Merchiston Castle, Napier University, Colinton Road, Edinburgh

Merchiston Castle is a 15th-century tower house, remodelled in the 17th century, now incorporated into Napier University. It is built of pink sandstone rubble with some chamfered dressings, and features a corbelled parapet with rounded, unroofed bartizans at the corners of the main block and wing. Stone waterspouts are also present, as is a gabled attic storey and a circular cap-house.

The south-east elevation, the main entrance front, has a modern entrance dating from 1958-64, accessed by a concrete dog-leg stair at the second floor. A tall rectangular opening features a round-arched moulded doorway with a heraldic carved panel above, and a single window below. There is also a blocked-up basement window and single windows to the first, second, and third floors. The outer left has a round cap-house with a conical roof above the parapet, and a shouldered wallhead stack to the right of centre.

The north-west elevation has an advanced wing with an offset string course at the second floor. The attic storey has a crowstepped gable and apex stack, a bipartite window at the second floor, and a single window at the third floor. A pedimented dormer sits in the attic storey. The ground and first floors of the main block are obscured by a modern enclosed walkway, with two single windows above.

The north-east elevation has a single window at ground floor, bipartite windows to both the first and second floors. Two arrowslit windows are located above, and the attic storey has a crowstepped gable with an apex stack.

The south-west elevation includes a two-storey modern addition. The right side has single windows to the ground and third floors, and the attic storey has a crowstepped gable and apex stack, alongside a pedimented dormer to the left.

Multi-pane timber sash and case windows are throughout, covered by a Scottish slate roof. Two apex stacks and one wallhead stack are present.

Internally, the former hall, now the principal’s room or study, contains a heavily restored late medieval fireplace with nook-shafts and moulded capitals, and an ornate 17th-century plaster ceiling with a central pendant and motifs including reliefs of King David and Alexander the Great. The wing retains visible elements of the former kitchen including a fireplace recess, lockers, and a serving hatch. The third-floor board room (extending to the fourth floor) has a bolection-moulded fireplace, a modern gallery, and a transplanted painted timber ceiling from Prestongrange House, East Lothian, dating from 1581. Several upper floors feature fireplaces with moulded stone surrounds.