In the heart of the leafy suburb of Murrayfield, there's a beautiful former nursing home that hides a surprising military heritage.
Recently converted into luxury housing with a price tag in the millions, Torwood House at 30 Corstorphine Road, is no ordinary Edinburgh villa.
The stunning residence, which was built in the early 1850s as Tor House, played a pivotal role during the Second World War as a top secret Royal Air Force (RAF) headquarters.
Between April 1940 and July 1943, the mansion served as the main Scottish HQ for the RAF's No.34 Balloon Command Group. Mainly operated by female RAF personnel, the HQ was a hive of activity for much of the war and regarded as a crucial defence unit in repelling the threat of German aerial bombardment.
Background
Tor House was one of five command stations dotted around the UK during the war and responsible for controlling Britain's barrage balloon units.
These units played a pivotal role in the early years of the war in protecting major cities and ports such as Edinburgh from the threat of dive bombers. Hundreds of the barrage balloons were positioned over the skies of Scotland's cities in the event of a German aerial attack.
And while Edinburgh ultimately escaped the wholesale devastation witnessed in the likes of Clydebank and Coventry, the capital was a prime target from the very start.
Indeed, in October 1939 the skies above the Firth of Forth thundered with the sound of gunfire as the first German bomber raid on the UK commenced. Britain emerged victorious in this battle, but the threat from that point on was very real and the placement of barrage balloons over prime military targets was regarded a necessity.
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The crafts, which measured 62 feet long and 25 feet in diameter, could be sent up to heights of 5,000 feet to force enemy bombers to fly higher. This meant the enemy's guns became less of a threat while also placing them in range of anti-aircraft guns.
After 1940, Balloon Command units were primarily operated by the Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF), with male RAF personnel needed for active duty.
The use of barrage balloons over Britain's skies ended in the Autumn of 1944, as it became clear that the Luftwaffe no longer presented any significant threat. Balloon Command was disbanded in February 1945.
After the war, Tor House, which was originally built for James Craig, proprietor of Craig & Rose, manufacturers of luxury paints, briefly became a convalescent home for RAF servicemen and was also used as a Salvation Army home for unmarried mothers.
The old mansion was transformed again in the 1970s to become a nursing home run by the Edinburgh and Lothian Baptist Housing Association, before being converted and divided into luxury apartments in the 2000s. Many of its original fittings and features have been retained.
The main house, which is now a five-bed home, was recently given a market value of £2.25 million, while the wider Torwood development has two buildings containing 23 apartments, a converted stables and coach house, and the original gatehouse, with 28 residences in total.
More information on the Torwood House listing can be found here.
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