Dalkeith
Dalkeith
| |
---|---|
Location within Midlothian | |
Population | 14,330 (mid-2020 est.)[1] |
Council area | |
Lieutenancy area | |
Country | Scotland |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | DALKEITH |
Postcode district | EH22 |
Dialling code | 0131 |
Police | Scotland |
Fire | Scottish |
Ambulance | Scottish |
UK Parliament | |
Scottish Parliament | |
Dalkeith (
The town is divided into four distinct areas: Dalkeith proper with its town centre and historic core; Eskbank (considered to be the well-heeled neighbourhood of Dalkeith with many large Victorian and newer houses) to its west; Woodburn (primarily a working class council estate with pockets of new housing developments) to its east; and Newbattle (a semi-rural village with its abbey) to the south.[3][4]
Dalkeith is the main administrative centre for Midlothian. It is twinned with Jarnac, France. In 2004, Midlothian Council re-paved Jarnac Court in honour of Dalkeith and Jarnac's long standing link.
On the north-eastern edge of Dalkeith at Woodburn is the Dalkeith Campus (completed 2003) – housing both Dalkeith High School and St David's Roman Catholic High School plus community leisure facilities.[5]
Etymology
Dalkeith is understood to be a Cumbric name, cognate with Welsh ddôl 'meadow, plateau, valley' + coed 'wood'.[6]
Prehistory and archaeology
During the construction of the Dalkeith Northern Bypass in 1994-95 and 2006-08 (final construction was delayed for over a decade) archaeologists, working for CFA Archaeology, uncovered many archaeological features and information on the prehistory and history of the area. Their findings included two ring-groove structures, two pit alignments, a Roman temporary camp, a post-medieval building, an 18th-century designed landscape, and two industrial sites with a brick and tile works and a coal pit engine house. Given the wide area covered they were able to surmise the general settlement patterns of Dalkeith over the centuries. Settlement and land use was concentrated on the sands and gravels of the river terraces and only a bit of human occupation on the compacted clays that are found throughout the area. They also determined that people had been living in the Dalkeith area since the Neolithic. [7]
History
One of the earliest historical references to Dalkeith is found in the Chronicles of Jean Froissart, who stayed at Dalkeith Castle for fifteen days. He writes of the Battle of Otterburn and the death of James Douglas, 2nd Earl of Douglas:
"I, author of this book, in my youth had ridden nigh over all the realm of Scotland, and I was then fifteen days in the house of earl William Douglas, father to the same earl James, of whom I spake of now, in a castle of five leagues from Edinburgh which is called in the country Dalkeith. The same time I saw there this earl James, a fair young child, and a sister of his called the lady Blanche."[8]
In 1650, Oliver Cromwell's army came to Dalkeith. His officer General George Monck was Commander in Scotland, and the government of the country was based out of Dalkeith Castle.[9]
In 1831, Dalkeith was linked to Edinburgh by the Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway, which transported coal, minerals, and agricultural produce. Two decades later, in 1853, a Corn Exchange, at the time the largest indoor grain market in Scotland, was built.[10]
In 1879, Dalkeith was where William Ewart Gladstone started his campaign for British Prime Minister, which became known as the "Midlothian campaign".[11]
Notable buildings
The
Dalkeith Palace which replaced the castle in the late 16th century and was rebuilt in the early 18th century, lies at the north-east edge of the town. It is a former seat of the Duke of Buccleuch, surrounded by parkland and follies.
The building on High Street now known as the Tolbooth began to be used as a
Other notable buildings include a Watch Tower at the cemetery (1827),
Edinburgh College has its Midlothian Campus in Eskbank, close to the railway station.[18]
There is a modern
Midlothian Community Hospital is just outside Dalkeith, located off the A7 road on the eastern edge of the neighbouring town of Bonnyrigg.
Notable people
- Robert Aitken (1734–1802), Bible publisher
- Thomas Alison (1860-1931), painter
- Sir John Anderson (later 1st Viscount Waverley) (1882–1958), Home Secretary 1939–1940, Chancellor of the Exchequer 1943–1945
- Edmund Thornton Crawford (1806–1885), artist
- Beetty Dick (1693-1773) one of a series of female town criers peculiar to Dalkeith
- Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville (1742–1811), politician
- Fish (born Derek Dick) (b. 1958), former singer with Marillion
- Stoke City
- John Kay (1742–1826), artist
- Robert Ker (1824–1879), First Auditor General of the Province of British Columbia
- Robert Macpherson(1814–1872), photographer
- David Mushet (1772–1847), pioneer of iron production
- Bob Pringle (1851–1902), professional golfer
- Henry Scott, 3rd Duke of Buccleuch (1746-1812), Scottish nobleman
- Walter Montagu Douglas Scott, 5th Duke of Buccleuch (1806-1884), nobleman, landowner and politician
- James Small (1740-1793), inventor
- Leicester City
- Robert Smith (1722–1777), American architect
- D-Daymeteorologist
- mathematical physicist
- Aiden Moffat (1996-), racing driver
- Ryan Porteous (1999-), footballer with Hibernian and Watford
Transport
Until 2008, Dalkeith was on the
Other main roads serving Dalkeith are:
- B6373— a road wholly within Dalkeith, leaving and rejoining the A6106
- B6414 – leaves the A6094 on the NE edge of Dalkeith (at Woodburn) and leads NE to Tranent
- B6392 – runs north–south through Eskbank, and used to be the route of the A7 which leads from Edinburgh to Galashiels and Hawick
- B703 – leads south from Eskbank, through Newbattle, to Newtongrange
- B6482 – leaves the A6106 on the SE edge of Dalkeith (at Woodburn) and leads into Easthouses and Mayfield.
The re-building of the northern section of the
Bus services in Dalkeith are mostly run by Lothian Buses; East Coast Buses and Borders Buses also serve the town.
For walkers, the Penicuik–Dalkeith Walkway passes close by.
Sport
Football
The town is home to Dalkeith Thistle F.C., based at King's Park.[20] The club was formed in 1892 and now plays in the East of Scotland Football League, having spent most of its history in the Scottish Junior Football Association.
The established club is affiliated to Dalkeith Thistle Community Football Club, based at Cowden Park, Woodburn;[21] The club is 'SFA Quality Mark' accredited and run by volunteers.
Rugby
Gallery
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Dalkeith Country Park
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Frontage of Dalkeith Palace
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St. Mary's Church on the Buccleuch estate
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Spire of St. Nicholas-Buccleuch
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Window tracery, Dalkeith Parish Kirk
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Dalkeith Corn Exchange
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Watchtower within cemetery
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Water tower
Twin town
See also
- Dalkeith High School
- St. David's R.C. High School
- Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway
- Whitehill, Midlothian
- List of listed buildings in Dalkeith, Midlothian
References
- ^ "Mid-2020 Population Estimates for Settlements and Localities in Scotland". National Records of Scotland. 31 March 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
- ^ "Dalkeith (Midlothian)". Retrieved 3 March 2014.
- ^ "Dalkeith and Woodburn – Neighbourhood Profile" (PDF). Government of the United Kingdom. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 January 2020. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
- ^ "Eskbank and Newbattle – Neighbourhood Profile" (PDF). Government of the United Kingdom. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 January 2020. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
- ^ "Dalkeith Community Campus Leisure".
- ^ Fox, Bethany (2007). "'The P-Celtic Place-Names of North-East England and South-East Scotland'". The Heroic Age.
- ^ "Vol 44 (2010): Excavations on the Route of the Dalkeith Northern Bypass, 1994-95 and 2006 | Scottish Archaeological Internet Reports". journals.socantscot.org. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
- ISBN 0-14-044200-6.
- ^ "The History of Dalkeith House and Estate" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 January 2016. Retrieved 13 December 2011.
- ^ ".... Corn Exchange Dalkeith". Retrieved 13 December 2011.
- ^ David Brooks, "Gladstone and Midlothian: The Background to the First Campaign," Scottish Historical Review (1985) 64#1 pp 42-67
- ^ "St Mary's, Dalkeith – – the church in the park".
- ^ St David's Dalkeith from Scotland's Churches Trust retrieved 14 March 2014
- ^ "Dalkeith, 176 - 180 High Street, Market Place, Tolbooth". Canmore. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
- ^ "British Executions - William Thomson - 1827". British Executions. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
- ^ Historic Environment Scotland. "Municipal Buildings, 2-8 Buccleuch Street, Dalkeith (LB24334)". Retrieved 16 September 2021.
- ^ "Dalkeith, Old Edinburgh Road, New Burial Ground, Watch Tower". Retrieved 16 January 2014.
- ^ Our Campuses: Midlothian, Edinburgh College
- ^ "All – Projects – Transport Scotland". Archived from the original on 11 April 2009.
- ^ Home, Dalkeith Thistle FC]
- ^ Community Section, Dalkeith Thistle Community FC
External links
- Media related to Dalkeith at Wikimedia Commons
- Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 7 (11th ed.). 1911. .
- Dalkeith – Google Maps