Bruntsfield
Encyclopedia
Bruntsfield is an area of Edinburgh
, Scotland
, about twenty minutes walk south-west of the city
centre. In feudal times it fell within the barony of Colinton
.
park and golf link, beyond which lies the district of Marchmont
; Merchiston
is to the west and Tollcross
to the north. To the south and east lies the former estate of Greenhill
, and to the south Morningside
. The estate around the grand Bruntsfield House is now called Marchmont (which the Warrender family began feuing in 1872, many of the street names reflecting associations with that family). The whole area lay within the Burgh Muir
of Edinburgh, from which a former farm Burghmuirhead
took its name which passed eventually to a small area within Bruntsfield. The Burgh Muir stretched all the way through the valley of the Jordan Burn to the slopes of the Pentland Hills
. The junction beyond Burghmuirhead on the road to Morningside became known in the twentieth century as Holy Corner
from its cluster of Victorian
churches.
Bruntsfield Links
is home to a nineteenth century pitch and putt
golf course. The links continue north east to Melville Drive where it meets The Meadows
, a park formed when the old Burgh Loch was drained. At the southern end of the links, near Bruntsfield House, a distinct indentation formed by a former quarry is known locally as Tumbler's Hollow.
, 1306–1424, records a 1381 charter from the reign of Robert II
which grants to William Lauder the lands of "Burrowmure in Edinburghshire", which had previously belonged to Richard Broun of Boroumore (sic). He was the elder brother of Alan de Lawedre of the Haltoun House
family, and in a further charter of the Great Seal of June 4, 1382, Alan succeeded his brother ["fratrem dicti Alani"] William de Lawedre in the lands of "Boroughmuir". It appears from subsequent charters that the Lauders acquired "Bruntisfield" at about the same time, unless it was all part and parcel of the 1381 acquisition. Sir Alexander Lauder of Blyth
, Provost of Edinburgh, acquired from his father, Sir Alexander Lauder of Haltoun, Knt., in August 1497 "the lands of Brounisfeld, with the manor-house and gardens, park, herbarium, etc., except for one perticate of land at the east end, adjoining the ditch therefo, in the common muir of Edinburgh."
J.Stewart-Smith states that "Bruntsfield Manor", or as it is known today, Bruntsfield House, had been the dower house
of each successive bride of the Lauders of Haltoun for 226 years.
Sir William Lauder of Haltoun (d. Nov 1596) invested his son, Sir Alexander Lauder, Knt., younger of Haltoun and Sheriff Principal
of Edinburgh, and his mother in life-rent in Bruntsfield in 1587, and they resided in Bruntsfield Manor, being then estranged from the laird of Haltoun, and significantly rebuilding the mansion house. In 1603 Sir Alexander Lauder sold it to John Fairlie, of the family of Braid. Fairlie carried out extensive work to the original building, which is incorporated in the present mansion. His great-grandson, William Fairlie of Brounsfield, was still in possession after the reign of Mary, Queen of Scots. He sold Brounisfield to George Warrender of Lochend – then Baillie and afterwards Lord Provost of Edinburgh – in July 1695, and that family were still in possession in 1900. Until just before the second World War the union jack flew regularly over the house whenever the family were in residence. By 1915 the feuing of the Bruntsfield Estate Marchmont
was complete and no more than seven acres around the house remained. The carriage drive from Whitehouse Loan which swept round the now demolished Victorian wing and along the Lime Walk to the stables with their own entrance close to the twentieth century putting green. Bruntsfield House was categorised as a Listed Building by Historic Scotland
in the early days of that agency.
Bruntsfield was home to other mansions not least that of Wrights House or Wrychtishousis on the site of what is no the Golf Tavern and Viewpark. later Boroughmuir School and then James Gillespie's high School for Girls. Earlier, James Gillespie's Hospital which in the twentieth century became the Royal Blind Asylum and is now a Viewpoint Housing Assosciation apartment development.
.
A column in the Edinburgh Evening News
calls itself Bitching from Bruntsfield.
Bruntsfield falls in the Church of Scotland parishes of Barclay Viewforth Church and Morningside United Church.
The area is served by a number of bus routes operated by Lothian Buses
including the 11, 15, 16, 23 & 45.
In 2006 Bruntsfield was brought into the "S2" (southern zone 2) controlled parking zone, making much of the available roadside parking available only to residents paying Council Tax
and purchasing a permit. Other bays are pay-and-display.
district, and most of the area's telephone dialling code
s (within the Edinburgh 0131 area code) are 228, 229, 447, 477 or the newer 452 (introduced in the 1980s).
Bruntsfield was also the childhood home of leading Scottish Novelist Muriel Spark
.
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, about twenty minutes walk south-west of the city
City
A city is a relatively large and permanent settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.For example, in the U.S...
centre. In feudal times it fell within the barony of Colinton
Colinton
Colinton is a suburb of Edinburgh, Scotland situated 6 kilometres south west of the city centre. It is bordered by Dreghorn to the south and Craiglockhart to the north-east. To the north-west it extends to Lanark Road and to the south-west to the City Bypass...
.
Location
The modern district of Bruntsfield lies east of Bruntsfield LinksBruntsfield Links
Bruntsfield Links is of park in Bruntsfield, Edinburgh, immediately to the south-west of The Meadows, which it adjoins.Unlike The Meadows, which is a former loch, Bruntsfield Links was always dry...
park and golf link, beyond which lies the district of Marchmont
Marchmont
Marchmont is a mainly residential affluent area of Edinburgh, Scotland. It lies roughly a mile to the south of the Old Town, separated from it by The Meadows and Bruntsfield Links...
; Merchiston
Merchiston
Merchiston is a prosperous, mainly residential area in the south-west of Edinburgh, Scotland. The housing is primarily a mixture of large, late Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian villas – several of the latter by Edward Calvert – together with a smaller number of Victorian tenements and...
is to the west and Tollcross
Tollcross, Edinburgh
Tollcross is a crossroads in the South-West of the City Centre of Edinburgh, Scotland, and also the surrounding area which derives its name from the junction.-Physical description:...
to the north. To the south and east lies the former estate of Greenhill
Greenhill, Edinburgh
Greenhill is a small area of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland.South-west of the city centre, Greenhill is normally taken to be part of Bruntsfield, which continues to the north. Greenhill borders Marchmont and The Grange to the east, Morningside to the south, and Merchiston is west, beyond Holy...
, and to the south Morningside
Morningside, Edinburgh
Morningside is a district in the south-west of Edinburgh, Scotland. It is south of the areas of Bruntsfield, Burghmuirhead ; south-west of Marchmont, and south-east of Merchiston...
. The estate around the grand Bruntsfield House is now called Marchmont (which the Warrender family began feuing in 1872, many of the street names reflecting associations with that family). The whole area lay within the Burgh Muir
Burgh Muir
The Burgh Muir was an area to the south of Edinburgh city centre upon which much of the southern portion of the city now rests, following expansions of the 18th and 19th centuries...
of Edinburgh, from which a former farm Burghmuirhead
Burghmuirhead
Burghmuirhead is an area of Edinburgh, Scotland.The area lies between Bruntsfield to the north and Morningside to the south. West is Merchiston and east is Greenhill and then The Grange....
took its name which passed eventually to a small area within Bruntsfield. The Burgh Muir stretched all the way through the valley of the Jordan Burn to the slopes of the Pentland Hills
Pentland Hills
The Pentland Hills are a range of hills to the south-west of Edinburgh, Scotland. The range is around 20 miles in length, and runs south west from Edinburgh towards Biggar and the upper Clydesdale.Some of the peaks include:* Scald Law...
. The junction beyond Burghmuirhead on the road to Morningside became known in the twentieth century as Holy Corner
Holy Corner
Holy Corner is a colloquial name for a small area of Edinburgh, Scotland, and is actually part of the area more properly known as Burghmuirhead, itself part of the lands of Greenhill. Holy Corner lies between the areas of Bruntsfield and Morningside...
from its cluster of Victorian
Victorian architecture
The term Victorian architecture refers collectively to several architectural styles employed predominantly during the middle and late 19th century. The period that it indicates may slightly overlap the actual reign, 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901, of Queen Victoria. This represents the British and...
churches.
Bruntsfield Links
Bruntsfield Links
Bruntsfield Links is of park in Bruntsfield, Edinburgh, immediately to the south-west of The Meadows, which it adjoins.Unlike The Meadows, which is a former loch, Bruntsfield Links was always dry...
is home to a nineteenth century pitch and putt
Pitch and putt
Pitch and putt is an amateur sport, similar to golf. The maximum hole length for international competitions is with a maximum total course length of . Players may only use three clubs; one of which must be a putter...
golf course. The links continue north east to Melville Drive where it meets The Meadows
The Meadows
-Towns and locales:* The Meadows , a neighborhood in Key West, Florida.* The Meadows, Florida, a census-designated place in Sarasota County, Florida, United States* The Meadows, Albemarle County, Virginia* The Meadows, Northampton County, Virginia...
, a park formed when the old Burgh Loch was drained. At the southern end of the links, near Bruntsfield House, a distinct indentation formed by a former quarry is known locally as Tumbler's Hollow.
History
The original name for the area had been "Brounysfelde" or Brown's Fields, after an early feuar. A note in appendix 2 (number 1878) of the Great Seal of ScotlandGreat Seal of Scotland
The Great Seal of Scotland allows the monarch to authorise official documents without having to sign each document individually. Wax is melted in a metal mould or matrix and impressed into a wax figure that is attached by cord or ribbon to documents that the monarch wishes to make official...
, 1306–1424, records a 1381 charter from the reign of Robert II
Robert II of Scotland
Robert II became King of Scots in 1371 as the first monarch of the House of Stewart. He was the son of Walter Stewart, hereditary High Steward of Scotland and of Marjorie Bruce, daughter of Robert I and of his first wife Isabella of Mar...
which grants to William Lauder the lands of "Burrowmure in Edinburghshire", which had previously belonged to Richard Broun of Boroumore (sic). He was the elder brother of Alan de Lawedre of the Haltoun House
Haltoun House
Haltoun House, or Hatton House, was a Scottish baronial mansion set in a park, with extensive estates in the vicinity of Ratho, in the west of Edinburgh City Council area, Scotland...
family, and in a further charter of the Great Seal of June 4, 1382, Alan succeeded his brother ["fratrem dicti Alani"] William de Lawedre in the lands of "Boroughmuir". It appears from subsequent charters that the Lauders acquired "Bruntisfield" at about the same time, unless it was all part and parcel of the 1381 acquisition. Sir Alexander Lauder of Blyth
Alexander Lauder of Blyth
Sir Alexander Lauder of Blyth, Knt. was Provost of Edinburgh almost continually from 1500 to 1513. He was Commissioner to the Scottish Parliament, 1504–06, and an Auditor of the Exchequer in Scotland. He appears to have been on terms of intimacy with the King, James IV, with whom he played cards...
, Provost of Edinburgh, acquired from his father, Sir Alexander Lauder of Haltoun, Knt., in August 1497 "the lands of Brounisfeld, with the manor-house and gardens, park, herbarium, etc., except for one perticate of land at the east end, adjoining the ditch therefo, in the common muir of Edinburgh."
Dower house
On an estate, a dower house is usually a moderately large house available for use by the widow of the estate-owner. The widow, often known as the "dowager" usually moves into the dower house from the larger family house on the death of her husband if the heir is married, and upon his marriage if he...
of each successive bride of the Lauders of Haltoun for 226 years.
Sir William Lauder of Haltoun (d. Nov 1596) invested his son, Sir Alexander Lauder, Knt., younger of Haltoun and Sheriff Principal
Sheriff Principal
The office of sheriff principal is unique within the judicial structure of Scotland, and it cannot therefore readily be compared with any other judicial office. It is one of great antiquity, having existed continuously since around the 11th century...
of Edinburgh, and his mother in life-rent in Bruntsfield in 1587, and they resided in Bruntsfield Manor, being then estranged from the laird of Haltoun, and significantly rebuilding the mansion house. In 1603 Sir Alexander Lauder sold it to John Fairlie, of the family of Braid. Fairlie carried out extensive work to the original building, which is incorporated in the present mansion. His great-grandson, William Fairlie of Brounsfield, was still in possession after the reign of Mary, Queen of Scots. He sold Brounisfield to George Warrender of Lochend – then Baillie and afterwards Lord Provost of Edinburgh – in July 1695, and that family were still in possession in 1900. Until just before the second World War the union jack flew regularly over the house whenever the family were in residence. By 1915 the feuing of the Bruntsfield Estate Marchmont
Marchmont
Marchmont is a mainly residential affluent area of Edinburgh, Scotland. It lies roughly a mile to the south of the Old Town, separated from it by The Meadows and Bruntsfield Links...
was complete and no more than seven acres around the house remained. The carriage drive from Whitehouse Loan which swept round the now demolished Victorian wing and along the Lime Walk to the stables with their own entrance close to the twentieth century putting green. Bruntsfield House was categorised as a Listed Building by Historic Scotland
Historic Scotland
Historic Scotland is an executive agency of the Scottish Government, responsible for historic monuments in Scotland.-Role:As its website states:...
in the early days of that agency.
Bruntsfield was home to other mansions not least that of Wrights House or Wrychtishousis on the site of what is no the Golf Tavern and Viewpark. later Boroughmuir School and then James Gillespie's high School for Girls. Earlier, James Gillespie's Hospital which in the twentieth century became the Royal Blind Asylum and is now a Viewpoint Housing Assosciation apartment development.
Demographics and facilities
The area is relatively affluent, with several restaurants and various shops which tend to sell luxury goods rather than practical items (a good example being the Pooh Bear shop). The housing is mostly in the form of relatively high-quality tenements, interspersed with some large villas. There is a Bruntsfield Primary School, with a closely linked secondary school, Boroughmuir High School, nearby. The area is also quite popular with students, partly due to its proximity to a major campus of Napier UniversityNapier University
Edinburgh Napier is one of the largest higher education institutions in Scotland with over 17,000 students, including nearly 5,000 international students, from more than 100 nations worldwide.-History:...
.
A column in the Edinburgh Evening News
Edinburgh Evening News
The Edinburgh Evening News is a local newspaper based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is published daily . It has a circulation of 68,000 and is owned by Johnston Press, which also owns The Scotsman and many regional titles throughout the UK.Much of the copy contained in the Evening News concerns local...
calls itself Bitching from Bruntsfield.
The area is served by a number of bus routes operated by Lothian Buses
Lothian Buses
Lothian Buses Plc is the only municipal bus company in Scotland and the largest provider of bus services in Edinburgh, Scotland. City of Edinburgh Council own 91.01% of the company with the remainder being owned by East Lothian and Midlothian councils. As well as serving Edinburgh, Lothian Buses...
including the 11, 15, 16, 23 & 45.
In 2006 Bruntsfield was brought into the "S2" (southern zone 2) controlled parking zone, making much of the available roadside parking available only to residents paying Council Tax
Council tax
Council Tax is the system of local taxation used in England, Scotland and Wales to part fund the services provided by local government in each country. It was introduced in 1993 by the Local Government Finance Act 1992, as a successor to the unpopular Community Charge...
and purchasing a permit. Other bays are pay-and-display.
Communications
Bruntsfield falls primarily within the EH10 postcodePostal code
A postal code is a series of letters and/or digits appended to a postal address for the purpose of sorting mail. Once postal codes were introduced, other applications became possible.In February 2005, 117 of the 190 member countries of the Universal Postal Union had postal code systems...
district, and most of the area's telephone dialling code
Telephone numbering plan
A telephone numbering plan is a type of numbering scheme used in telecommunications to allocate telephone numbers to subscribers and to route telephone calls in a telephone network. A closed numbering plan, such as found in North America, imposes a fixed total length to numbers...
s (within the Edinburgh 0131 area code) are 228, 229, 447, 477 or the newer 452 (introduced in the 1980s).
Bruntsfield in fiction
Bruntsfield is home to the character Isabel Dalhousie in the Alexander McCall Smith books, The right attitude to rain and The careful use of compliments. Isabel is a philosopher-turned detective, who lives a "lady of leisure" lifestyle in a Bruntsfield townhouse. She frequents the quaint shops of the district, often visiting her niece who works in the local delicatessen.Bruntsfield was also the childhood home of leading Scottish Novelist Muriel Spark
Muriel Spark
Dame Muriel Spark, DBE was an award-winning Scottish novelist. In 2008 The Times newspaper named Spark in its list of "the 50 greatest British writers since 1945".-Early life:...
.