Braid

Braid Hills Hotel
©2022 Gazetteer for Scotland

Braid Hills Hotel

A residential district of south Edinburgh, Braid is centred on the Hermitage of Braid and was formed by the feuing of the Braid estate from the late 19th Century The name 'Braid' may derive from the De Brad family who were associated with the area from the time of King David I (c.1080 - 1153) until 1305. Braid Castle existed from the 12th Century to the 18th Century, a new country house eventually being completed at the Hermitage of Braid in 1785 for Charles Gordon of Cluny.

Much to the disgust of author Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-94), large villas were built to the north of the Braid Burn between 1877 and 1905, under the direction of the feuing architect Sir Robert Rowand Anderson (1834 - 1921). The district was further extended to the south on the slopes of the Braid Hills with the building of bungalows during the inter-war period.

The Braid district was the location of the last execution in Scotland for highway robbery. Thomas Kelly and Henry O'Neill were hanged in 1815, and the two slabs which formed the base for the gallows can still be seen at the junction of Braid Road and Comiston Terrace.

The districts of Cluny and Morningside lie to the north. Greenbank lies to the west beyond Comiston Road and Braidburn Valley Park, with Comiston itself lying to the south.


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