- published: 02 Dec 2010
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Craigmillar (Scottish Gaelic: Creag a' Mhuilleir), from the Gaelic Crag Maol Ard, meaning 'High Bare Rock', is an area of Edinburgh, Scotland about 3 miles (4.8 km) south east of the city centre, with Duddingston to the north and Newcraighall to the east.
Until around 2008, the area consisted mainly of inter-war and post-war public housing schemes, ranging from private bungalows to Edinburgh Council-owned high rise tower blocks. The housing scheme at Niddrie Mains was created through the Housing (Scotland) Act of 1924, with lands bought from the Wauchope Estate. The area was designed and laid out by the then City Architect, Ebenezer James MacRae from 1927. The Craigmilllar estate, immediately below the castle, was planned in 1936. Despite the relative modernity of most of the housing in the area, the settlement of Craigmillar itself is very old, and contains Craigmillar Castle, which was begun in the late 14th or early 15th century, and occupied until the early 18th century. In 1660, the Craigmillar estate was bought by Sir John Gilmour.