Lauriston Castle

While visiting Edinburgh to create two haunted walking tours for The Little Walk of Horrors, we had a tour scheduled at Lauriston Castle. It was our final day in beautiful Edinburgh and the sky seemed to weep because of us leaving. Or perhaps that was because it was October already. I did some research on haunted places away from the busy Old Town and soon came across this charming castle with its stunning views across the Firth of Forth. I immediately booked us a tour. 

The history of Lauriston Castle

Before Lauriston Castle was built, there was a fortified residence standing on this spot. The old residence was destroyed when the Earl of Hertford (perhaps better known as Edward Seymour) invaded the land during Henry VIII’s Wars of Rough Wooing in 1544. It was Sir Archibald Napier of Merchiston who bought the land and built a castle for his son. The oldest part of Lauriston Castle was built in 1593. Unfortunately, young Archibald – the Napier of Woolmet – never got to live in his nice home: he was murdered on his way home. The residence was then given to the second son and it remained in the family until 1683.

New residents

After 1683, the castle was owned by several other notable residents. Goldsmiths, bankers, and also mineralogist Thomas Allan have resided here. He commissioned William Burn to extend the castle in the Jacobean style in 1827. After him, the castle was owned by Andrew Lord Rutherfurd, and Thomas Macknight Crawfurd, the 8th Baron of Cartsburn. In 1902, Lauriston Castle was purchased by William Robert Reid and his wife Margaret. William was the owner of Morison & Co, an Edinburgh cabinetmaking business. He and his wife furnished the whole castle.

Inheritance

The couple never had children, and after Margaret’s death in 1926, Lauriston Castle was bequeathed to the nation of Scotland. All the furniture was left inside the house, which can be seen today. This is what Lauriston Castle is so much-loved for: you can really catch a glimpse of what living in the Edwardian time must have been like. There was even an original copy of the Daily Mirror reporting about the Titanic disaster in 1912! How cool is that!

Secrets, secrets, secrets

Even though Margaret left her home and everything in it to the city of Edinburgh, there were things she hid well before her death. It is believed that she burned all the castle’s paperwork. Among them, there were also the original certificates of all the furniture, a large collection of rare Blue John from Derbyshire, carpets, statues and other artifacts the couple collected during their travels. This is such a pity! Our tour guide believed she was covering up some dark family secret. Who knows…

There are also a few hidden rooms inside the castle. In the study, there is a wooden panel with opens to a small stairwell. It leads to a small room with excellent acoustics. A servant would be sent up the stairs to sit in the small room where he could hear every word that was said in the study. Including secrets that were shared if the host temporarily left the room. There’s also a hidden door in the library. Behind it was the room for the chauffeur. This was to keep him away from the maids!

Private tour

We were the luckiest people! When we did the tour on Saturday morning, we were the only two people on it. So, we had a private tour of the castle. The tour was very enjoyable: we had a lovely tour guide. She told us everything about the mansion, the interior, the indoor plumbing (!) and people. William and Margaret were well ahead of their time and they were certainly not afraid of modern technology. When they moved into the castle in 1902, they installed central heating, hot water, toilets and even double glass. How smart and how convenient in the Scottish countryside! Unfortunately, the weather on the day of the tour was even too bad for our Scottish tour guide, so we didn’t get to see the exterior of the castle and its gardens too well.

The ghost of Lauriston Castle

The reason why I wanted to visit Lauriston Castle is because the place is haunted. And I can definitely see why! I really got these “a House of Bells” by J. T. Croft kind of vibes. Heck, the place even has a line of bells hanging in the servant quarters! It’s a secluded mansion that looks out over sea… sigh… that’s what I was looking for! Lauriston Castle is allegedly haunted by Sophia Frances Stewart. She was married to Andrew Lord Rutherford.

Sophia passed away in 1852 right after she had written her husband a letter. By the time he received the letter, she had passed away. The contents of the letter were never released, but perhaps the unsaid words have kept her around. Staff and guests hear the rustling of her silk skirts and her footsteps while in the castle. Several people have seen shadow figures disappearing into walls and full body apparitions in the windows!

Lauriston Castle today

Please visit Lauriston Castle when you’re in Edinburgh! And bring your dog, because there’s a lot of playground to cover in the gardens. Margaret Reid was a passionate dog-lover and she would love to see all those playful creatures running around in her gardens. She even owned a dog with the modern name of “Me-Too”. We don’t know about the spelling, but this was a pretty funny thing to discover. Even though you are still in Edinburgh, it sure doesn’t feel that way at the castle. It’s a lovely place, full of history. And good coffee 😉

Cover photo: The Little House of Horrors
Sources: Wikipedia, edinburghmuseums.org.uk, britainexpress.com, indagrave.com, visitscotland.com and cockburnassociation.org.uk
Address: 2 Cramond Road South, Edinburgh EH4 6AD, Scotland

Some more pictures for you: