In the hard winters of the 18th century, many citizens of Edinburgh liked to skate and curl on the frozen Nor’Loch, immediately to the north of the Castle Rock. As the New Town began to take shape in the 1780s it was decided to drain the Nor’ Loch, and a new curling venue became necessary. In 1795 a group of gentlemen formed the Duddingston Curling Society, and erected a small building on the edge of the loch to house their stones.