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Corstorphine

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"A village and a parish of North West Edinburghshire. The village stands at the South-Western base of Corstorphine Hill, on the Glasgow road, 3 miles West by South of Edinburgh.

Sheltered from cold winds, and lying open to the sun, it commands a fair prospect across the wide level plain to Craiglockhart and the Pentlands, and is itself a pleasant little place, with a few old houses, and many more good cottages and first class villas.

The parish, containing also the village of Gogar, is bounded North by Cramond, East by St Cuthberts, South by Colinton, South West by Currie and Ratho, and West by Ratho.

The surface is an almost unbroken plain, about 200 feet above sea-level, save in the North East, where Corstorphine Hill slopes gradually upwards, its highest point (520 feet) being crowned by square, five storied, turreted Clermiston Tower, 70 feet high, built in 1872 on occasion of the Scott Centenary. Clothed with Scotch firs and hardwood trees, this hill figures widely in the Lothian landscape, and itself commands a magnificent view, especially from its steeper, eastern side, where, at a point called 'Rest-and -be-Thankful', two benches were placed in 1880 by the Cockburn Association."

(Extract from Groomes Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland

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Church Records

The parish church has records for birth dating from 1690, for marriages from 1747 and for deaths from 1747. These are held in the General Register Office for Scotland in Edinburgh and copies on microfilm may be consulted in the Edinburgh Room, Central Library, George IV Bridge, Edinburgh and also in LDS Family History Centres around the world.

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Description & Travel

You can see pictures of Corstorphine which are provided by:

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Gazetteers

The transcription of the section for Corstorphine from the National Gazetteer (1868) provided by Colin Hinson.

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Maps

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference NT187716 (Lat/Lon: 55.930394, -3.30267), Corstorphine which are provided by:

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Statistics

For a social and economic record of the parishes of Mid Lothian together with considerable statistical material, see Sir John Sinclair's Statistical Account of Scotland, which was compiled in the 1790s. Follow-up works to this were the New Statistical Account (also known as the Second Statistical Account) which was prepared in the 1830s and 1840s; and more recently the Third Statistical Account which has been prepared since the Second World War.

Thanks to a joint venture between the Universities of Glasgow and Edinburgh the First and Second Statistical Accounts can now be accessed on-line at The Statistical Accounts of Scotland, 1791-1799 and 1845.