The claim
On Main Street in Roslin, a few hundred yards from Rosslyn Chapel, the Original Rosslyn Inn dates its business to 1837 and has been in the Harris family since 1973. The eighteenth-century Roslin Inn where Johnson and Boswell dined in 1773, and where Burns breakfasted, was a different house: Collegehill House beside the chapel, listed as the former Old Inn. The present building is dated 1857 in its listing.
What the records show
The inn's own site dates the business to 1837 and the Harris family's tenure to 1973. Historic Environment Scotland (LB44175, category C, designated on 7 March 1997) dates the building to 1857 with an addition of 1892, and reads the front as two three-bay dwellings amalgamated, so the standing house is later than the claimed start. Read in full on 17 September 2026, the record adds where the 1892 comes from: a panel on the single-storey block to the east carries the date and a set of initials, which is the building dating itself rather than a surveyor's estimate. The register's reference for the main block is the first edition Ordnance Survey map, and the only book it cites is the RIAS architectural guide to Midlothian of 1995; neither has been read here. The 1660 date and the Johnson, Boswell and Burns visits often attached to this name belong to the older Roslin Inn beside the chapel, now Collegehill House (LB13029, listed as formerly The Old Inn). Outside the Top 100 because the inn dates from long after 1750.
| Year | What | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 1837 | Claimed founding | The pub |
| c.1857 | Present building | Historic Environment Scotland listing LB44175 |
What to look for inside
- Building dated 1857 by Historic Environment Scotland, with an addition of 1892
- The Roslin Inn of Johnson and Boswell's 1773 visit was Collegehill House, beside the chapel
- Third generation of the same family behind the bar since 1973
Visiting
The Original Rosslyn Inn is in Roslin, Scotland, at 2-4 Main Street, Roslin EH25 9LE. We do not list opening times, because they change; the pub’s own site is the place to check before you set out.
Sources
- theoriginalrosslyninn.co.uk/
- portal.historicenvironment.scot/designation/LB44175
- camra.org.uk/pubs/original-rosslyn-inn-roslin-150403
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roslin,_Midlothian
- theoriginalrosslyninn.co.uk/whats-on/
- ratings.food.gov.uk/business/158930
Know something we don’t?Suggest a correctionLast checked Sept 2026
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