Inch House 

where past and present come together

 

Inch Community Centre is one of Edinburgh’s most dynamic community hubs, serving the local Inch district and extending a warm welcome to visitors from beyond. As well as offering traditional facilities for young and old and those in between, we are constantly developing new programmes and facilities for our rapidly changing local community. 

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Unusually for a community centre, we are based in a magnificent old castle, Inch House, dating back to the 16th century. Inch House possesses many ancient rooms, nooks and crannies, all brimming over with history and character. Not surprisingly, Inch House is in high demand as a venue for every kind of gathering, from birthday parties to conferences, Burns Suppers, concerts, wedding receptions and whist drives.

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But Inch House is rapidly changing and at our last general meeting in March of this year members voted to begin the journey of obtaining Community Asset Transfer of the building from Edinburgh Council. This will mean that local residents will become the owners of the building and will be solely responsible for its future development. We aim to try and realise the full potential of this extraordinary historical building, to build a community centre of which we can all be proud, as well as create a major resource and meeting place for the whole City of Edinburgh. 

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In the near future we plan to launch a major community project, “First Inchers”, to record of the history of the first generation of folk from Edinburgh’s Old Town who moved into the Inch during the 1950s. By recording the oral testimony of the survivors, as well as through archival research, we aim to recreate their lives and tell their personal stories and provide an important historical resource for the generations to come.

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We will also be launching our first ever café in early 2020 in a 17th century room opening on to our garden. We hope to see you there!!