Swanston (population 75) is a rural and remote village to the South of the Edinburgh City Bypass and five miles from the Edinburgh city centre.
Situated in a rural conservation area, Swanston has no shop, café, pub, school, and church. It is however visited by many walkers who pass through the village on their way to the Pentland Hills, particularly to the summits of Allermuir (493 m) and Caerketton (478 m).
The village comprises of the main three-storey farmhouse, Swanston Cottage, a group of thatched farm workers' cottages, 8 stone cottages, and a school house. The buildings have been renovated in recent years after falling into disrepair.
Water was piped from springs in Swanston to Edinburgh along wooden pipes from the 1760s. The cistern house, three sand filter beds and a cottage for the water engineer can be still be seen.
In 1927, Miss Margaret Carswell created Swanston golf club, the first ladies-only club after finding it near impossible to gain membership to other golf clubs. It later dropped the ladies-only rule, expanding to an 18-hole course with pavilion.
Swanston Farm is the largest business in the area.