Groathill (possible) (site of)

Groathill was an ancient mansion which may have been a castle, but no trace of it now remains.

The earliest mention of Groathill comes when the lands of Grotthill were granted in 1350 by Henry Multer, burgess of Edinburgh, to the church of the blessed Virgin Mary of Edinburgh. This grant was confirmed in a charter of 1362 by his son, Robert Multer.

The lands also seem to be mentioned in an earlier charter as Greenhill, an alternative name for Groathill. In a charter from the reign of David II, Henry Braid of that Ilk granted the lands of Greenhill to a Henry Multra. The relative proximity of the Braid estate to the Greenhill in what is now Bruntsfield seems to have led to the conclusion that this was the Greenhill mentioned in the charter. However the charter of 1350 would appear to confirm that it was in fact the lands of Groathill being referred to.

The first map Groathill seems to appear on is John Adair’s map of around 1682 showing it as Grotil, almost equidistant between Craiglieth and Drylaw.

In 1925 Groathill was demolished in order to build Telford Road. Housing was built on the land, including Drylaw Avenue in 1923 and Drylaw Crescent in 1925. An echo of the original lands remains in the street name Groathill Road.