What is recorded here
Merchiston Tower, built in the middle of the 15th century, is the birthplace of John Napier, whose logarithms and mechanical calculation ideas helped shape modern mathematics. The old tower sat almost unused after Edinburgh Corporation acquired it in 1935, until Napier University grew around it. A strange tower birthed a mind that birthed tools still used everywhere.
A named place photographed at this map point in City of Edinburgh.
Merchiston Tower, now part of Napier University, was built in the late 15th century by the Crichton family, a prominent Scottish noble family. It is important as a historic example of a 16th-century tower house and as the former seat of the Earls of Napier, later becoming associated with the Napier family, including John Napier, the inventor of logarithms.
Places near here
Merchiston TowerCastle · 26 yd
Edinburgh, Colinton Road, Napier University, Merchiston CastleCollege (20th Century), School (19th Century), Tower House (15th Century) · 26 yd
Edinburgh, Colinton Road, GeneralGeneral View (period Unassigned) · 75 yd
Merchiston CastlePaving (period Unassigned), Basin (stone)(period Unassigned), Quern (period Unassigned) · 79 yd
Edinburgh, Mardale Crescent, GeneralGeneral View (period Unassigned) · 110 yd
Edinburgh, 8, 10 Colinton RoadFlat(s) (20th Century) · 136 yd
College War MemorialMemorial · 359 yd
Bore StoneMemorial · 404 yd
Harrison ParkVisitor information · 767 yd
Edinburgh, Union Canal, ScowScow (19th Century) · 877 yd
Edinburgh, Ardmillan Terrace, North Merchiston Cemetery, Gates and Boundary WallsGate (19th Century), Wall (19th Century) · 971 yd
Bruntsfield Links Golf CourseVisitor information · 1118 ydOther information
Photo: M J Richardson · CC BY-SA 2.0