Duddingston Loch

Duddingston is a loch and bird sanctuary lying immediately to the south of Holyrood Park and the south west of Duddingston village in Edinburgh. It is extends to about 8 ha (20 acres), but with a maximum depth of only 3m (10 feet). The loch, which is administered by the Scottish Development Department, has been a sanctuary since 1925. On its southern shore is the Bawsinch Nature Reserve. The loch incorporates sizeable reed-beds, the most extensive in the Lothians, and offers excellent bird-watching opportunities including wintering wildfowl, heron and great crested grebe.

A hoarde of 53 Late Bronze Age weapons was dredged from the loch in 1778 and are now held by the National Museums of Scotland.

For hundreds of years Duddingston Loch has been a popular location for skating, and the cradle of the sport of Curling, various paintings exist illustrating the loch, perhaps best known is The Rev. Walker skating on Duddingston Loch by Sir Henry Raeburn (1756-1823), held by the National Gallery of Scotland. This records the minister of the Canongate Kirk in 1784, although actually shows little of the loch and its environs.