skip to main content
Menu
  • Blog
    • Art & design
    • Castles
    • Cycling
    • Edinburgh
    • Edinburgh Festival
    • Food & drink
    • General
    • History
    • Music
    • Sport
    • Walking
    • Whisky
    • Wildlife
  • Castles
    • Glossary
    • Mottes
    • Stay in a castle
    • Castle blog posts
    • Alphabetical list of castles
    • Castles divided by county
    • Photos of castles
    • Castles we've visited
  • History
    • Castles
    • Ancient history
      • barrows
      • brochs
      • cairns
      • caves
      • chambered cairns
      • cists
      • crannogs
      • cursus monuments
      • forts
      • henges
      • rock art
      • sacred sites
      • souterrains
      • standing stones
      • stone circles
    • Pictish history
      • Pictish stones
      • Pictish sites
      • Pictish placenames
    • Clans
      • Surnames
      • Trace your ancestors
      • Tartan
    • Trace your ancestors
  • Culture
    • Music
      • Bands & musicians
      • Music links
    • Film
    • Television
    • Placenames
      • Pictish placenames
  • Eat
  • Drink
    • Scottish beer
    • Scottish gin
    • Scottish vodka
  • Stay
  • Travel guide
    • City guides
    • Car hire
    • Airports
  • Walking
    • Munros
    • West Highland Way
  • Photos
  • Offers
  • Home
  • history
  • castles
Braid Castle

Although nothing of it now remains, Braid Castle stood above the Braid Burn from the 12th to the 18th centuries.

The first recorded owner of the lands of Braid is a Sir Henry, or Henri, de Brad, or de Brade, who is named as sheriff of Edinburgh in 1165 and 1200. He was probably descended from a Flemish knight named Richard de Brad (or de Breda) who came to Scotland with David I.

Henry owned lands from Braid right down into the Pentlands, and Bavelaw Castle seems to have been another of his properties, as in the early 13th century he is recorded as having granted the lands of Bavelaw to Holyrood Abbey.

The exact location of Braid Castle isn’t known. One proposed site is Midmar Paddock, an open area of flat ground at the end of Hermitage Drive. However rig and furrow cultivation covering this area has been identified from aerial photographs, so it seems unlikely that a castle could have stood here for hundreds of years throughout the medieval period. Given that this site is also overlooked by Blackford Hill, it does seem an unusual spot for an early castle.

A more likely site seems to me to be on the rocky cliffs above the 18th century Hermitage of Braid House, and one reference states that Henry de Brad built a tower house on the crags above Hermitage House, which was later extended and of which all that is left is a large doocot and the remnants of a walled garden.

A section wall runs down the steep rocky crags, and doesn’t have the look of a garden wall. Although it isn’t particularly thick, it’s position on the rock face suggests it’s defensive.

The doocot is thought to have been built in the late 17th century, so pre-dates Hermitage House and was therefore probably associated with Braid Castle. It is the second largest doocot in Edinburgh, and has 1965 nesting boxes.

The position of the doocot certainly suggests that a location on the crags for Braid Castle is much more likely than in Midmar Paddock. The remains of the walled garden include parts of a carved stone doorway which it’s tempting to suggest looks more like a 16th or 17th century castle or house doorway than a garden entrance.

The lands of Braid were apparently owned by the de Brad family until 1305, after which it’s unclear who the owners were. But by 1485 they were owned by James Fairlie of Braid, and the Fairlie family continued to own them until 1631, when Sir Robert Fairlie sold Braid to Sir William Dick, later styled Sir William Dick of Braid.

Following Sir William’s death in 1655, the Exchequer seems to have sold “the lands and barony of Braid, with the manor places, houses, biggings, yards, orchards, barns, byres, stables, dovecots, meadows, muirs, marshes, mill, mill-lands, multures, sucken, sequels and whole pertinents thereof” to a John Brown of Gorgie Mill.

Early in the 18th century a new house was built on the Braid estate, and this probably marked the end of Braid Castle. Interestingly on John Adair’s map of Midlothian from around 1682 a large house or castle named Bread is shown on the north bank of the Braid burn, to the west of a walled garden.

However on Richard Cooper’s updated 1735 version of Adair’s map, a new property named Hermitage has appeared to the east of the older building. This would appear to confirm the crags above the Hermitage of Braid as the most likely location for Braid Castle.

In 1772 the lands of Braid were bought by Charles Gordon of Cluny, and in 1785 he commissioned Robert Burn to build a new house, Hermitage of Braid House.

The Braid estate remained in the Gordon family until 1937, when a John McDougal gifted the estate to the City of Edinburgh, buying it from the Cluny trustees. It is now a Local Nature Reserve run by the City of Edinburgh Council.

stay in a castle
  • advertisement/

Alternative names for Braid Castle

Bread

Clans associated with Braid Castle

Fairlie

Surnames associated with Braid Castle

Fairlie

Where is Braid Castle?

Braid Castle is in the parish of Edinburgh and the county of Midlothian.

Grid reference: NT 2495 7032

Lat / long: 55.920104, -3.202405

  • advertisement
Bing Maps | Google Maps | Historic maps (NLS) | OpenStreetMap | Ordnance Survey | PastMap | Streetmap | Wikimapia

OS Map for Braid Castle

OS map 350
Edinburgh (Musselburgh & Queensferry)
OS Explorer map 350


Directions to Braid Castle

Enter a starting point

  • advertisement/
  • advertisement

Weather at Braid Castle

14°C
max 15°C / min 14°C
10km/h E
1028mb
71%
73%
04:02 20:16

Broken clouds
Weather observed at Edinburgh at 12:10
  • advertisement

Castles near Braid Castle

Craig House

1.5km away

Merchiston Castle

1.6km away

Grange House (site of)

1.6km away

Liberton Tower

1.7km away

Greenhill (possible) (site of)

1.8km away

Bruntsfield House

1.9km away

Meggetland (possible) (site of)

1.9km away

Old Comiston House

2.0km away

Liberton House

2.1km away
more castles....
  • advertisement

Ancient sites near Braid Castle

Buck Stane standing stone

1.2km away

Caiy Stane standing stone and rock art

2.1km away

Cat Stanes (site of) cairns

2.1km away

Wester Craiglockhart Hill fort

2.1km away

Camus Stone (site of) standing stone

2.2km away

Edinburgh Castle fort

3.2km away

Samson's Ribs fort

3.3km away

Arthur's Seat fort

3.7km away

Dunsapie fort

4.3km away
more ancient sites....
  • advertisement

Pictish stones near Braid Castle

Abernethy No. 2 Class III symbol stone

3.1km away

Abernethy No. 4 Class III cross shaft

3.1km away

Princes Street Gardens Class I symbol stone

3.3km away

Court Cave Class I rock carving

28.2km away

Doo Cave Class I rock carving

28.3km away

Jonathan's Cave Class I rock carving

28.5km away

Sliding Cave Class I rock carving

28.6km away

Scoonie Class II cross slab

34.1km away

East Lomond Hill Class I symbol stone

35.8km away
more Pictish stones....
  • advertisement

Pictish sites near Braid Castle

Haddington silver chain

26.7km away

Borland silver chain

30.5km away

Todholes (possible) silver chain

32.4km away

Whitlaw silver chain

33.4km away

Traprain Law silver chain

33.6km away

Norrie's Law hoard

40.3km away

Hoardweel silver chain

54.7km away

Whitecleugh silver chain

66.6km away

Dunnicaer fort

130.9km away
more Pictish sites....
  • advertisement

Accommodation near Braid Castle

Best Western Braid Hills Hotel
hotel, restaurant, barEdinburgh
0.7km away
15 Merchiston Gardens Bed & Breakfast
bed and breakfastEdinburgh
1.6km away
Alba Executive Apartments
self-catering apartmentsEdinburgh
1.6km away
A Flat Apart
self-catering apartmentsEdinburgh
1.7km away
Liberton Tower
self-catering apartmentEdinburgh
1.7km away
Links Hotel, Edinburgh
hotel, restaurant, barEdinburgh
1.9km away
Ashdene House
bed and breakfastEdinburgh
1.9km away
Wrights Houses
self-catering apartmentEdinburgh
1.9km away
Teviotdale House
hotelEdinburgh
2.0km away
Mayfield Lodge Guesthouse
hotelEdinburgh
2.0km away

Accommodation search

(leave blank to view all)
Accommodation type
bed and breakfasts
campsites
castles
holiday parks
hostels
hotels
self-catering apartments
self-catering cottages
self-catering lodges
spas
  • advertisement
more accommodation....

Cafés, restaurants & bars near Braid Castle

Morningside Glory
barEdinburgh
0.7km away
Best Western Braid Hills Hotel
hotel, restaurant, barEdinburgh
0.7km away
The Waiting Room
barEdinburgh
0.8km away
Merlin
barEdinburgh
1.1km away
Montpeliers Bar & Brasserie
bar, restaurantEdinburgh
1.8km away
Links Hotel, Edinburgh
hotel, restaurant, barEdinburgh
1.9km away
Best Western Bruntsfield Hotel
hotel, restaurant, barEdinburgh
2.0km away
Earl of Marchmont
barEdinburgh
2.1km away
Leslie's Bar
pubEdinburgh
2.2km away
Earthy Causewayside
caféEdinburgh
2.2km away
more food.... / more drink....

Related pages

Dirleton Castle in East Lothian
Dirleton Castle in East Lothian
Garden of Cosmic Speculation plus castles
Garden of Cosmic Speculation plus castles
Inveraray Castle and standing stone
Inveraray Castle and standing stone
A doocot, a castle and a beach in East Lothian
A doocot, a castle and a beach in East Lothian
A pair of castles on the River Tweed
A pair of castles on the River Tweed
Dunbar harbour and castle
Dunbar harbour and castle
Published on the 4th of March 2012 at 6:35 pm. Updated on the 25th of February 2020 at 7:30 pm.

Leave a comment

back to the top of the page

Connect with us

Like us on Facebook

Receive our newsletter

Follow us on Twitter

Tweets by Stravaig_Aboot

Quick links

Stay in a Scottish castle
Edinburgh Festival accommodation
Hotels in Scotland
Car hire in Scotland
Places to eat and drink in Scotland
Castles in Scotland
Trace your Scottish ancestors
Scottish clans
Standing stones in Scotland
The Picts
Pictish symbol stones
Pictish placenames
Scottish bands and musicians
Scottish films
Scottish TV shows
West Highland Way

About

Andy Sweet above Fast Castle

Stravaiging around Scotland is written, photographed and researched by Andy Sweet.
read more....

Cookies

To make this site work properly we use cookies to store information on your computer. Click here to read more.

Affiliate links

This site includes affiliate links and adverts. If you click on these links we may receive a small commission at no cost to yourselves. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. This modest income goes towards funding the site.
© 2003 - 2025 Andy Sweet / Stravaiging around Scotland. Powered by WordPress. Hosted by Tsohost.