Home Report Corstorphine

Corstorphine is a bustling residential district on the western side of Edinburgh of roughly 25,000 residents. It is just under 3 ½ miles from Edinburgh city centre and has one of the main routes in and out of Edinburgh that being St. John’s & Corstorphine Road cutting through it. It’s seen as a more affordable part of the city, popular with young families and first-time buyers alike. Part of Corstorphine rises up into what is Corstorphine hill, a low ridge shaped hill rising above the suburbs of the area. While some of the residential area rises up into the hill, most of it is actually a local nature reserve, not to mention Edinburgh Zoo on the south-facing side of the hill.

Corstorphine started life vastly different from the area we see today. It was a relatively thin strip of dry land between two glacially created lochs – the Gogar Loch and Corstorphine Loch – though of course both have now been drained. Imagining two lochs in the Corstorphine/Murrayfield and Gogar areas is quite something given what’s there today.

In terms of local transport, Corstorphine contains one of the main and busiest routes into Edinburgh and outwards to the west. St John’s Road. Lothian buses has introduced low-emission buses along this route and services are typically quite reliable and frequent. Cycling routes also run along the road. There’s no railway station in the area, the stations being at Edinburgh Gateway and South Gyle, and slightly further away, Haymarket. Edinburgh Gateway also has a tram station that locals can use.

Corstorphine’s main street is the St. John’s Road, but it does have its own “High Street” too. Though it is no longer the main street of the area, an anomaly shared coincidentally with central Edinburgh. Being a built-up area practically on Edinburgh City Centre’s doorstep, amenities, and things to do are in abundance. There are many shops, both independents and the typical chains, cafes, restaurants, takeaways, pubs, as well as a host of services. The Gyle retail centre is also easily reachable offering a wide choice of shops, cafes, and restaurants. Then there’s Edinburgh Zoo, which is of course one of the main attractions in the country never mind Corstorphine alone.

In terms of local sport, naturally with Murrayfield being so close there are two rugby clubs based in the area: Corstorphine Cougars RFC and Forrester RFC. Because of its proximity to Murrayfield Stadium, Corstorphine benefits from a significant amount of passing trade from rugby internationals and this helps support the local hospitality sector.

As for local schooling, Corstorphine Primary, Carrick Knowe Primary, East Craigs Primary, Fox Covert Primary, Fox Covert Roman Catholic Primary and Gylemuir Primary are the local primary schools. The state secondary school that serves the area is Craigmount High School, which is situated between Corstorphine and East Craigs, and the nearest Roman Catholic secondary school is St. Augustine’s, which shares a campus with Forrester High School.