Harburn, West Lothian

Harburn is a small village and estate in West Lothian, Scotland. It lies approximately 2 miles south-east of West Calder and just to the north of the Pentland Hills. The Harburn estate is a 19th century landscaped park and country house estate, primarily laid out in 1808. Harburn House is a Category B listed 18th century country-house that was built in 1804 for Alexander Young (1757-1842), factor to the Duke of Hamilton. It replaced an early property, Hayfield House and there are also records of a Harburn Castle, recorded as being fortified during Cromwell's invasions. The stables are also early 19th century and are Category B listed.

In 1832, King Charles X of France visited Harburn and a monument to his visit, in the form of a stone column was erected.

Nearby Places View Menu

Harburn railway station

Harburn railway station was situated on the Caledonian Railway line between Carstairs railway station and Edinburgh. It was closed in 1966 by the Beeching Axe.

Murieston Castle

Murieston Castle is a ruined tower house, dating from the 16th century, 2 miles (3.2 km) west of West Calder, west of the Murieston Water, at Murieston Castle Farm, West Lothian, Scotland. It is a scheduled monument and between 1971 and 2018 it was a Category B listed building.

Castle Greg

Castle Greg is the archaeological remains of a Roman fortlet in Harburn on the Camilty Plantation, approximately three miles south-east of West Calder, West Lothian, in Scotland. The site is less than an acre in size, and lies just off the B7008. It is one of the best preserved Roman earthworks in the country and was first excavated in the 19th century by Sir Daniel Wilson, the interior excavation having taken place in 1852. The remains take the form of two defensive ditches protecting a clearly visible rectangular rampart. Originally, these ditches would have been at least fifteen feet in depth. The rampart behind the ditches still stands up to five feet high in places, though obviously, this would have been far higher when the fortlet was in use. On the rampart stood a wooden palisade, at least ten feet high, with a walkway running the length of the fortlet. There is an entrance through the rampart at the eastern end, over which would have stood a wooden tower attached to the walkway. Very little remains of the flat interior of the fortlet, although it is known that within there would have been two rows of barracks, between which there was a well. There would also have been a stable block. During the 1852 excavation of the interior, pottery was discovered from the well between the two barracks. Castle Greg was a most likely used as a monitoring base for an east–west road running along the foot of the nearby Pentlands, from the Forth to the Clyde Valley. Although the fortlet currently commands no long-distance views, during the 1st century AD, when the fort was in use, the surrounding countryside was not forested, and Castle Greg would have been able to view clearly up to the Fife coastline and the mountains beyond. The name Castle Greg is possibly derived from the Roman name Camulosessa Præsidium, from nearby Camilty, itself derived from Camulos Tref – literally, village of Camulos.

2.5 km

West Calder High School

West Calder High School is a secondary school in West Calder, West Lothian, Scotland. The current school building was officially opened in 2018 by former Prime Minister Gordon Brown, the UN's Special Envoy for Global Education.