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
Riccarton

The tower house of Riccarton was built in the 15th century and by 1508, when it was owned by the Wardlaw family, it formed “a substantial fortified tower”. In 1621 and 1827 it was extended to become a more luxurious house rather than a defensive castle.

During World War Two Riccarton House was used as the Headquarters of Scottish Command, and post-war it was the Headquarters of the Royal Artillery 3rd Anti Aircraft Group until they left in 1954. By 1956 the house was in such a bad condition that it was demolished and nothing now remains on the site, which is within Heriot Watt university’s Riccarton campus, apart from the landscaped gardens and a pair of 17th century gatepiers.

stay in a castle
  • advertisement/

Alternative names for Riccarton

Ricartoun; Riccarton House

Where is Riccarton?

Riccarton is in the parish of Currie and the county of Midlothian.

Grid reference: NT 1743 6920

Lat / long: 55.908838, -3.322312

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

OS Map for Riccarton

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


Directions to Riccarton

Enter a starting point

  • advertisement

Weather at Riccarton

12°C
max 13°C / min 12°C
11km/h E
1016mb
94%
75%
03:27 20:59

Moderate rain
Weather observed at Currie at 04:18

References (books)

The Castles of Lothian and the Borders
Mike Slater
Malvern, 1994
The Castles of Scotland
Martin Coventry
Prestongrange, 2015

References (websites)

Listed Building record
Canmore

Castles near Riccarton

Hermiston (site of)

1.0km away

Kilbaberton Tower (site of)

1.7km away

Curriehill Castle (site of)

1.9km away

Addistoun (site of)

1.9km away

Lennox Tower

2.1km away

Woodhall

2.4km away

Malleny House

2.8km away

Ratho (site of)

2.9km away

Dalmahoy (site of)

3.0km away
more castles....

Ancient sites near Riccarton

Kaimes Hill fort

5.0km away

Wester Craiglockhart Hill fort

5.4km away

Cammo Stone standing stone

5.5km away

Lochend standing stone

5.9km away

Huly Hill barrow and standing stones

6.1km away

Caiy Stane standing stone and rock art

6.8km away

Buck Stane standing stone

7.0km away

Cat Stanes (site of) cairns

7.1km away

Camus Stone (site of) standing stone

7.3km away
more ancient sites....
  • advertisement

Pictish stones near Riccarton

Princes Street Gardens Class I symbol stone

8.7km away

Abernethy No. 2 Class III symbol stone

9.3km away

Abernethy No. 4 Class III cross shaft

9.3km away

Court Cave Class I rock carving

32.4km away

Doo Cave Class I rock carving

32.5km away

Jonathan's Cave Class I rock carving

32.8km away

Sliding Cave Class I rock carving

32.9km away

Tullibole Class III cross slab

33.8km away

Hawkhill Class III cross-slab

36.0km away
more Pictish stones....
  • advertisement
  • Sixt Car Rental
  • advertisement

Pictish sites near Riccarton

Borland silver chain

25.6km away

Todholes (possible) silver chain

27.2km away

Haddington silver chain

34.3km away

Whitlaw silver chain

38.7km away

Traprain Law silver chain

41.2km away

Norrie's Law hoard

44.8km away

Whitecleugh silver chain

61.0km away

Hoardweel silver chain

61.9km away

Dunnicaer fort

135.7km away
more Pictish sites....
  • advertisement
  • Sixt Car Rental

Accommodation near Riccarton

Heriot-Watt University
hotelEdinburgh
0.1km away
Novotel Edinburgh Park
hotelEdinburgh
2.1km away
Premier Inn Edinburgh Park (The Gyle)
hotel, restaurant, café, barEdinburgh
2.4km away
Marriott Dalmahoy Hotel & Country Club
hotelKirknewton
2.7km away
Alvar House
bed and breakfastEdinburgh
3.5km away
Marriott Edinburgh
hotelEdinburgh
3.7km away
Ture Bed and Breakfast
bed and breakfastEdinburgh
4.0km away
Edinburgh Featherhall Garden Court Apartments
self-catering apartmentEdinburgh
4.3km away
Corstorphine Lodge Hotel
bed and breakfastEdinburgh
4.3km away
Agenda Hotel
hotelEdinburgh
4.5km 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
more accommodation....

Cafés, restaurants & bars near Riccarton

Premier Inn Edinburgh Park (The Gyle)
hotel, restaurant, café, barEdinburgh
2.4km away
Hostival – Carnival Camp
hostel, campsite, barEdinburgh
4.6km away
Norton House Hotel & Spa
hotel, restaurant, barEdinburgh
4.7km away
Holiday Inn Edinburgh
hotel, bar, restaurantEdinburgh
5.1km away
Best Western Edinburgh Capital Hotel
hotel, restaurant, barEdinburgh
5.9km away
Hampton Hotel
hotel, bar, restaurantEdinburgh
6.5km away
Caley Sample Room
bar, restaurantEdinburgh
6.8km away
Ardmillan Hotel
hotel, barEdinburgh
6.8km away
Best Western Braid Hills Hotel
hotel, restaurant, barEdinburgh
6.9km away
Cumberland Hotel
hotel, barEdinburgh
7.2km 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 14th of May 2010 at 2:00 pm. Updated on the 7th of December 2016 at 11:23 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.