What is recorded here

Colinton Road still carries the gateway of Merchiston Castle, a stone threshold built between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. It stands beside Napier University now, but it was made for private arrival, not public display. The distinction matters: a gateway marks whose land begins, whose rules apply, and whose name the road still carries.

Scotland's National Record of the Historic Environment records Edinburgh, Colinton Road, Napier University, Merchiston Castle, Gateway as Gateway (17th Century) - (18th 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 was built in the late 16th century by the Crichton family, a prominent Scottish noble family, and later held by the Napier family in the 17th century. It is remembered as the ancestral home of John Napier, the mathematician who invented logarithms, and now forms part of Napier University.

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