scene, a large splash of green space and its own golf links.





The Golf Tavern was apparently built on the site of Scotland’s first-ever golf club.
 

Bruntsfield - Photo: Callum Black CCL

COCKENZIE & PORT SETON

Port Seaton - Photo: Richard Webb CCL

These two villages have slowly merged to form a single unit even though there are separate harbours less than a mile apart.




A power station dominates the distance but the area has retained the charm of a fishing community; boatyards have survived and fishing the sea is still an important industry.
 

COLINTON

One of Edinburgh’s most desirable village-style suburbs, Colinton lies in a steep valley on the banks of the Water of Leith and is close to beautiful woodland.

Its ancient parish church was founded in the early part of the 11th century by Ethelred, son of Malcolm III.

The village features in Robert Louis Stevenson’s uncompleted novel ‘Weir of Hermiston’ and it was here as a child that he imagined ghosts wandering through the churchyard. His grandfather was a local minister.

Colinton Church - Photo: Kevin Rae CCL

Colinton - Photo: Gordon Reynolds CCL

The areas boasts a number of ‘arts and crafts’ cottages as well as Redford Barracks.


Colinton’s 15th century castle was left in tatters by Cromwell when he invaded Scotland.

Later, however, it was turned into a picturesque ruin by the artist Alexander Nasmyth, the ‘father of Scottish landscape painting’.
 

CORSTORPHINE

With splendid views across the Firth of Forth, this area lies west of Edinburgh city centre and dates back to the Middle Ages.







It is home to the ever-popular Edinburgh Zoo. All that remains of Corstorphine Castle is a rare dovecote shaped like a beehive.







It was near this spot that a notorious murder took place in the 17th century.

 

Corstorphine Hill Tower - Photo: Callum Black CCL

CRAMOND

Cramond - Photo: Richard Webb CCL

Dating back to Roman times, this picturesque village of white-washed cottages lies northwest of Edinburgh’s city centre.






Robert Louis Stevenson described it in his novel ‘St Ives’.
 

The River Almond joins the mighty Firth of Forth here and the district is full of history.

 

River Almond - Photo: Dennis Turner CCL

Cramond Kirk - Photo: David Medcalf CCL

Walkers can make their way across a causeway to Cramond Island, tide willing.







The church stands on the site of a Roman fort built by Antoninus Pius in 142 AD.

DALKEITH

The main town of Midlothian, Dalkeith is rich in history and boasts a remarkable palace that began life as a castle in the 12th century before being converted into a plush house some 400 years later by James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton, regent to James V1. It was later transformed again by Sir John Vanbrugh.



Nearby Nidry Castle played host to Mary Queen of Scots after she escaped in 1568 from Loch Leven Castle.

 

Dalkeith House - Photo: Richard Webb CCL

Dalkeith - Photo: Kevin Rae CCL

Archibald Campbell, 9th Earl of Argyll, who was executed after opposing James 11, was born in Dalkeith, which was also home to Scotland’s most famous witchfinder, John Kincaid.






 

Nearby Ingliston is the scene each June of the Royal Highland Show.

 

DEAN VILLAGE

Overlooked by Thomas Telford's famous Dean Bridge, this outer-city ‘village’ is something of a curiosity, with winding pathways and old-world buildings.






Along the Water of Leith is St Bernard's Well and a mock temple.
 

Dean Bridge - Photo: Brian MacLennan CCL

Dean Village - Photo: Richard Webb CCL

Nearby is the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art and the Dean Gallery.






The latter was opened in 1999 in a converted local hospital and contains world-class collections of modern art.
 

DUNBAR

A fishing port and seaside resort, Dunbar has been a royal burgh since the 14th century.



Above the harbour sits the ruin of a 9th century castle where ‘Black Agnes’, Countess of March, held the English at bay for five months in 1338.
 

Dunbar Castle - Photo: Stanley Howe CCL

John Muir - Photo: Eileen Henderson CCL

Mary Queen of Scots was brought here by James Bothwell after he kidnapped her in 1567 prior to their marriage.







The building was eventually ruined when Mary was defeated by rebellious nobles later that same year.







The name of the town’s most famous son, the pioneering conservationists John Muir (1838-1914), is remembered at the John Muir country park.
 

There are several beaches nearby while the limestone cliffs of Barns Ness hold many interesting fossils.




The 13th century Battle of Dunbar was fought a few miles from the town centre and a second battle, in 1650, resulted in the Scots being mercilessly slaughtered by a roundhead army. 

 

Dunbar Battery - Photo: Lisa J CCL

EAST LINTON

Preston Mill - Photo: Chris Allen CCL

This East Lothian village lies close to Preston Mill, Scotland’s oldest working water-powered grain-mill.





Nearby is the Phantassie Dovecot. Both are operated by the Scottish National Trust.
 

The Scottish engineer John Rennie (1761-1821) - designer of London’s old Waterloo Bridge - was born at Phantassie Farm while the village itself is dominated by the ruins of Hailes Castle where Mary Queen of Scots and James Bothwell stayed in 1567 while fleeing from rebel nobles.
 

Phantassie Doocot - Photo: Lisa J CCL

Hailes Castle - Photo: Kevin Rae CCL

Behind the castle soars the mountain of Trapain Law.

EYEMOUTH

The beauty of this small, cobbled fishing town is in stark contrast to what happened on a cold October night in 1881 when 129 men – virtually all the local men folk - were killed during a catastrophic storm.





It was the worst fishing disaster in Scotland’s long history.
 

Eyemouth - Photo: Kevin Rae CCL

Fast Castle - Photo: Tony Kinghorn CCL

The nearby ruin of Fast Castle was dubbed ‘Wolf’s Crag’ by the great Edinburgh-born writer Sir Walter Scott in his 1819 novel ‘The Bride of Lammemoor’.

GIFFORD

With the beautiful Lammermuir Hills as a backdrop, Gifford is a pleasant village boasting the ruin of an 18th century mansion, Yester House, which has an underground chamber known as Goblin Ha’ said to have been built by a local wizard.













Nearby is a modern Cistercian monastery.


 

Gifford - Photo: Callum Black CCL

GOREBRIDGE

Gorebridge - Photo: Richard Webb CCL

This small Midlothian town was clearly an important river crossing point.


It takes its name from the River Gore and a bridge that once crossed it.


Each year local people choose a town ‘king’ and ‘queen’ from primary schools to take part in a special gala day.
 

GULLANE

Something of a golfer’s paradise, this small village and seaside resort boasts no less than three golf courses with magnificent views over the Firth of Forth.

The championship course of Muirfield also lies nearby. Established in 1744, Muirfield is considered to be the oldest club in the world.

 

Luffness Links - Photo:  Richard Webb CCL

HADDINGTON

St. Mary's Church - Photo: Kevin Rae CCL

A one-time county town, Haddington was a royal burgh by the 12th century and its 14th century parish church, St Mary’s, is known as the ‘Lamp of the Lothians’. At one time it had a lantern on its tower.

In 1584 the Treaty of Haddington resulted in the eventual marriage of Mary Queen of Scots to the French dauphin, bringing to an end the so-called ‘rough wooing’ of the English who wanted the young queen to wed 10-years-old Edward V1.

The town was the birthplace of both King of the Scots Alexander 11 (1198-1249) and John Knox (1514-72), the central figure in the Scottish Reformation movement. Nearby Kinlock House is an 18th century mansion.

Haddington - Photo: Richard Webb CCL

INVERKEITHING

Inverkeithing - Photo: Richard Webb CCL

An ancient royal burgh, Inverkeithing lies on the Firth of Forth just a few miles from Edinburgh airport.




The town was the birthplace of Samuel Greig (1735-88) who created a navy for Russia’s Catherine the Great. In 1651 Cromwell crushed the forces of Charles 11 near Pitreavie House.
 

St. Peter’s Church has one of Scotland’s finest medieval fonts, believed to have been a royal gift. Curiously, the last sighting of Alexander 111 (1241-86) occurred in the town before he tumbled off a cliff at Kinghorn.

The town’s Tolbooth dates from the late 18th century while ‘Thomsoun's House’ and ‘Fordell's Lodging’ are both 17th century structures. At one time the area was famous for ship-breaking and among the tragic victims were the Titanic's sister ships, the ‘Homeric’ and the ‘Olympic’.

HMS Ocean - Photo: Simon Johnston CCL

LEITH

Leith Coastal Defences -
Photo: Richard Webb CCL

A difficult place to dismiss, Leith has been a seaport of some importance since the Middle Ages.





It was twice sacked by the English in the 16th century and was where Mary Queen of Scots made landfall when she returned from France in 1561.

 

A year earlier the Treaty of Leith had ended the Scottish wars of religion without permanently resolving the problem.





Today Leith is a busy tourist-cum-shopping centre.
 

HM Yacht Britannia - Photo: Richard Rimmer CCL

Moules on the Waterfront - Photo: Lisa J CCL

One of its crowd-pleasers is The Royal Yacht Britannia – now a museum piece -which is moored alongside the area's shopping mall.






Leith also hosts an arts-and-drama festival each June.
 

LINLITHGOW

Both Mary Queen of Scots and her father, James V, were born here in 15th century Linlithgow Palace whose ruin stands high above a local loch.





The building was unfortunately damaged in 1746 by a fire started by the Duke of Cumberland’s soldiers.

 

Linlithgow Palace - Photo: Alistair McMillan CCL

Corvus Monedula -
Photo: Simon Johnston CCL

The parish Church of St. Michael dates to the 13th century but was rebuilt after the same fire in 1424.

One of Scotland’s finest churches, it has a crown of thorns atop its tower.

Many of Scotland’s kings and queens worshipped within its Gothic walls. The oldest bell was rung in 1513 to mark the defeat of the Scots at Flodden.

 

Linlithgow Story Museum tells of the town's connection with the Stewart dynasty and the lives and occupations of its ordinary citizens.

Linlithgow - Photo: Nick Leverton CCL

LIVINGSTON

.
Livingston - Photo: Richard Webb CCL

A small village until the 1960s, Livingston became a so-called ‘new town’ when it accepted an influx of ‘overspill’ families from nearby Glasgow. It lies only a dozen miles west of Edinburgh.

MUSSELBURGH

With spectacular views across the Firth of Forth, Musselburgh lies at the mouth of the salmon-leaping River Esk and was first settled by the Romans.


One of its many river bridges still rests on Roman foundations. A 16th century tollbooth which dominates the main street is one of the few buildings that survived the depredations of Henry V111 during the ‘rough wooing’ of Scotland.
 

Esk Bridge - Photo: Tom Bishop CCL

Musselburgh Doll Museum -
Photo: Tom Bishop CCL

The town has a top-class horse-racing course together with the world-famous Musselburgh Golf Course, first established in 1672.





Mary Queen of Scots is said to have been one of the first golfers.





The Open Championship was played here on six occasions in the 19th century.





Nearby is the stately home of Newhailes and the beautiful Inveresk Lodge Garden.

 

NEWBRIDGE

This is the site of Huly Hill, a remarkable, well-preserved Bronze Age cairn, or burial site.


It is located next to a busy roundabout and would originally have been surrounded by a circle of standing stones, although only three of them still survive. Yew bushes and holly trees form a ring round the site.
 

Newbridge Roundabout - Photo: Richard Webb CCL

NEWHAVEN

Newhaven Harbour - Photo: Kevin Rae CCL

This pretty coastal village was for centuries renowned for its shipbuilding, its seemingly inexhaustible supplies of fresh fish and even its oysters.


In the early part of the 16th century James IV used its deep waters to build a warship. Today its harbour has been surpassed by the larger Leith Harbour, though the town still boasts a fish market and a heritage museum.
 

NORTH BERWICK

 
A royal burgh situated on the banks of the Firth of Forth, North Berwick boasts sandy beaches, golf courses and the Scottish Seabird Centre.




In the background stands 613ft high North Berwick Law. On top of it is a watchtower and an arch constructed from the jaws of a whale. Bass Rock lies a mile out in the Firth.

 

North Berwick Law - Photo: Craig J. Seath CCL

North Berwick - Photo: Richard Webb CCL

In 1590 a local witchcraft trial ended in the execution of three ‘witches’ accused of trying to kill James V1 by sinking his ship by throwing a cat into the Forth.

Tantallon Castle was built in the 14th century as the stronghold of the famous Douglas clan. Although it has 100ft cliffs on three sides it was destroyed by Oliver Cromwell after a 12-day siege in 1651. Only earthworks have survived.

PENICUICK

Thanks to water mills located along the banks of the powerful River Esk, Penicuick was for centuries the main papermaking town in Scotland. It lies on the southern slopes of the magnificent Pentland Hills.

The façade is all that is left of 18th century Penicuick House, which had to be rebuilt in the 19th century after its predecessor was destroyed in a fire.
 

Penicuik - Photo: Richard Webb CCL

Penicuik House - Photo: Chris Eilbeck CCL

The novelist Samuel Rutherford Crockett (1859-1914) was a Minister of the Free Church here and an obelisk in the grounds of Penicuick House commemorates the life of the 17th century poet Allan Ramsay.

PRESTONPANS

This traditional seaside resort was named after salt pans which formed part of a major salt-producing industry dating back to the 12th century.

They were first established by monks from Newcastle Abbey and proved prosperous until the Act of Union in 1707 allowed salt to be imported from England.

In 1745 Bonnie Prince Charlie’s troops met an English army just outside the town and defeated them in a mere 10 minutes.

Prestonpans - Photo: Richard Webb CCL

ROSLIN

Roslin Chapel - Photo: Anne Burgess CCL

Thanks to the American writer Dan Brown and his novel ‘The Da Vinci Code’, Roslin (or Rosslyn) is now one of Scotland’s most famous places.

It is here that you will find Roslin Chapel, the burial place of the St Clair family and (it is reputed) the secrets of the medieval Knights Templar. The chapel is a testament to the esoteric art of masonry and arguably the most ornate ecclesiastical building in Britain.
 

Near the chapel is the beautiful sandstone gorge of Roslin Glen and 14th century Roslin Castle.





They have been immortalised by artists such as Alexander Nasmyth and visited by luminaries such as Robbie Burns, Sir Walter Scott and William Wordsworth.

 

Roslin Castle - Photo: Alistair Montgomery CCL

Roslin Glen - Photo: Brian MacLennan CCL

Scott called the glen ‘Roslin’s magic glen’ in his novel ‘Rokeby’.







Almost as famous as Dan Brown’s novel is Dolly the sheep - she was born as a result of cloning at the Roslin Institute.
 

SOUTH QUEENSFERRY

Sandwiched between the two bridges over the Firth of Forth, this interesting town acted as a royal link in the 11th century for Malcolm 111 and his Saxon wife, Queen Margaret.

 

The Firth of Forth Bridges -
Photo: Frederick Blake CCL

Hawes Inn - Photo: Stanley Howe CCL

They often used a ferry to cross the Firth as they travelled between Edinburgh Castle and their palace at Dunfermline.










 

The 17th century Hawes Inn is mentioned in Sir Walter Scott’s ‘The Antiquary. It is also where Robert Louis Stevenson’s hero David Balfour is tricked into boarding a ship in his 1886 novel ‘Kidnapped’.

The 12th century church of Dalmeny is one of the finest churches of its type in Britain.
 

Dalmeny Kirk - Photo: Richard Webb CCL

STOCKBRIDGE

Royal Botanical Gardens -
Photo: Alan Stewart CCL

This Edinburgh ‘village’ lies on the banks of the Water of Leith and, while noted for its antique and craft shops, is particularly famous as the home of the spectacular Royal Botanical Gardens, founded in 1670.

 

The gardens at Inverleith Park have one of the most remarkable collections of Chinese plants in Europe, many being gathered by the adventurous George Forrest over a seven-year period in the early part of the 19th century.

Stockbridge - Photo: Richard Webb CCL

TRANENT

Tranent - Photo: Richard Webb CCL

An important coal-mining centre from the 13th century, Tranent is more famous as the tragic scene of a notorious massacre when a militia shot dead miners angry about being forced to join the British army in 1797.





More recently, Tranent became the unwitting butt of a standing joke when the local actor Gordon Kennedy turned it into the fictional town of Stoneybridge in the TV comedy series.