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Inverleith House is a historic house, now within the Royal Botanic Garden, in the suburb of Inverleith, in Edinburgh, Scotland.
1. History
Inverleith House was designed in 1773 by David Henderson and built for James Rocheid in 1774. In about 1820 a part of the Inverleith estate was sold to become the Royal Botanic Garden. The house was bought by the city in 1877 together with another part of the estate and, after restoration work following a fire, became the official residence of the Regius Keeper (director) of the Royal Botanic Garden. From 1960 it housed the new Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, which in 1984 moved to the building of the former John Watson's Institution on Belford Road. On 4 December 1970 the house was listed as a historic building in category B, with Historic Scotland id 28081. An extension was built in 1974. Since 1986 the house has been used as exhibition space by the Royal Botanic Garden. Exhibitions of botanical and contemporary art are held there. It was refurbished in 1990 and again in 2004, with support from National Lottery Funds administered by The Scottish Arts Council, which also supports the exhibitions programme.
1. References
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12 m
Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) is a scientific centre for the study of plants, their diversity and conservation, as well as a popular tourist attraction. Founded in 1670 as a physic garden to grow medicinal plants, today it occupies four sites across Scotland—Edinburgh, Dawyck, Logan and Benmore—each with its own specialist collection. The RBGE's living collection consists of more than 13,302 plant species (34,422 accessions), whilst the herbarium contains in excess of 3 million preserved specimens.
The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh is an executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government. The Edinburgh site is the main garden and the headquarters of the public body, which is led by Regius Keeper Simon Milne.
295 m
Inverleith
Inverleith (Scottish Gaelic: Inbhir Lìte) is an inner suburb in the north of Edinburgh, Scotland, on the fringes of the central region of the city. Its neighbours include Trinity to the north and the New Town to the south, with Canonmills at the south-east and Stockbridge at the south-west.
Like many places in and around Lothian and Edinburgh, the name comes from Scottish Gaelic – Inbhir Lìte, meaning "Mouth of Leith", as with Inverness, meaning mouth of the River Ness. Some documents refer to the area as "Inner Leith".
It is characterised by its wealth of open green space. The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and Inverleith Park, in addition to the numerous playing fields owned and used by the independent schools Edinburgh Academy, Fettes College, Stewart's Melville College and George Heriot's. The Royal Botanic Gardens' nursery garden, for growing and cultivating plants, is also located here. Within Inverleith there are very few shops and offices, and it is almost entirely residential and recreational in character.
Today Inverleith is home to houses often being sold considerably in excess of one million pounds sterling. These include Scotland's most expensive penthouses, selling for £1.5m, and a recently renovated villa, which sold for over two million pounds sterling. The houses are generally handsome and spacious Victorian or Georgian villas with two or three floors, garages and quite large gardens. The residents tend to be employed in professions in central Edinburgh. It is convenient for such workers, as it lies only a mile and a half from the centre. Being on grounds slightly higher than the centre, it commands views of the Edinburgh skyline, including Edinburgh Castle and Arthur's Seat. It has one of the lowest crime rates in the city and is a designated conservation area.
Within the area are Fettes College, an independent boarding school, and the state-run Broughton High School. Edinburgh Academy, an independent day school, is nearby in the north of the New Town.
The area gives its name to the Inverleith ward under the City of Edinburgh Council created in 2007, but this encompasses a larger territory including Stockbridge, Comely Bank and more westerly neighbourhoods such as Blackhall, Craigleith and Drylaw.
361 m
St Colm's College
St Colm's College was established in Edinburgh in 1894 as a missionary training college for women, with Annie Hunter Small as its first principal.
In 1908 the training college moved to the site at 23 Inverleith Terrace Edinburgh, opening in 1909 and then in 1910 the College hosted most of the global leaders attending the World Missionary Conference held in Edinburgh, most notably V.S.Azariah.
In 1998, when the College was about to be sold by the Church of Scotland, it was rescued through a last minute plan developed by Scottish Churches World Exchange. The plan, developed by Robert Anderson and Lynn Whitehead who led World Exchange, was to turn the building on its head, and swop from sending missionaries to receiving students from the global south who were studying in Edinburgh and creating a supportive international environment for them. It was renamed St Colm's International House and this project ran from 1998 through to 2010. During this time the House also ran English language and Negotiating Skills courses for emerging women leaders from the global south.
In August 2010, the College's property would eventually be sold off after the Church of Scotland determined it could no longer afford to maintain it.
478 m
The Grange Club
The Grange Club is a cricket and sports club in the Stockbridge district of Edinburgh, Scotland. The cricket ground, commonly known as The Grange, is the regular home of the Scotland national cricket team, and is situated adjacent to the Edinburgh Academy sports ground, which is in Raeburn Place.