Boroughmuir High School

It was founded in 1904, and located at 22–24 Warrender Park Crescent, overlooking Bruntsfield Links, in a building designed by John Alexander Carfrae,[2] and remembered by Muriel Spark as 'the school on the links'.[3] Built as Boroughmuir School, the building became James Gillespies in 1913 when the new Boroughmuir on Viewforth was opened. After the new Gillespie's was opened the building became Boroughmuir again as the 'Junior School' housing first and second years. The building on the links is now University of Edinburgh student residences.[4]

The school moved to a site at 26 Viewforth, also designed by Carfrae, from 1913 to 2018.[5] Built as a ‘higher grade’ school, the building was designed to accommodate over 1200 pupils in 40 classrooms. It was a large '8 block' centred around two quads (with a gymnasium at the lower ground floor), the perimeter corridor and surrounding classrooms had large tripartite windows and corridor windows facing the 'quad'. Additional wings, dining halls, glazed roofs and mezzanine floors were added later as the school struggled for space[6] The school also used nearby St Oswalds Hall as an annex.[7]

In June 2018 the school moved to the new building at 111 Viewforth in Fountainbridge on the site of a demolished brewery.[8][9] The new building was named the Building of the Year by Edinburgh Architectural Association,[10] the building also won the RIAS Award 2018 and RIBA Award for Scotland.[11]

Its catchment area is in the south side of the city, and includes Bruntsfield, Buckstone, Sciennes and South Morningside Primary Schools.

In 2011 Boroughmuir's exam results were the fourth best state school results in Scotland.[12] Boroughmuir High School was also awarded the high achievement of State School of the Year in 2012 and 2018 by the Sunday Times Newspaper.[13][14]

Boroughmuir High School acquired the team Boroughmuir RFC in 1913, which is based at the Meggetland Sports Complex, as well as operating U15 (Under 15s) and U18 clubs as after-school activities.

The School offers sports clubs such as ski racing, football and hockey.

Pupils are required to wear the school tie: it has green and black stripes for students in S1 to S4 and is green with the crest in S5 and S6. A blazer was introduced in 2015 and made obligatory in 2016.

"Vassals of the Muir" is the official Boroughmuir school song.[15]

Boroughmuir High School new building

The School on the Links

Corridors around the 'quads'

War Memorial Arch

Glazed roof over the quad

Each pupil is assigned to a house named after streets surrounding the school – Leamington (yellow), Viewforth (green), Hartington (blue), Westhall (Red) and Montpelier. (Purple). The houses Bruntsfield and Montpelier were removed by David Dempster in 2013 and their remaining members were distributed among the remaining houses. Montpelier was recreated in 2018 to cope with an influx of new pupils, however this addition to the school was rather controversial and received a lot of backlash from pupils and staff. This resulted in pupils creating a petition to undo the addition of the house, this petition received 200+ signatures but ultimately failed after a meeting with head teacher David Dempster.

The school was opened by the Secretary of State for Scotland, Mr McKinnon Wood in 1914. At the ceremony the Secretary of State was heckled by a member of the Women's Suffrage Movement, according to reports "an elderly lady seized the opportunity and made her way to the front of the audience, producing a small bag of flour from her muff and, as she threw it on Mr McKinnon Wood, she asked “Why do you torture women?” (Evening News 19 January 1914).[16]

Boroughmuir was a 'targeted school' during the long running teachers strike by the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) in the 1980s when across Scotland almost 15 million pupil days were lost during the 1984-86 industrial action.[17] In schools such as Boroughmuir there were periods in which pupils were taught only for a three-day week, were not allowed in the premises during lunch breaks and were offered no after-school clubs or sports as teachers withdrew their labour in opposition to the conservative government.[18] The strike ended during the period in which Malcolm Rifkind was Secretary of State for Scotland.

The new school building was opened by Minister for Higher and Further Education and Science, Shirley-Anne Somerville[19] accompanied by Councillor Adam McVey, Leader of the City of Edinburgh Council[20]

3 volumes of the Boroughmuir High School Magazine including the Roll of Honour names of pupils who served and died in WW1 were digitised as part of the University of Oxford 'lest we forget' project in 2018 and can be viewed online [21]

• Tommy Armour, golfer
• Douglas Allan (geologist and director of the Royal Scottish Museum)
• Angus Beith, footballer currently playing for Hearts[22]
• Ronnie Browne founding member of The Corries
• Donald Campbell (poet)[23]
• Annette Crosbie, actress[24]
• Dale Carrick, footballer who currently plays for Airdrieonians F.C.[25]
• William Cochran (physicist) [26]
• Neil Cochrane (rugby player)
• Gordon Dougall (musician in the Maggie Reilly Band)
• Willie Duff, footballer
• William Geissler, artist
• Christine Grahame, Scottish National Party politician[27]
• Sigrid Holmwood (artist)
• Drew Hendry, Scottish National Party politician
• Peter Hoffmann, author, athlete, fencer
• William Matheson (Gaelic scholar) (1910-1995), Scottish Gaelic scholar, and ordained minister of the Church of Scotland[28]
• Neve McIntosh (actress)
• Pollyanna McIntosh (actress)[29]
• Graham Simpson Murray ( industrial chemist)[30]
• Bill Noble, rugby player and Highland Games athlete [31]
• Lesley Orr (theologian) [32]
• Whalasdair Ian Bian Bevie, sunni cleric. Notable for his views on male Pattern hair loss.[33]
• Bill Rae (journalist)[34]
• Scott Robinson, footballer who currently plays for East Fife[35]
• Lewis Smith (fencer)[36]
• Sarah Smith, journalist (Channel 4 News)[37]
• Edward Stratton ( artist) [38]
• Sir George Taylor (botanist and Director of the Botanic Gardens)
• Alexander Trotman CEO of Ford Motor Company
• Robin M. Hochstrasser, a Benjamin Franklin Medal Award-winning[39] scientist for his work on molecular spectroscopy.[40]
• Tom Palmer (rugby union), England national rugby union team player
• Ken Ross ( rugby player)[41]
• Scott Robinson (footballer)
• John Sampson (musician)
• Fraser Watts (cricketer)
• Richard Henderson (biologist), Chemistry Nobel prize winner
• Ncuti Gatwa, actor
• Young Fathers members Alloysius Massaquoi and Kayus Bankole
• Sam Wright, contestant on Channel 4's The Undateables
• Harry Wattie (footballer)
• Fraser Woodburn (university administrator) [42]

Front gates on Viewforth

St Oswalds Hall

• Martin O'Neill[43]
• William Bremner [44][45]
• Peter Comrie[46]
• Robin Harper
• Sorely MacLean[47]
• Lewis Romanis [48]
• Tam Dayell[49]
• Samuel Robin Spark
• George Robin Henderson
• Bill Henderson [50]
• Fraser Henderson [51]

• Boroughmuir Awards
• Official Site
• Boroughmuir High School – Scottish Schools Online