Following strong growth in the population of Balerno, the United Presbyterian Church meeting house was too small for the congregation and this new church was completed in 1884. It was designed by James Fairley who also designed St Andrew's Church in Juniper Green.

Two further changes within the church organisation saw the United Presbyterian Church and the majority of the Free Church join together in 1900 to form the United Free Church which then re-joined the Church of Scotland in 1929. This building was then known as Balerno Church of Scotland. After the parish boundaries were set between Balerno and Currie the building became known as Balerno Parish Church.

This building was constructed in 1827 as a "meeting house" for the newly formed United Secession Church in Balerno. The United Secession Church had broken away from the main Church of Scotland because they wanted to manage their own business and have free choice of their Minister rather than having to accept the choice of the local landowners. The church joined with the Relief Church (another secession church) to form the United Presbyterian Church in 1847. The Balerno congregation continued to use this building until 1884 when their new church was completed.

The building of the railway, canal and reservoirs saw an influx of Irish families coming into the local area for work. There was no Catholic Church at that time so the Roman Catholic Church purchased this building in 1884 and it was then known as St Joseph's Church.

St Joseph's Church closed in 2006 and the building was bought by Balerno Parish Church and re-named The St Joseph's Centre.

St Mungo's Episcopal Church in Ladycroft was built by Rowand Anderson in 1869. It is a small, fairly plain, rectangular-plan Gothic church with a steeply pitched roof. St Mungo's was originally designed to only be a place of worship on Sunday and the rest of the week it was used as a school. The small attached cottage was the original head teacher's home.

Ladycroft survives as part of the original street pattern of Balerno and still shows some of the original rural village character. The red pan tiled cottage now at number 14 Ladycroft dates from the early 19th Century. This started life as part of a dairy farm where villagers would but their daily milk. It then became the village post office and later Ritchie's chip shop.

19th century farm cottages for Rosebank Farm workers. First woman to study Engineering at a Scottish University  Miss Elizabeth Jane Smith was born in Foresters Cottage in 1888

The site of the Pump House for Kinleith Mill

North of the Bridge near the Water of Leith.

Jim and Jess Nicholson built a shop  at the top of Bryce Road of wooden construction and eventually around 1962 this site was redeveloped into first of all a supermarket run by Hays with a number of small shops such as Henderson’s, Louise (Henderson), McNeish Outfitters at no 58, Milk Bar/Cafe, Sun Luk and  Robertson’s Shoehorn at No 56. The Traders have altered over the years including a Car Accessories, Haddows a Furniture Shop and this site is still used by a number of local businesses, such as McGills the Butchers the Corner Cafe, Opticians, and Dentist.

Built when the houses were constructed in the late 1950's the shops opened around 1972.

There have been many changes over the years. A Laundrette Lothian Cleaners, Drapers, Allans Allsorts Records, RS McColls, Walter Murdochs Hardware, Darroch Hardware, Modern Home Supplies at no 17, Salon 7, Hair Tec and Donar Videos. The Weavers Knowe Public House that expanded into the eastern unit and changed Ownership/ Management over the years. In 2020 the units are the Driving Test Centre, Hairdressers, a Cafe and The Co-op formerly Alldays.

In the 1960's Mr Hurangee the Dentist was based at No50 Lanark Road West and before that Mr Popplewell.

There is wildlife to be seen all along the river

There are a number of Weirs on the water of Leith. Originally built to enable water to flow through a lade to the vairious mills, they now ariate the water.

Still stands over the walkway

Midlothian County Council built a large estate in the early fifties and used Street Names relevant to the locality such as Dolphin, Palmer Forth View and Pentland View. In 1959 the population was 2967

In the mid 50's, Mrs Sudlow, the last of the Gibson-Craigs sold much of the family farmland north of the Lanark Road to Wimpey who started building houses at Curriehill Road, working towards Bryce Road. The first to be completed were nos 61 and 63 Curriehill Road but the first to be occupied was no 67 in August 1957. At around 1961 they started bulding at the Muirwood Road end and worked back towards Bryce Road.

The population of Currie Village

1901 it was 360

1926 it was about 600

1959 it was 2967

1964 it was 6519

1969 it was 7093 

2011 it was 7494  in about 3500 houses

The Population of Currie Parish, incorporating a wide are including Balerno, part of Juniper Green and outlying areas such as Kirknewton and Hermiston

1881  2367

1891 2574

1901 2505

1912 2513

The individual villas built on the north side of Lanark Road West  were not numbered in 1930 and each had their own name. Some such as  are still named  like Glenisla and Park Cottage but others such as Inverneil and Ythancraig just bear a number.  The road was just referred to as Lanark Road (no west) at that time. The first bungalow was "Glen Elm"

The hall was built in 1920 and paid for from funds raised by the WRI and local residents in memory of those who fell in WW1. After the death of the Trustees ownership was transferred to Currie Kirk. Property was sold and is now a private residence.

A mid 19th century cottage it was inhabited by the Finlay brothers in 1940. The current property was formed by modifying them into a single residence for Miss Ann McMillan who ran a shop at 162 Lanark Road West.

About 1829 Robert Palmer the Schoolmaster at Currie constricted a Sundial for his friend Sir James Gibson Craig. In 1956 the owner of the Riccarton Estate  Mrs Sudlow took the dial to her property in Somerset. The pedistal is still located in the sunken garden at Riccarton adjacent to the old curling pond

Kinleith Paper Mill was the largest Mill on the Water of Leith started making paper in 1792, and was a six vat mill.  The 280 foot chimney was built in 1878 to circumvent the pollution problem. The first mention of a mill was in 1618 . In 1792 Robert Clegorn and his associates with Robert Walker set up a Papermill. In 1844 Henry Bruce took over and the expansion continued with the arrival of the branch line in 1874.

The houses on the north side of Blinkbonny were originally mill workers houses erected by The Mill owners

Farmed by the Weir family since 1842 until 2005 when Robert J N Weir and his new wife Hazel Bernard moved to the Northwest of Scotland.  Blinkbonny farm had been reduced in size from an original 200 acres and had become less viable as a farm.

Those on the south side, except for the farm buildings were erected by the County Council for the use of Quarry workers from Ratho who would come to work at Torphin Quarry.

Blinkbonny

Built for the Bruce family of Kinleith Mill in 1887 on the high ground behind Blinkbonny. The extension including a copper domed observatory was built in 1909 for William P Bruce, the owner of Kinleith Mill, a keen amateur astronomer and a capable engineer. It later became an Eventide Home run by the Church of Scotland and then the Glenburn Hotel it is now private housing called Braeburn Drive.

The large house on the right of the Blinkbonny road opposite Poets Glen was erected in the early 1800s and is an example of the earliest type of dormitory dwellers house the owner of which commuted by horse and carriage to Edinburgh

A path on the west side of the Glenburn grounds takes us up the Poets Glen to the house of Mount Parnassus.

Built in the 19th Century on the Kirk Brae. An owner of the property Jim Eddison had a particular interest  working  for the Water of Leith Walkway Trust, with the architect Ian Begg, following the vision of Meyer Oppenheim to complete the path between Balerno and Leith. A 1986 report on outstanding construction works records the pair “scrambling along slippery muddy banks, quickly nipping across main railway lines, swinging under riverside trees and avoiding steam discharge pipes and brick constructions of doubtful engineering quality and less aesthetic value”. It was in accordance with Jim Eddison’s lifelong respect for nature that he wrote that the magic land along the Water “must be partially controlled to fulfil our object of creating the walkway but thankfully, it cannot be entirely tamed”.

Jamie Thompson (1763-1832) the local Weaver poet lived here.   The Kinleith Burn below Thomson's house has been named the "Poet's Burn", after the "Weaver Poet", and it runs down the steeply sloping "Poet's Glen" down to near Currie Kirk where it flows into the Water of Leith after passing under a bridge under the Water of Leith Walkway. The cottage still stands at Mid Kinleith farm, with "Mount Parnassus" inscribed over the entrance door. His book of Poems  “Poems in the Scottish Dialect” was published in 1901. A spring behind his house has an engraved stone set in the rock with the following inscription.

“My waters refreshing and perhaps may inspire

The enraptured mind with political fire;

I’m as wholesome and free to all who hear passes,

As the fount from the side of Mount Parnassus.”

Farmed by the Barr family until 2019

Located about 750 meters northeast from Easter Kinleith Farm and southwest of the old quarry on the Northwest slope. It may have been a QF (fire) decoy where controlled burning of material in baskets achieved their effect. This was designed to divery enemy bombers in WW2 to drop their bombs on open countryside

Just off the north side of the Lymphoy Road is a gravestone commemorating the location of stone coffins under a stone cairn on Harlow Farm and in a field nearby. It is situated due south of the Currie Bowling Club on the south side of the Water of Leith. The inscription is as follows:

“In this small enclosure

are a number of stone coffins of various dimensions

they were discovered

in December 1820 and this stone was erected

by the proprietor

Lieut General Thomas Scott

of Malleny

in order to point out the spot

and to facilitate the researches

of the curious into such interesting relics

of antiquity

renewed by District Council in 1971”

A shelterbelt between Currie and Balerno, named after the person who planted the trees pre 1812. At the top is Wellhead the source of Currie's first water supply  that was piped to the village in 1872.

This is the mansion achieved by the extension of Easter Lymphoy Farm in the mid 19th century. Style of William Burns, circa 1835, with pavilion-roofed block of later 19th century, 1920 porch and further additions. There is a 17th century block sundial located on lawn to east of the house with a cubical angle-dial, now cracked, no gnomons surviving; supported on modern pillar shaft.  In 2016 it was on sale for 1.45Million

Converted in 1981 from a collection of dilapidated buildings comprising of the original Lymphoy gardeners cottage, a byre and a cowshed.

A ruin originally built 15th century.  The walls are 7'6" thick, and the building has been three stories high. The tower was built by the Earls of Lennox, who belonged to the Stewart family. Mary, Queen of Scots and Regent Morton visited the castle, while James VI used it as base for hunting. It was later acquired by George Heriot, the goldsmith and founder of George Heriot's School. The castle was a rectangular tower. The only part remaining is the basement, the entrance of which is in the northeast corner, and the base of a turnpike stair.The north and west walls of the tower are about 8 metres (26 ft) high, while the other two sides are less than 2 metres (6.6 ft). There was a tunnel from the building to Lymphoy House. The castle is on a promontory. There is a ditch to the south of this, about two metres deep, where an inner rampart may have been. It is thought that a barmkin once surrounded the site, while other buildings probably stood between the tower and the ditch. The tower is said to be haunted by a white lady. The tradition is that she is the daughter-in-law of the family at Lymphoy House. After her husband died in battle she turned to his family, who had never approved of her, for help. When they rejected her, she and her child, died in the snow. A white lady has been seen gliding around the area several times since. Tradition also has that there were underground passages perhaps linking it with another building on the North side of the Water of Leith or perhaps to provide the ability to draw drinking water.

On the Currie side of Lymphoy House on a bend on Lymphoy Road near Harlaw Farm, stands the bridge with a small archway opening. One view was that it was called the Deil's Bridge owing to the cloven hoof-prints on various bits on the top stones of the bridge.

 The cloven hoof prints were explained as being masonry clamps/hoist marks from the machinery (ancient) used to construct the bridge. Another view was that like the bridge in Burns' "Tam o Shanter",that the graveyard was at the Currie end and you were "safe" from "Ghosts and Goulies" once you crossed the middle of the bridge. An old stone horse trough is situated on the west side.

The original site was covered when the railway line was laid but the flow of water still runs into the water of Leith. It was formerly used as a compensation well and is mentioned in Currie Kirk Session records for 1872. There is an 18^th century stone surround on the bank of the Water of Leith.

Now a Private Residence, situated at right angles to Rosevale Cottages and facing up the Kirkgate was once the small farm of Rosevale. It bacame to Station Masters house in 1874 when the Balerno Line opened. The property had animal accomodation underneath

The only station with 2 platforms on the Slateford - Balerno Branch Line.

It also had a Signal cabin, a Goods Shed and two sidings. It was the watering place for steam locomotives on the line. Regular passenger traffic ceased as an economy measure on 1st November 1953 but the last train was an excursion on 19th April 1965. Goods Trains pulled by a diesel shunter continued until closure on 4th December 1967.  The main part of the track is now part of the Water of Leith Walk,

Lying within the Green Belt, the sale of the former Engine Shed was in 2017 being converted into a residential property. The Former Goods Shed, as its name would suggest is a substantial brick built edifice which was part of the Balerno Branch loop railway line constructed by the Caledonian Railway Company to service local paper mills around 1874. After the railway closed the goods yard was used for parking for local Churches and for people walking along the Water of Leith Walkway. In 2013 Planning Permission was granted to convert the building to an Office. However this was altered to a Residential property.

Listed category B

The third school of Currie designed by William Burns in 1828 and built by Mr Fisher of “Fisherbank” on land donated by the Scotts of Malleny, opened in 1829 and used until 1903. David Bryce acted as Inspector. The Schoolmaster was Robert Palmer and he painted hemispheres of the world on the walls of one room. He taught 120 children basic subjects plus Latin, French,  Mathematics and Geography. The property was converted into 2 cottages called Roseberry Cottages, Ellenvale and Sycamore Cottages Nos 7 and 9 Kirkgate. Currently one is a private house and the other nearest the Church was used for meetings and Sunday School referred to as Kirk House until 2019. Now a Private Residence being converted into a single unit 2020 owned by the Roseberry Estate.

Listed category C (S)

The schoolhouse built around 1832 by David Bryce, was owned by the Education Department until around 2000 when it was sold as a private residence. Substantial improvement works and additions were made. In 2016 the pedestrian entrance in the surrounding wall facing to the east was closed off with a new access formed on the approach road to the Old Manse. The foundations of the original Schoolmasters House and school can be seen in the boulders used.

Designed and made by Robert Palmer the Schoolmaster, he presented the inhabitants of Currie with the sundial in 1836

Listed Category A.     Reputed  to being built on the foundations of the ancient church of Kinleyth and dedicated to St Kentigern (St Mungo) in 1276. The present Church was built in 1784/5 by Mr Thomson of Leith at a cost of £433. The Old Quire had in a state of ruin and became a burial ground. The steeple was extended 25 years after the church was built and the bell that the Heritors had purchased in 1771 was transferred  to it and in 1818 the clock and vane were added. In 1948 it was converted into a Session House and during this work many interesting stones were located including a Templar Stone. The Kirk was the winter home of "Jim Boot" who slept mainly in the bell tower and sometimes in the gallery until his death in the early 1980's

Erected after the first world war to commemorate the Fallen of the District.

The War Memorials of Juniper Green, Currie and Balerno and all of the Fallen with local connections, have been recorded by Malcolm Fergusson of CDLHS. Full details are on the Society Website.

Listed Category C(S). In 1799 Currie Kirk Session Records show that a new manse is to be built with Barn, stable and hen house by Charles Smith and Andrew Denham from sketches by the Rev Mr Dick with the addition for the accommodation of a servant in 1810 and later in 1837 it was repaired and enlarged to its present form. The church sold the property in the late 1980s and it is now a private house.

In 2000 the  Currie and District Local History Society recorded all the stones and inscriptions in the old part of the graveyard together with plans and photographs.

In the southwest corner at the entrance to the "new" part to the graveyard stands a grave diggers store. This originally was a place for holding the deceased safe until burial to keep away the Resurrectionists

Mentioned in Kirk session records of 1599 it is the bridge over which the Moss Troopers crossed under the direction of General Dalziel of the Binns `the Beast of Muscovy` on their way to Rullion Green on the far side of the Pentlands in 1666. It is said that his troops numbered between 3,000 to 5,000 semi and professional soldiers against the Covenanters 900.

The Currie Community Church is situated when the Scout Hall for 42nd Midlothian (Currie Kirk) Scout Group was located in the 1960’s before hey moved to Forthview. The Church building was originally an ex Army Hut from Kirknewton

The Brewlands of Currie. Reference is made in land records of John Cruickshanks, Brewer in Currie having 22 acres of land with a brewery, malt barn and kiln being situated on the side where the Railway Station was constucted. Rosevale Cottages near the road are now private houses, Until the early 2000’s the small house at the south end of the row no 12 now incorporated into its adjoining property, operated as a Lapidary Club from 1968. The group of properties at the south end of the bridge were cleared to make way for the railway.

The home of Willie Greig, who in 1960-1990 supplied the Agriculture Shows center piece mainly of Daliahs. Situated at the junction of Lymphoy Road and the Kirkgate. Lymphoy road was known locally at “The Beech Avenue”.

A farm operated by the Cunningham family.

Planned as early as 1865 and constructed after authorisation by the Caledonian Railway (Additional Powers) Act of 1870 and opened to traffic in 1874

Transit Camp situated near Currie Station was used for troops travelling by rail to France in the 1914-18 war.

Running from Falkirk to Edinburgh, constructed to bring minerals, especially coal, to the capital. It was opened in 1822 and was initially successful, but the construction of railways, particularly the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway, opened in 1842, diminished its value as a transport medium. It fell into slow commercial decline and was closed to commercial traffic in 1933. It was officially closed in 1965. It shared in the revival of interest in canals generally and it is now in popular use for leisure purposes.

Listed category C(S)

This estate is listed in charters back to the time of King Robert I, Originally the Dower House of Riccarton Estate. The present house largely dates from William Burn’s extensive re-building in1828. He lived in the house and carried out a lot of work in the surrounding area.  Many of the carved stones probably came from Corstorphine Church which he restored.

Hermiston Old Farmhouse, 54 Hermiston House Road listed category B,  West Mid and East Hermiston Bridge and the Union Canal Bridge all listed category C(S)

Farm House and steading built 1850-1870 for Sir William Gibson Craig of Riccarton.

The farmhouse was demolished in 1971 to enable the construction of Baberton Mains Gardens.

A late 17th century courtyard plan farmhouse and steading converted to housing

In the mid 1960’s the 45 acres Wester Hailes farm was purchased for £149,000. Part of the Baberton Estate is built over it.

Baberton House was designed and built in 1623 for his own occupation by the architect Sir James Murray of Kilbaberton (d.1634), It was the hunting lodge of King James VI and King Charles X of France lived here after the July Revolution of 1830. The house is now used as offices.

The right of way between Muirwood Road and baberton Road fist appeared on a map in 1755. The name Donkey Lane was given to it by the Wimpey Residents in the 1960's as Whitelaw Farm had donkeys in an adjacent field. Nearby is Whitelaw Railway Crossing (Pedestrian only since 1970’s) where the road runs towards the Heriot Watt

The burial ground is located to the west of the formal lawn area and is approached through woodland via a broad grassy avenue (The Velvet Walk). The burial ground is enclosed on its north and south sides and west end by a dry-stone wall and by wrought iron railings along its east side where there is a wrought iron entrance gate with cast iron pillars. The principal feature within the burial ground is the tomb of Sir James Gibson (1797-1850) and the burial grounds formation presumably dates to around the time of his death. The burial ground is closed to public access but is well maintained.

Ricccarton House had as its nucleus its 16th century tower. It was built for Sir Thomas Craig and in 1823 William Burns designed and extension in the Jacobian style. The army used the building in WW2 and by the middle of the century it was riddled with dry rot and neglected, leading to it being demolished in 1956. The foundations are now to be found under the Heriot Watt Library. There are some residual parts of the original estate visible such as the Walled Garden, Gardeners House, North West and East Lodge. The estate was sold to Midlothian County Council who gifted it to Heriot Watt University in 1969.

A statue of James Watt is positioned in front of the main reception building. It was made for the Universities predecessor, the Watt Institution and School of Arts by Peter Slater on 1854. It was moved from Chambers Street in 1990.

Hermiston Park and Ride, Blinkbonny, Scotland, United Kingdom

Malcolmstone was bought in 1615 by Lewis Craig to become part of the Riccarton Estate. The farm was the home farm for the estate.

17th Century located in their original position.

The original home of the Croslet Village Cross now located in Currie.

Once a Farm of 32 acres

Lodge Colinton & Currie No.1029. When the original Masonic Lodge was demolished in 1965 a new Lodge was constructed on Riccarton Mains Road in 1969.

Mr Stoddart the Plumber's workshop now a Vet

Originally a station 1848 on the Caledonian Railway line from Edinburgh Princes Street to Glasgow Central it had staggered platforms to facilitate access to a goods yard on the North side.  The station closed in 1951 and the yard and shed was used by other businesses. In the 1960’s this was WA Henderson (Carvan Haulage) A new station was opened in October 1987.

Formed in Balerno in 1945 from members of the local Home Guard.  Moved to this location when the Balerno Village centre was bypassed.

Relocated from Balerno to Currievale drive when the Main street was bypassed

It is an approved smallbore and air weapons club and caters for 0.22 target rifle users as well as 0.177 air rifle and pistol

In 2000 Currie High School named this woodland "Roley's Wood" to mark her Roley Walton's 70th birthday, celebrating her work transforming it from a derelict dumping ground to a haven for wildlife and resource for learning.

"I think they thought, `Poor old woman, she's still picking up crisp bags in the wood. There she goes - she's bound to die soon, we'll name the wood after her.' So they did - oh I was so thrilled," says Roley.

East Mill grain mill used to stand here until 1900. The property was then used by Mr Wylie whose father had been in the circus. The remains of his circus stock were kept in the mill buildings. In the 1960's the land near the outbuilding was occupied by caravans and static homes.

This is where the butchers prepared their meat before the days of licensed abbatiors. The house just to the west is Millbank once a Millwrights then four houses but is now a single private residence

This property became the Currie Kirk Manse when the old manse was sold around 1990.

Originally the first Police Station built in around 1840. It was intimated that the Post Office was to close in March 2020 following Covid-19, the Post Office stopped trading and is now a Gift Shop.

Listed category C(S).

Situated outside the former Currie Post Office, the surrounding area was cleared of shrubs and has been hard landscaped and rededicated in 2016.

The inscription mistakenly claims he was the first British climber to ascend the north face of the Eiger.

Wikipedia supplies full details of Dougal’s achievements and life.

The Local Registrar was based here prior to the building of an office and house by the council at no 138 Lanark Road West..

The site of the Currie Toll House at the top of Riccarton Mains Road (Known to locals as “The Corslet”) is marked by a round set of granite stones next to a remembrance bench. It was in operation from around 1829-1886 and in later years was a Road Man’s house. The toll was moved from Ravelrig to Currie to catch traffic coming up from the Union Canal which opened in 1822.

North of the Bridge near the Water of Leith.

North Currie Bridge End

Built by the Currie Friendly Society, as in investment of their sick and funeral fund in 1831. It was 2 stories high on the Lanark Road with a lower floor opening onto the Kirkgate.

The inaugral meeting was held on the 25^th June 1907 of Lodge Colinton & Currie No. 1029. The Lodge originally met in Bryces Hall and this became the Masonic Hall when they purchased it in 1928. When the road was re-aligned in 1968 a replacement Masonic Hall on Riccarton Mains Road was constructed which was opened in 1969.

Listed category B

The Farm House still exists at the junction of Riccarton Mains Road and Lanark Road West and was converted into 2 flats - 1 & 2 Easter Currie Court. Originally held by the Baron Bailie of Riccarton. THe farm buildings were also replaced in 1970 by a group of 20 houses and garages by Thain's the builders.

These were situated to the east of Society Hall and were removed in 1967 when the road was rerouted as part of the improvements at the top of Riccarton Mains Road.   Four were two-roorned, and two were 'single-end', all with their pipe-clayed doorsteps and window-ledges. The houses and bothies got their water supply from the well by Jimmy Wales butcher's shop at the end of the cottages.

Situated where Hope Scott’s car showroom is located they housed workers from Ireland who came to assist with the crop harvest and the potato gathering. The baker and grocer shops were set back with the trees between. In each case they had their stable and coach house for the van.

https://www.curriehistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/CN42.jpg

Mr Scott’s Bakers Shop at “Parley Ha’” had a house, stable and van shed with a bake house behind. Hope Scott's Garage supplied Austin and Wolseley Cars and MG. After Hope Scott the garage was run by John Laidlay who lived in the small flat above the business premises. He owned in 1976 a Ferrari 246 Dino GTS first used by Peter Grant the manager of Led Zeppelin. Mr Laidlay used to sponsor cars in the Monte Carlo Rally.

In the 1950-60s, was the home of John Stoddart the Plumber, whose workshop was the property that is now the vet on Riccarton Mains Rroad. At the turn of the 19^th century the first registrar, Malcolm Scott lived here. Now a 5* Guest House.

Listed category B.

The Grocer at No 164, was the westerly shop in the row with flats above. Intially run by the Freer's then John L Cormack who came from Wick. Next came the Nicholson' and followed by Jimmy Nicholson. The name over the door in the 1950s was David L Cormack selling Wines, Spirits and Groceries followed by Mr David Bisset by 1969 then Mr Speed and finally Mr Malik as the Currie Food and Wine Store.   It is currently the Splash Bathroom Centre.

The next shop No 162 which is now a Pharmacy, was run for many years by Ann MacMillan whose disabled configured DAF automobile was regularly seen outside. Ann lived on Lanark Road West, next to the Riccarton Arms Hotel.

In the early 1960’s the Bank of Scotland constructed a new Bank premises at 158a Lanark Road West on the garden area of the adjoining shops and flats between them and the Police Station. In charge was Jack Smith who had moved from London to set up the new office. The first customer was Ramsay Blair the Currie Blacksmith.

Around 1981 the adjoining Police Station  built built  1860-64 was demolished to enable an extension to be built to the bank with a car park. Changing circumstances resulted in the Bank being closed in November 2016.

Listed category B.  It was the house of George Clapperton the rhyming Postie.

Any day ye are in Currie and go

Walking down the street.

There's an auld gent wi' a Highland cloak

Ye'll very likely meet.

He 'll greet ye wi' 'Good Morning

And shake ye by the hand

That's Dr. Stewart, oor minister

A weel-kent, kindly man.

Listed Category B built on a double feu. Built for Mr Walker a Tailor.  The Friers whose family ran East Mill Grain Mill for many years lived here. The property was the Post Office in the days of three deliveries per day, and for one hour on a Sunday letters could be colIected here.

Situated behind the site of the Police Station and former Bank of Scotland the hut was built in 1971 on another part of the Easter Currie Stack yard. Access is via a pathway alongside the west of the Gibson Craig Hall.

Set into the wall on the west side of Ivy Cottage no 147 Lanark Road West is the remains of a water fountain.

A tenement building with access to upper floors at the rear

"Claremont" was the telephone exchange kept by Marshall Bryce it was a single story cottage and "Dunbrae" was a 2 storey 3 bay cottage built and occupied by Mr Dunn a wine and spirit dealer. Converted to a Doctors Surgery in the 1960’s, with an addition between the 2 cottages, it then became Hillside Nursing Home.

The old properties were replaced by a new house in 2016.

House was built 1901 for a butcher who had a shop in Gorgie. One of the first “commuter houses” in Currie.  it's called Rosehill because he grew roses in his garden. He had a pony and trap that were kept in the Coach House behind the house.

Currie Registrars used the entrance to the east currently used by an Architectural Practice.

The Registrar and Clerk to the District Council in the 1960's was Mr Henderson

The centralisation of Registrars resulting in the closing of many offices occurred around 1995.

These substantial Villas were built prior to 1871 and James Wales the Flesher and his wife Margaret Glen lived in Clifton Villa at that time. Margaret had been a teacher in Hermiston.

The Woodhall arms has a link to a cellar on its east side and this was one time the shop of James Wales a flesher. In the 1901 census the property is referred to as the Railway Inn and the publican was Andrew Jenkinson.

2 new properties 127 and 129 Lanark Road West, were built on the site of this row of houses that had become very run down by the 1970’s

Miss Lovell ran a private Prep School in Currie. She started it off in the Gibson Craig Memorial Hall and later moved to Lanark Road West – next to Weir’s Buildings i.e. opposite Bryce Road - where she established “St. Mungo’s”. She converted two houses into one to form the school. Previously Wattie (James) Young the Tailor and the Misses Robertson who had a “Sweetie Shop” had occupied them. Miss Lovell died in 1975 and the school closed after 1968.

One of the last visible milestones on the Lanark Road it shows the distance to Edinburgh (Post Office HQ) 6 miles, (which in these days was at the East End of Princes Street) and Lanark 26 miles.

Viewfield, the large white house opposite Bryce road was built by Mr Bethune. The house was occupied for many years by Jimmy and Jess Nicholson the popular couple who kept the local grocery shop beside the Hope Scott garage for many years.

Listed category  B

They were built by Mr Fisher in the 19th century he and his wife lived in Fisherbank and his wife's surname Bathie is commemorated in the house next door, he also built Curriebank and the next two Villas.

Listed Category C (S)

Built by Mr Fisher of “Fisherbank”, Curriebank was for a long time the doctors house and surgery and has ownership passed through a number of doctors. The property has a coach house on the Main Road. The nearby bus stop was until about 2015 called “Dr Moir’s” after the well known local Doctor who lived at Curriebank.

Listed Category C (S)

Nos 99 and 101 are semi detached properties than have grounds to the Water of Leith

Listed Category C (S)

Nos 99 and 101 are semi detached properties than have grounds to the Water of Leith

Like many properties to the south of Lanark Road West in Currie the buildings extend down a number of levels facing south towards the Water of Leith.

Alan Drysdale Vehicle Conversions have a road level garage. A residential property is downhill on the slope to the Water of Leith

Currie petrol station and the houses at Provost Haugh were built on top of a lime bing. At one time this was a field on the low level called Provost Haugh and it was the sports field for the District. Local team Kinleith Thistle played here. Lime was a waste product from the mill. The petrol station that was there for many years was the Rosebank Service Station (James Mitchell (Currie) Ltd ) Garage a Fiat Dealer from 1967-85 and Jet petrol station and although the brand name has changed a number of times, locals still refer to the petrol station as the Jet station. Next to the houses at Provost Haugh is the 31st Midlothian Scout Hall which on the east side has what is now the Currie Kirk Manse. Before Provost Haugh was built, the ground at 57 Lanark Road West, was occupied by Harvey’s Caravans who supplied Boats and Caravans then Jim Fraser Caravans.

Situated near to Wester Currie Farm, it came into being when the farm changed over to be the Riccarton Arms Hotel around 1876.

Two small cottages to the main road were converted into a house and part of the Dairy was used as a garage.

A late Georgian building run as a farm until 1817 then jointly as an Inn and Farm until it became the Riccarton Arms Hotel in 1876

An early /mid 19th century cottage, converted into a single residential property around 2014. Listed category B2

An early /mid 19th century cottage, converted into a single residential property around 2014. Listed category B2

Listed Category B

Converted  to a Residential Property. Previous to blacksmithing days it was the workshop of the village cooper making luggies (wooden containers) and measures. It is interesting to note that a publication of Sea Shanties for schools 'The Valiant Sailor' was based on the life of John Nicol, son of the last cooper. This boy ran away to sea in 1769. At the turn of the 19th century Michaels Stark was the blacksmith. Mr. Stark was used as a model for the famous painting 'The Thin Red Line', which was painted at Malleny Ranges. Tom Blair came to be blacksmith in 1911 to be followed by others in his family

The small building to the west of the former Smiddy, that is now the electricity sub-station was in 1920 Fred Young’s Cobblers shop.

Now the location for 2 new semi-detached properties at the rear of the Smiddy

The weavers of a century ago walked down to where Weavers Knowe Crescent is now located, from the village to their houses.

Listed category C(S)

Constructed in 1903 as a school it provided Primary Education to the local children.  Three years Secondary education was provided at Juniper Green School. It was connected by a passageway to the Senior Secondary School constructed in 1931. Once Nether Currie School was built in 1961 and Riccarton School in 1963 were opened  the building became a Health Clinic and around 2000 a Library when it  moved from the 1960's Currie High School to provide them with more accommodation. The building still shows its original purpose with 2 front doors (only one in use) for Boys and Girls. in the early 1960's a Mobile Library was supplied by Edinburgh Council but Midlothian residents could not borrow books unless they worked in Edinburgh.

Built in 1931 to provide a 3 year Secondary Education which had been originally taken place at Juniper Green. With the rise in population in the area 3 classrooms and a large Assembly Hall were added in 1959. This was extended in 1961 to take pupils up to Senior Secondary level. As the number of houses expanded in the late 1950-60's new primary Schools were built in the Wimpy Estate and eventually a replacement Currie High School was opened in 1965. The building then became Currie Primary School. The Currie Parish Horticulture Society held an annual show here. The building was a rabbit warren and had been extended a number of times over the years.  With falling rolls in the primary schools in the late 1980's and increasing costs for maintaining the building, it was clear that it was no longer fit for purpose. Riccarton Primary built in 1963 (re-named Currie Primary School) was extended in 2010 to take the Curriehill Pupils and the building closed.. Left derelict the roof was stolen from the hall and the windows broken. After attempts to sell the building and land, in later days for a supermarket, the old building was demolished in 2015 and new flats and houses were constructed by local company Cruden.   Local connections have been maintained by the use of the names Tweedie Lane (A local Historian) and Langwill Place. (A Currie Minister and Schoolmaster) in the names of the new streets.

This ancient stone from around the 13^th century was found in 1960 on the south strip at Riccarton at a site locally known as the 'barley coort'. It is assumed that this is a corruption of 'Burlaw Court', and that the cross is a relic of the days when all the local farmers met and agreed on a suitable programme by common consent.

Through the efforts of the Bowling Club, the Residents Association the District Council and the owners of Riccarton Estate it was moved after the re-alignment of Lanark Road West and the junction with Riccarton Mains Road and located where the original road from Currie Brig joined the Lanark Road

A building was added to the east side of Lilac Bank in 1748. This was to keep the "Mort-Coach" used for carrying deceased inhabitants to their final resting place. The vehicle was available at 2/6d for the first yoking and 6d per mile thereafter. The building was later used as a Joiners and Wheelwright and they worked in conjunction with the Blacksmith across the road, that would supply metal fittings and finish the wheels with metal rungs.  The building became an agricultural merchant. Alec McCutcheon started the business, then it was taken over by his manager, Jimmy Swan. They kept spares for the types of ploughs commonly used, and the blacksmith was across the street, so repairs to ploughs could always be made. Cast socks were bought by the dozen, but steel socks were bought in pairs. The shop also stocked forks, graips [dung forks], shawing [turnip topping] knives, shovels and general ironmongery. It closed in the late 1950s, when the big tractor manufacturers began taking over agencies for plough metal. John Wallace Joiners was set up behind the Blacksmiths  around the time the road was widened and the site was cleared.

Listed category C(S)

In 1698 the Heritors of Currie Kirk  paid for a new school as prior to 1691 the Schoolmaster, (who was also precentor and Session Clerk)  taught children first of all in a chamber, a barn and the church quire. The foundations were laid in 1699 and the masons were John Grinton and Robert Telford Wright, and it served as both school and schoolhouse until 1800. It then became a girl's school sponsored by Lady Gibson Craig. The building also served twice as the Post Office around 1900. In the early 1960’s it was part of the premises of James M Swan an Agricultural  Implement Agent. Converted to a Private House by Mr and Mrs Ainslie.

Perched on the hillside of the Water of Leith, this house is now hidden from both the roadside and the Water of Leith Walkway. It was designed by Matthew Montgomery Ochterloney the 4th Baronet an Architect and Artist and was constructed about 1921. After his death in 1946 his brother Charles Francis Ochterloney and sister Margaret J H Ochterlony lived at Overburn until 1964 and 1970.  They were Uncles and Aunts of Doctor Moir whose mother was Rose Walcott Ochterlony (1882-1967). Their niece Ruth Ramsay came to Currie to look after them. She married Ted Watts who, as a local Scout Master with the assistance of the Scouts built the bridge across the Water of Leith from “Overburn” to the land on the south side of the river.

The Parish of Our Lady, Mother of the Church, in Currie dates back to 1885, it was on 31 March 1966 that the new church building was solemnly blessed and opened by Archbishop Gordon Joseph Gray of St Andrews & Edinburgh.

The currents Priests House on the junction of Lanark Road West and Curriehill Road was formerly called Curleywee possibly named after the Galloway hill of that name and may have been built around 1935 by James Mackenna a Public Works Contractor. His wife Catherine Plenderleith Mackenna nee Bathgate lived there until her death in 1955.

Built in the late 1960’s to supply the expanding village, this provided a large shop for St Cuthberts Co-op and a number of smaller units near the main road including Martins the Bakers at No6. Smash Cash at No5 and Heywood Tulley at No3. In 1970  Mr Crolla's Fish Bar opened.

Built in part of the former grounds of “Ashgrove” for Mrs McGovern 2014.

225 Lanark Road West.

The Jubilee Path and its splendid row of trees was put in place to commemorate Queen Elizabeth’s Jubilee in 2002. This path provides a pedestrian route with a road crossing, from the Lanark Road through the housing estate and forms part of the longer footpath connection to the canal bank via Woodlands School, Currie Community School,Roleys Wood and the Rail Station northwards through the Heriot Watt grounds.

Originally fields used by the Butchers to keep their cattle before they were taken to be killed. They were known as Wales Park and then late Gillon's Park. The park straddles the Lanark Road West from the Water of Leith on the south to Pentland View in the north. It was established in 1936 along with several other Edinburgh parks in commemoration of the death of King George V and presumably the pavilion was built at that time. The Doctors Surgery, the car park and the children’s playground were added about 1970.

In the South Side of the park the Millenium Tree, a Deodar, was planted by the Community Council. A Stone seat was built by the Dry Stone Dyker’s Association but sadly the seat was vandalised and was rebuilt with cement by the parks department staff.  A wooden bench beside the Pavillion built using wood from diseased elm trees that were being felled at the time, was vandallised also but could not rebuilt. A water pump survives halfway alongside the south side hedge of Lanark Road.

The football pitch on the north side is used by children for club games. The smaller pitch on the south side used to have problems with moles but these disappeared when flat worms were introduced into nearby gardens. The flatworms eat the earth worms and the moles died of starvation. The hard court Ball Park at the west end of the park was instigated by the City and the Community Council was able to get a generous grant for it from the Dalmahoy Hill Quarry.

Although the Round Table still hold an annual Fireworks Display on November 5^th, the bonfire was banned as was an annual visit by a Commercial fair after a year when due to heavy rain the park was seriously damaged by the removal of heavy vehicles.  Signs now call the south part George V Park and the north part Pentland View Park.

On 22nd May 1874 a meeting was held in the schoolroom, Currie, to consider the question of forming a bowling green for the district. Mr. Wm. Warden and Mr. A.G. Cunningham had visited Sir William Gibson Craig who expressed his willingness to grant a suitable site for a green on the western boundary of his property, skirting the Water of Leith. The first lady was admitted to the Club as a member in 1925, but most of the ladies were content to assist when tea or social graces were in demand. In 1961, however, a ladies' section was opened.

In 1956 Currie Youth club was formed by Sir Alick Buchanan Smith,CBE, JP DL, MP (Baron Balerno) using 3 wooden huts that had been obtained from the Army Camp at Riccarton. The buildings were opened by Sir Edmund Hillary. A games hall was added in 1964.

Opposite the Red Row Houses  No 282 Lanark Road West was one of the first of many Council Built properties in Currie about 1923. This row of properties was initially named Curriehill Terrace.

Situated on the Turnpike Road to Lanark and Ayrshire the 4 Cottages numbers 285-291 West of the entrance to the Bowling Club. Originally 6 cottages were converted in 1886 to house workers at Balerno Mill. The cottage at the east was a shop in the mid 1900’s kept by “Granny Henderson”. The 3rd cottage to the west was the scene of a manifestation by the famous medium Daniel Dunglass Home who was born in 1833.

In the original set of Council properties a short row of shops with flats above them were built. In the early 60’s these included  “McCue and Leitch” Newsagents at No 10, Englands of Currie Grocer and Ironmonger at No 6 and of course Mrs Jean Harper Spirits, Beer, Wine, Bakery and Groceries at no 14. In 1969 they included Alexander Carson, Butcher and Poulterer and Derek Clark, Ladies and Gentleman’s Hairdresser.

Numbers 293 – 313 A row of 10 semi detached 2 storey villas built on a ridge overlooking the Water of Leith were built in 1906.

On the site of an ash pit John Glass a nephew of Glass the Florist in Princes Street, set up a market garden and to the west was the site of a tenement building known as the Colonies occupied by 20 families  most of whom worked in the nearby tannery. This area was replaced by a number of modern houses.

Originally a Builders yard then R Peat and Sons, Motor Engineers. Hallidays Electrical shop.  Now converted to offices and small business units.

From 1776 to 1882 it was the Balerno Paper Mill of Messrs Nisbet and MacNiven. In 1882 it was used as Coxe’s Glue Works, in 1909 it was taken over by the Simpson Label Co. In 1913 Messrs J Hewit and son operated a Tannery until around 2000. The site has been cleared and various proposals for use have been proposed. In 2018 construction of residential properties commenced.

The House for the Balerno Mill Manager

A short road to the south leads to a property that was once a Waulkmill granted in 1376 to a John Penny and as such operated until 1629. In the 19th century it was a Distillery, and in the 20th century a Dairy farm, a piggery and now a Private residence

Situated at the current day boundary with Balerno there is now a sloping field down to the route of the old railway in which horses graze. This was a small quarry until part of the land was sold to the railway for the Balerno Line.

Byrnie's Mill was one of the first mills to be built in Balerno. Ir was built on the banks of the Bavelaw Burn in 1799 for Helen Logan. It was a one vat mill wihich made course paper from rags. It later became a saw mill and a water-powered furniture workshop called Smith's Sawmill and Joinery which was still using the water wheel in the 1940s. The mill was demolished in the 1960s.

See JG21. This branch closed its doors in early June 2017. The only banking facility for Balerno, Currie & Juniper Green are at Currie Post Office.

Category C(S) Foundation Stone laid in 1901, it was named in memory of Robert Gibson Craig who was killed in the Boer War in South Africa and was designed by J McIntyre Henry. The foundation stone was laid by Lady Gibson-Craig in 1901.The the hall has been extended a number of times and a garage for the Church Minibus was added around 2000.  The ground at the rear was originally part of Easter Currie Farm Stack Yard.

In 1845  the first church was built here on land owned by Sir William Liston Foulis. This came about after the Disruption of the Established Church of Scotland in 1843. Until then the people either went to Colinton or Currie Church of Scotland. The new church was named Colinton & Currie Free Church. In 1880 a new building with a hall was opened and the church was then called Juniper Green Free Church. That very year William Gladstone, the British Liberal politician and  Prime Minister  spoke in Juniper Green Free  Church  during his Midlothian campaign. In 1900 it became Juniper Green United Free Church and in 1929 after the union of the Church of Scotland and the United Free Church the church took on the title of St Andrew’s Church of Scotland, Juniper Green. In 1974 St Margaret’s Church and St Andrew’s joined to become Juniper Green Parish Church as it is today.

1. In 1841 this establishment was called “The Ship Inn “ and by 1891 had changed its name to “The  Pentland Arms” In the 1950’s it was known locally as  “The Bottom Shop” owned by Davie Simpson’s.and in the  1990’s became Tanner’s.  (see Pamela MacFarlane about additional information)

1. This at one time was a little community quite separate from Juniper Green. Most of the cottages were for the mill workers at Mossy Mill on the north side of the river. A path leads down to a tunnel under the Railway (now the walkway) and then over a pedestrian bridge to Mossy Mill.

The bypass was built over the site of the original Juniper Green Bowling Club which was established  in 1887.  This is the oldest sporting facility in the village. A new bowling green was created behind  Iceland supermarket. See 34

This was the manse for Colinton & Currie Free Church built between 1843 and 1850. It is still a manse but now for Juniper Green Parish Church.

The Balerno Branch railway line started at Slateford and followed what is now the Water of Leith walkway to Balerno. It then split at Balerno goods junction. The goods trains went to the goods yard where Balerno High School is now situated (see number B7). The passenger trains went under Lanark Road West to Balerno Station and then on to Ravelrig Junction.

The old mill at Newmills dates back as far as 1604 when it was listed in the sale of the area to John Skene. The mill was large with two water wheels and four pairs of stones. These were used to produce large quantities of grain for the Edinburgh and Glasgow markets. Carts took barley to Glasgow for export to the West Indies.  The mill was damaged by a fire in 1921 and never reopened.

Under the Turnpike Road system, roads were built and maintained by a body of subscribers - the local landlords - who expected a return on their investment from the tolls paid by those using the roads. Toll houses were built beside barriers across the roads, known as turnpikes, which halted the traveller for the toll to be collected.

The original Toll House for what is now the A70 was at Ravelrig, around the site of Pilmuir Farm. This was later replaced by the Toll House at the top of Riccarton Mains Road, Currie.

In 1821 Ravelrig Toll House was in the news in connection with a body-snatching incident. Two labourers had spotted a suspicious cart and followed it to the toll house where they found a putrid smell coming from it. They got the help of local Excise Officer and found that the cart contained two bodies which were found to have been taken from Lanark Churchyard.

The lands of Ravelrig are on record from 1454 when they appear in a charter. Ravelrig House has had a very chequered history. Excavations following a fire in 2004 showed the earliest surviving remains dating from the late 17^th or early 18^th century. Over its lifetime the house has been owned by fifteen families, with only the Davidson family owning it for any length of time – from 1770 to around 1860.

In 1948 Ravelrig finally ceased to be a family home and was bought by Dr Barnados as a children’s home. It was later sold for redevelopment into housing which was completed in 2007.

Prior to the 18th century doocots were a standard feature of Scottish landed estates. Pigeons provided a valuable source of year-round fresh meat and eggs, adding variety to meals in the winter months. Like the doocot at Malleny House, the doocot at Ravelrig is shaped like a lectern. It has seven entrance holes mid-way along the roof. Inside there are 274 nest holes.

Unfortunately the building is in a poor condition and is currently on the Buildings at Risk Register.

The foundations of Ravelrig Walled Garden date from the early to mid 18^th century. There were later alterations in mid 19^th century. In an advertisement to let the house in 1804 the garden is described as “containing near two acres of excellent ground is in good order and well stocked with all kinds of fruit and vegetables”.

The garden was used as a market garden by a Balerno resident until the 1970s.

Balerno goods yard was situated where Balerno High School now is. The Balerno Branch Line was initially set up for goods, primarily to cater for the paper mills along its route. It also transported stone from the Balerno quarries into Edinburgh. In 1908, over 62,000 tons of stone were transported from the goods station.

Malleny House and Garden now belong to the National Trust for Scotland and the garden is open to the public. The centre pieces of the garden are four tall and very old yew trees which are said to be the last of the “Twelve Apostles” which were planted in 1603 to celebrate the union of Scotland and England.

The current Malleny House dates from 1637 when it was built for Sir James Murray of Kilbaberton. It does, however, incorporate some older features. There is a circular turnpike stair tower and a chimney stack that possibly dates from 1589. On the inside the chimney connects to a very wide kitchen fireplace of the late 16th century or early 17th century with an armorial panel on the lintel, dated 1589.

The house was bought by the Scott family in 1647 and they held it for six generations until 1882. In 1968 it was bequeathed to the National Trust for Scotland by its then owner, Commander Gore-Browne Henderson’s widow.

Confusingly, Malleny House was sometimes referred to as Wester Lymphoy and it appears as such on 18^th century maps.

Within the wooded area to the north east of Malleny House is the sandstone burial vault of the Scott family, dating originally from the 17th century. It was closed in 1884 when the house passed out of the Scott family.

Prior to the 18th century doocots were a standard feature of Scottish landed estates. Pigeons provided a valuable source of year-round fresh meat and eggs, adding variety to meals in the winter months. Like Ravelrig House, Malleny House has a doocot in the garden. It is also a lectern shape and has 915 nest boxes. Unusually the entrance for the pigeons faces north – it is much more common for them to face south.

This in now part of the Shotts line from Edinburgh Waverley to Glasgow Central via Shotts. It was part of the Caledonian Railway Line, opened in 1848.

This was where the Balerno branch line joined the Caledonian Line. It was opened in 1874 and closed in 1920.

This is the site of a private railway or tramway from Hannahfield Quarry. It was one of the private railways or tramways connecting the quarries to the Balerno branch line. This one ran in a straight line at a very steep gradient, rising more than 300 feet in under half a mile. There are still some signs of it in the landscape.

Ravelrig Quarries has operated since the 19^th Century and is now run by Lafarge Tarmac, extracting dolerite (whinstone) for use as road aggregate. Excavations of Ravelrig hill in 2009 showed a large early Iron Age roundhouse built between 600 and 400 BC with commanding views of Edinburgh. It was built in two phases of wattle and daub walls with a hearth at its centre. 

This craggy and uneven hill was enclosed by a system of stone walls which defended an area measuring 1200ft in length by a maximum of about 400ft in width. The fortifications may date back to the pre-Roman Iron Age.

Evidence of a timber fort on Kaimes Hill dates back to around 400 BC. Later forts replaced this but all evidence has more or less been destroyed by quarrying.

Boll o’Bere farmstead lies alongside the A70 and has recently been converted into several homes. A Boll o' Bere was an old name for a measure of barley and the place-name suggests that the farmstead may have originally been an inn and it is reputed to have been a coaching stop. Recent excavations found buildings dating back about 350 years.

The area south of the Water of Leith which now has the Johnsburn property and Larch Grove House, as well as Bankhead Farm, was originally all part of Bankhead Farm. This was, in turn, part of the Ravelrig Estate. In 1902 Sir Alexander Morison bought Bankhead.

Glenbrook House is described by Historic Scotland as dating from the early 19th century and previously known as Birch Hill or Birkfield. Robert Kirkwood's map of 1817 lists it as Birch Hill as does James Thomson's map of 1821. By the 1850s it was named Glenbrook House and was described as a "tastefully construucted villa with stables, coach house and a small farm attached".

A small hamlet which became home to many of the local Kaimes quarry workers.

Westbrook, now called House of Cockburn, is said in some sources to have been built for a Mr. Goode, a merchant with Jamaican connections, who emigrated to Australia in 1790. However, property records do not support this. In 1809, Sir Alexander  Morison sold part of Bankhead "now called Westbrook" to William Gordon MacCrae, late of Jamaica. He must already have been a tenant as the records state that the same included "the dwelling house and offices lately built thereon by the said William Gordon MacCrae".

Red Moss is one of the few remaining lowland peat bogs in the Lothians. Along with Bavelaw Marsh they are the remains of the much larger Balerno Common. Common mosses provided essential livelihoods to local people through the gathering of peat for fuel. Many were divided but Balerno Common was one of the few which remained intact.

During World War 1, sphagnum moss was gathered from the common to be used as dressings for wounds.

Cockburn House is the original mansion for the estate of Cockburn. The date of 1672 appears on the building but it is said to be older. It is L-shaped with a rounded stair tower. It was built for William Chiesley and was at one time owned by the governors of George Watsons School.

The last owners of the Cockburn estate, when it was sill a working farm, were the Buchanan-Smith family.

Pirnie Ha was a cottage on the Cockburn estate and is now the Edinburgh Shamanic Centre. A Pirn was a reel or bobbin used in weaving so Pirnie Ha probably means a weaver’s house.

The current Buteland House was built in the early 1900s but Buteland as the name of the farm and hill goes back much further than that - probably to the early 13th Century. Temple refers to land granted to the Knights Templar and Temple House may have been the centre of Templar activity around Buteland.

Marchbank farm was originally known as Muirbank in the maps up to 1812. The 1852 Ordnance Survey map shows it as March Bank. Between the wars the bottom of the drive to Marchbank House was the focal point for point-to-point riding. The original farm house became a hotel and in 1996 it was converted into houses.

NB: John Tweedie says that the Gibson Biplane was tested here but the photograph in the CDLHS archives has it at Buteland.

The ruins of Redford Farm are about 50 metres north east of Redford bridge where the road from Balerno to Bavelaw Castle crosses the western end of Threipmuir reservoir. They are difficult to access because they are hidden deep in woodland and the buildings have been overwhelmed by mature trees. The farm was built in about 1770 and is an early example of an 18th century farmsteading. The farm was originally part of the Bavelaw estate and confusion with Bavelaw Castle led to its incorrect description as a Royal Hunting Stables.

Redford Farm.jpg

The lands of Easter and Wester Bavelaw were granted by Charles I to Laurence Scott of Harperrig in 1628. This gift included the existing manor house and tower built by Walter Dundas. There was almost certainly a more ancient building on the site based on the number and style of the gun-loops, the thickness of the walls, and the very small windows. The castle is traditionally referred to as a hunting seat of Queen Mary and James VI. It is currently in private ownership.