Forth Quarter, Edinburgh EH5 1FH
Near this site once stood Granton House, a 24-room three-storey mansion with a balustraded roof, built by the Earl of Hopetoun in 1807 on the Duke of Buccleuch’s land as part of a 99-year lease. In 1883, the house became the property of Lord Gifford (1820 – 1887) the Scottish advocate and judge. Visitors to the house included Sir Walter Scott and Florence Nightingale who, following her visit, wrote to the family and said “I think Granton House the most poetic place I ever saw.” The house was purchased by the Edinburgh and Leith Corporations Gas Commissioners around the time that Granton Gas Works was built (opened in 1902), for use as the official residence of the Chief Engineer and Manager. The first Chief Engineer and Manager to occupy the house was Mr W. R. Herring. When Edinburgh and Leith amalgamated in 1920, the house passed to Edinburgh Corporation. From 1946 Edinburgh Corporation used the property to house homeless families following World War II. On 1 January 1954 it was destroyed in a disastrous fire and what was left demolished.
7 Responses to “Granton House”
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As a child ( born 1942 ) lived in Granton House with my Mum & Dad for several years. Remember playing in the gatehouse building at entry to the estate.
Norm McCormick
What wonderful memories, Norman. Thank you for sharing them!
How wonderful! I’d love to hear about your memories, Norman. I’m working on a novel about Dame Flora MacLeod, chief of the Clan MacLeod from 1935-1976, who lived at Granton House with her family from 1893-1899.
Granton House
I have a photograph of Granton House taken some time between 1910 and 1920 when my grandfather Thomas Finlayson Macmillan lived in Granton House with his family. This photo might make a suitable addition to your entry. If you are interested, please provida an email address for me to send it to.
Regards
Hugh Macmillan
If the offer is still available, we would love a photograph of Granton House, Mr. Macmillan. I am currently researching an ancestor, Sir Alexander Jardine, who apparently may have purchased the house after Lord Gifford died, as the Jardines were residing there on the 1891 Scotland Census. Would you be so kind as to email the photo to: travelnut38@yahoo.com? Thanks so much, and kind regards–Colleen Hansen
I would love to see that picture, Hugh! I’m working on a novel about Dame Flora MacLeod, chief of the Clan MacLeod from 1935-1976, who lived at Granton House with her family from 1893-1899.
Thanks for this interesting piece. Dame Flora MacLeod, who was chief of the Clan MacLeod from 1935 to her death in 1976, lived at Granton House with her family from 1893 to 1899. I’m working on a novel about her and am grateful to have the cooperation of her granddaughter-in-law, Anne Wolrige Gordon, who wrote a biography of her called “Dame Flora.”
I visited the site in Edinburgh when I was there last year, but by the time I got there, after visiting another place she had lived, it was dark and not possible to get a good idea of what it must have been like at the time.