St. Hilary’s School for Girls was founded by Miss. Christina Muirhead in the 1920’s in Edinburgh. During the war the school was evacuated from Edinburgh to the safety of Thirlestane Castle in Lauder which was home to the 15^th Earl and Countess of Lauderdale.

   The school would remain at Thirlestane from 1939 until the end of 1944. However when Edinburgh wasn’t bombed in the same way London was Miss. Muirhead did open a branch school back in Edinburgh for parents didn’t want their children evacuated or who wanted them home. At Thirlestane the school had the use of most of the castle, while Lord and Lady Lauderdale and their family lived in one wing. The school used most of the main living rooms as classrooms while the upper floors were used as dorms.

    I have been researching the school’s time at Thirlestane for a couple of years. It’s a subject that I am very interested in and until now largely untold. When you visit Thirlestane today it’s hard to image that the castle’s beautiful rooms were once home to school children. During my research I was very fortunate to meet several ladies who had attended St. Hilary’s when it was Thirlestane. They very kindly shared their memoires with me; I owe them a lot.

If you have any information on the school’s time at Thirlestane or where a student with the school when it was at  Thirlestane I would love to hear from you.

You can contact me at jmanckiy@gmail.com  

Thank you,

Johnnie Manckiy