Merchiston Castle School

In 1828 Charles Chalmers started a small school in Park Place on a site now occupied by the McEwan Hall. In May 1833, Charles Chalmers took a lease of Merchiston Castle (the former home of John Napier, the inventor of logarithms) — which at that time stood in rural surroundings — and moved the school. It is from here that the school name is derived.[2] Over time, the number of pupils grew and the Merchiston Castle became too small to accommodate the school. The governors decided to purchase 90 acres of ground at the Colinton House estate, four miles south-west of Edinburgh. Building began in 1928 including the Chalmers and Rogerson boarding houses, designed by Sir Robert Lorimer.[3] In 1930 the school moved to Colinton.[4]

Three years later, in 1933, Merchiston celebrated its centenary, attended by the Duke and Duchess of York.[5] Fifty years on, in 1983, at a time of further expansion and with 350 boys on the roll, their daughter, now Queen Elizabeth II, visited the school for its 150th anniversary.[5]

In 2018, 50% of grades achieved at A Level were A*/A.[6]

A range of sports and activities is available at the school; particularly in rugby union, which over 60 Merchistonians have played at international level. The Merchistonian Football Club for former pupils of the School was a founding member of the Scottish Rugby Union and was involved in the very first rugby international,[7] supplying three players.[8] The former 1st XV coach, Frank Hadden, who was at the school from 1983-2000, was the head coach of the Scottish national team from 2005-2009. The school has won the Scottish Schools U18 Rugby Cup a record eight times: 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2008, 2018, 2021 and 2022.[9] Merchiston also participates, with the Edinburgh Academy, in the oldest continuous rugby football fixture in the world, the first being on 11 December 1858 at Raeburn Place, Edinburgh.[10]

Merchiston Castle School at Colinton

The boarding houses are:[11]

• Pringle
• Chalmers West
• Chalmers East
• Rogerson
• Evans
• Laidlaw

The boarding houses are named after:[11]

• Mr James Summer Pringle, a benefactor.
• Charles Chalmers, founder, owner, and headmaster of Merchiston Castle School from 1828-1850.
• Dr John Johnston Rogerson, headmaster from 1863-1898 and owner from 1863-1896 when it became a public school rather than privately-owned in 1896.
• Cecil Evans, headmaster from 1936-1957.
• Irvine Laidlaw, Baron Laidlaw, former pupil and benefactor.

Merchiston Castle School tartan

The Merchiston Castle School tartan was designed by Kinloch Anderson in 1988. It is based upon the Napier tartan as the school was founded in the 1830s in the original home of John Napier of Merchiston, now part of Edinburgh Napier University. The tartan retains the sett of the Napier tartan, but changes the white to royal blue, the royal blue to navy, and the white line to scarlet to reflect the school colours.[12]

Gordon Cruden, a French teacher, stood trial at Edinburgh Sheriff Court and was found guilty in December 2015 of three charges of indecent exposure at the school between 1980 and 1985. The court did not proceed to a conviction, but dealt with the matter in terms of section 246 (3) of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 by way of an absolute discharge. This means that although Cruden was found guilty, he was not convicted of the offences for which he stood trial.[13]

In 2021 at the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry, the lawyer representing Merchiston said there was at least one member of the staff where the warning signs were missed. He gave an "unreserved apology" to former pupils who were abused at school.[14]

Former pupils described abuse at Merchiston as comparable to "the Lord of the Flies" in further hearings at the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry. One of the pupils stated that you had to "accept there was a form of corruption" alongside the school behaving "in whatever manner pleased it" and that "staff did 'nothing whatsoever' to help pupils". The inquiry resumed its proceedings in January 2022, already discovering a culture of ‘don’t yell and don’t tell’ at the school with a former pupil stating that "No one would have listened" to issues raised by pupils and that "the school would not have taken action after complaints" during their tenure.[15]

Merchiston Castle School developed Merchiston International School after a year of collaboration with Chinese investor Lv Jianjun. Merchiston International School in Shenzhen is under Lv Jianjun's management. Merchiston International School opened its doors in August 2018 as the first school in Longhua District, Shenzhen, Guangdong province, China. It offers student living arrangements along with a British education. The school is the first overseas campus for the 185-year-old Merchiston Castle School. The school can cater to 1,200 students aged between 5 and 18. Lessons are taught in English and pupils from grades 1 to 9 follow the English national curriculum, with additional access to Mandarin language learning. Senior students study for the IGCSE and A-levels. With accommodation for 600, the senior school is exclusively for boarding students. 80 per cent of the teaching staff are from the United Kingdom.[16]

• Official School Website
• Profile on the ISC website
• UK Boarding Schools Guide Profile
• Merchiston Castle School's page on Scottish Schools Online
• Merchiston Castle School's page on The Good Schools Guide
• Merchiston International School