Hare Hill

Hare Hill stands 449 m high on the western slopes of the Pentland Hills in Midlothian. Its western edge already belongs to the City of Edinburgh, while the nearest small towns, Balerno and Penicuik, lie four and five kilometres away. To the south the Green Law rises, to the south-east the West and East Kip, and to the east the Scald Law. North of the hill the Threipmuir Reservoir collects water from the surrounding slopes. The hill carries traces of past settlement along the Logan Burn, which flows between Hare Hill and West Kip. Hare Hill House, a shepherd’s former home, shows how important sheep farming once was in the Pentland Hills. The drystone walls of the house, nine metres long and five and a half metres wide, still stand up to a metre high. Beside it a smaller structure may have been a terrace, and an oval enclosure nearby could have held animals. By the early 19th century the site had been abandoned. A later landmark is Bavelaw Castle, a tower house built in the 1620s on the north-west slopes. Robert Lorimer remodelled the now listed building around 1900, and it remains a private residence. The Pentland Hills offer quiet paths and wide views, with the reservoir and surrounding hills providing a peaceful setting for walks.