Merchiston Castle School is an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. As they have existed for many centuries, and now exten ...

for boys in the suburb of

Colinton Colinton ( gd, Baile Cholgain) is a suburb of Edinburgh, Scotland situated south-west of the city centre. Up until the late 18th century it appears on maps as Collington. It is bordered by Dreghorn to the south and Craiglockhart to the north ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. It has around 470 pupils and is open to boys between the ages of 7 and 18 as either boarding or day pupils; it was modelled after English

public school Public school may refer to: * State school (known as a public school in many countries), a no-fee school, publicly funded and operated by the government * Public school (United Kingdom), certain elite fee-charging independent schools in England an ...

s. It is divided into Merchiston Juniors (ages 7–13), Middle Years (ages 13–16) and a

Sixth Form In the education systems of England, Northern Ireland, Wales, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepare for A-l ...

History

In 1828 Charles Chalmers started a small school in Park Place on a site now occupied by the

McEwan Hall The McEwan Hall ( gd, Talla MhicEòghainn) is the graduation hall of the University of Edinburgh, in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. It was presented to the university in 1897 by William McEwan, brewer and politician, at a cost of £115,0 ...

. In May 1833, Charles Chalmers took a lease of

Merchiston Castle Merchiston Tower, also known as Merchiston Castle, was probably built by Alexander Napier, the 2nd Laird of Merchiston around 1454. It serves as the seat for Clan Napier. It was the home of John Napier, the 8th Laird of Merchiston and the inven ...

(the former home of

John Napier John Napier of Merchiston (; 1 February 1550 – 4 April 1617), nicknamed Marvellous Merchiston, was a Scottish landowner known as a mathematician, physicist, and astronomer. He was the 8th Laird of Merchiston. His Latinized name was Ioann ...

, the inventor of

logarithm In mathematics, the logarithm is the inverse function to exponentiation. That means the logarithm of a number to the base is the exponent to which must be raised, to produce . For example, since , the ''logarithm base'' 10 o ...

s) — which at that time stood in rural surroundings — and moved the school. It is from here that the school name is derived. 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 Sir Robert Stodart Lorimer, KBE (4 November 1864 – 13 September 1929) was a prolific Scottish architect and furniture designer noted for his sensitive restorations of historic houses and castles, for new work in Scots Baronial and Gothi ...

. In 1930 the school moved to

. Three years later, in 1933, Merchiston celebrated its centenary, attended by the Duke and Duchess of York. Fifty years on, in 1983, at a time of further expansion and with 350 boys on the roll, their daughter, now

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

, visited the school for its 150th anniversary.

Academic performance

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

Sports and games

A range of sports and activities is available at the school; particularly in

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

, which over 60 Merchistonians have played at international level. The

Merchistonian Football Club Merchistonian Football Club is a rugby football team based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was for former pupils of Merchiston Castle School. History Merchistonian was a founding member of the Scottish Rugby Union and one of the five Scottish club ...

for former pupils of the School was a founding member of the

Scottish Rugby Union The Scottish Rugby Union (SRU; gd, Aonadh Rugbaidh na h-Alba) is the governing body of rugby union in Scotland. Styled as Scottish Rugby, it is the second oldest Rugby Union, having been founded in 1873. The SRU oversees the national league s ...

and was involved in the very first rugby international, supplying three players. The former 1st XV coach,

Frank Hadden Frank Hadden (born 14 June 1954) is a Scottish rugby union coach. He is a former head coach of Scotland and Edinburgh Rugby. Hadden replaced Matt Williams and was appointed on 15 September 2005. Hadden coached the Merchiston Castle School 1st ...

, 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. Merchiston also participates, with the

Edinburgh Academy The Edinburgh Academy is an Independent school (United Kingdom), independent day school in Edinburgh, Scotland, which was opened in 1824. The original building, on Henderson Row in the city's New Town, Edinburgh, New Town, is now part of the Se ...

, in the oldest continuous rugby football fixture in the world, the first being on 11 December 1858 at Raeburn Place, Edinburgh.

Boarding Houses

The boarding houses are: *Pringle *Chalmers West *Chalmers East *Rogerson *Evans *Laidlaw The boarding houses are named after: *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 Irvine Alan Stewart Laidlaw, Baron Laidlaw (born 22 December 1942 in Keith, Banffshire, Scotland) is a Scottish businessman, and a former member of the House of Lords. In the '' Sunday Times Rich List 2012'' ranking of the wealthiest people in ...

, former pupil and benefactor.

Merchiston 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 John Napier of Merchiston (; 1 February 1550 – 4 April 1617), nicknamed Marvellous Merchiston, was a Scottish landowner known as a mathematician, physicist, and astronomer. He was the 8th Laird of Merchiston. His Latinized name was Ioann ...

, now part of

Edinburgh Napier University , mottoeng = Without knowledge, everything is in vain , established = 1992 – granted University status 1964 – Napier Technical College , type = Public , academic_staff = 802 , administrative_staff = 562 , chancellor = Will Whitehorn , ...

. 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.

Historical abuse

Gordon Cruden, a French teacher, stood trial at

Edinburgh Sheriff Court Edinburgh Sheriff Court is a sheriff court in Chambers Street in Edinburgh, within the sheriffdom of Edinburgh and Borders. History The new court was commissioned by the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service to replace the Old Sheriff Court i ...

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. In 2021 at the

Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry The Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry was established in October 2015 to inquire into cases of abuse of children in care in Scotland. It was to report and make recommendations within four years by 2019. But this deadline was later changed to "as soon ...

, 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. Former pupils described abuse at Merchiston as comparable to "the ''

Lord of the Flies ''Lord of the Flies'' is a 1954 novel by the Nobel Prize-winning British author William Golding. The plot concerns a group of British boys who are stranded on an uninhabited island and their disastrous attempts to govern themselves. Themes i ...

''" 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.

Merchiston International School in Shenzhen

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 Shenzhen (; ; ; ), also historically known as Sham Chun, is a major sub-provincial city and one of the special economic zones of China. The city is located on the east bank of the Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern province ...

, Guangdong province,

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. 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 percent of the teaching staff are from the United Kingdom.

Merchistonians

Notes and references

External links

Official School Website

Profile
on the

ISC #REDIRECT ISC {{redirect category shell, {{R from other capitalisation{{R from ambiguous page ...

website
UK Boarding Schools Guide Profile

Merchiston Castle School's page on Scottish Schools OnlineMerchiston Castle School's page on The Good Schools GuideMerchiston International School
{{authority control Boarding schools in Edinburgh Charities based in Edinburgh Educational institutions established in 1833 1833 establishments in Scotland Independent schools in Edinburgh Member schools of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference Category A listed buildings in Edinburgh Boys' schools in Edinburgh