What is recorded here

Chalmers Boarding House stands on Colinton Road as a twentieth-century hall of residence beside Merchiston Castle School. Young people may have filled its rooms with laughter, arguments and the smell of tea, while Edinburgh watched them grow from a distance. The building remains private, but life still moves through its walls.

Scotland's National Record of the Historic Environment records Edinburgh, Colinton Road, Merchiston Castle School, Chalmers Boarding House as Hall of Residence (20th Century). The official map says its point is accurate as follows: NGR given to the nearest 1m. The record does not by itself mean that the public may enter the place.

Merchiston Castle, now part of Merchiston Castle School and including the Chalmers Boarding House, was originally built in the early 17th century by the Drummond family, Scottish nobles and prominent landowners. It is remembered as the childhood home of James VI and I, who later became King of Scotland and England, and for its historical association with the influential Drummond and later Crichton-Stuart families.

The historic-place record does not grant public access. Check current conditions and ownership before entering land or a building.