Edinburgh Waterfront

Caroline Park

Beside the Firth of Forth

Edinburgh Waterfront was until recently an area dominated by Granton Gas Works,  small industries, wasteland.

There were once two large properties -  Granton Castle, demolished in the early 20th century and Caroline Park which is still standing.  It will soon be surrounded by new Waterfront developments.

Caroline Park Gates

Please click here to see a photograph of Caroline Park gates from the Edinburgh Calotype Club Album.  This was taken around the mid-1840s.  These gates appear to be the same as those described above as belonging to Granton Castle.  Further research is needed to discover which building(s) the gates in these two photos belonged to.

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Large new gates have been built [in 2004] on the northern side of Caroline Park.  [Photo to follow.]  These can be seen from a new road through Edinburgh Waterfront that opened on 18 June 2004.

Caroline Park History

Caroline Park was built on the eastern side of Granton Burn around 1585.

The 2nd Duke of Buccleuch bought the estate of Wester Granton, including Granton Castle and the house and estate that were to become Caroline Park in 1716. 

He named the house and estate, Caroline Park, after his daughter and gave the house to her in 1743, the year before his death.

From 1802 to 1835, the house was leased by the Buccleuch family to  Archibald Cockburn, Sheriff of Midlothian, Baron of the Exchequer and  father of Lord Cockburn, the conservationist after whom the Cockburn Association is named.

The area around the house became more industrial in the 19th and early 20th century.  The house was sold to A B Fleming & Co who owned printing ink works nearby, in 1921 and used as their Head Office until 1966.  It is still occupied today.

Acknowledgement:  The Caroline Park History details above are taken from James Gracie's book Stranger on the Shore - A short history of Granton, Argyll Publishing, 2003  [ISBN 1 902831 535]