East Lothian
Haddingtonshire | |
|---|---|
 Coat of arms | |
 East Lothian shown withinScotland | |
| Coordinates:55°55′N2°45′W / 55.917°N 2.750°W /55.917; -2.750 | |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Country | Scotland |
| Unitary authority | 1 April 1996 |
| Administrative HQ | Haddington Town House |
| Government | |
| • Type | Council |
| • Body | East Lothian Council |
| • Control | No overall control |
| • MPs | 2 MPs |
| • MSPs | 2 MSPs |
| Area | |
• Total | 262 sq mi (679 km2) |
| • Rank | 18th |
| Population (2022)[2] | |
• Total | 112,450 |
| • Rank | 19th |
| • Density | 430/sq mi (166/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC+0 (GMT) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+1 (BST) |
| ISO 3166 code | GB-ELN |
| GSS code | S12000010 |
| Website | eastlothian |
East Lothian (/ˈloʊðiən/;Scots:Aest Lowden;Scottish Gaelic:Lodainn an Ear) is one of the 32council areas of Scotland, as well as ahistoric county,registration county andlieutenancy area. The county was calledHaddingtonshire until 1921.
In 1975, the historic county was incorporated forlocal government purposes intoLothian Region as East Lothian District, with some slight alterations of its boundaries. TheLocal Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 later created East Lothian as one of 32 modern council areas. East Lothian lies south of theFirth of Forth in the easterncentral Lowlands of Scotland. It bordersEdinburgh to the west,Midlothian to the south-west and theScottish Borders to the south. Itsadministrative centre and formercounty town isHaddington while the largest town isMusselburgh.
Haddingtonshire has ancient origins and is named in a charter of 1139 asHadintunschira[3] and in another of 1141 asHadintunshire.[4] Three of the county's towns were designated asroyal burghs:Haddington,Dunbar, andNorth Berwick.
As with the rest ofLothian, it formed part of theAnglo-Saxon kingdom ofBernicia and later theKingdom of Northumbria. Popular legend suggests that it was at a battle between thePicts andAngles in the East Lothian village ofAthelstaneford in 823 that theflag of Scotland was conceived. From the 10th century, Lothian transferred from the Kingdom of England to the authority of the monarchs of Scotland. It was a cross-point in battles between England and Scotland and later the site of a significantJacobite victory against Government forces in theBattle of Prestonpans. In the 19th century, the county is mentioned in theGazetteer for Scotland as chiefly agricultural, with farming, fishing and coal-mining forming significant parts of the local economy.
Following the end of the Roman occupation of Britain, Lothian was populated by Brythonic-speakingAncient Britons and formed part of the kingdom of theGododdin, within theHen Ogledd or Old North. In the 7th century, all of the Gododdin's territory fell to the Angles, with Lothian becoming part of the kingdom ofBernicia.
Bernicia united into theKingdom of Northumbria which itself became part of the earlyKingdom of England. Lothian came under the control of the Scottish monarchy in the 10th century.
The earliest reference to theshire of Haddington, or Haddingtonshire, occurred in the 12th century, in two charters issued byKing David. The shire covered the eastern part of Lothian.
Haddingtonshire was heavily involved in several medieval and early modern conflicts and several fortified castles and buildings such asDunbar Castle,Tantallon Castle andDirleton Castle date from this period.
In the 12th and 13th centuries, thePalace of Haddington was one of the seats of theKings of Scotland. KingWilliam the Lion of Scotland used the palace from time to time and it was the birthplace ofAlexander II in 1198.[5] The palace and town were burned and pillaged in 1216, by an English army under the command ofKing John of England. In 1296, theBattle of Dunbar was a decisive victory for the forces ofEdward I of England against the forces ofJohn Balliol, the Scottish king who was Edward's vassal.
Haddingtonshire was also the site of conflict during the war of theRough Wooing, with many houses and villages burnt by the English in May 1544 after thesacking of Edinburgh, the Scottish defeat at thebattle of Pinkie,Dunbar Castle burnt in 1548, and thesiege of Haddington. Haddingtonshire lairds supported the English cause, includingJohn Cockburn of Ormiston,Alexander Crichton of Brunstane, andRegent Arran demolished their houses.
During theWar of the Three Kingdoms, anotherBattle of Dunbar took place in 1650 betweenScottish Covenanter forces and theEnglish Parliamentary forces underOliver Cromwell. The Parliamentary forces were victorious and able to march on to take Edinburgh.
Following theRestoration of the monarchy,Glorious Revolution andActs of Union,Jacobite forces conflicted with Government forces, with the main conflict taking place as part of the1715 Rising and1745 Rising. Under the command ofSir John Cope, the British Army met with the Jacobites underCharles Edward Stuart at theBattle of Prestonpans in the west of the county in September 1745, with the Jacobite side gaining a significant victory before being defeated at theBattle of Culloden in April 1746.
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Haddingtonshire County Council was created in 1890 under theLocal Government (Scotland) Act 1889, which established elected county councils across Scotland, taking over most of the functions of theCommissioners of Supply, which had been the main administrative body of the shire since 1667. The county council was based atCounty Buildings in Court Street, Haddington, which had been built in 1833 and also served as the county'ssheriff court.[6]
In April 1921 the county council voted to request a change of the county's name from Haddingtonshire to "East Lothian".[7] The government agreed and brought the change into effect as part of the East Lothian County Buildings Order Confirmation Act 1921, which receivedroyal assent on 8 November 1921. The act also transferred ownership of the County Buildings to the county council.[8][9][10]
In 1975 under theLocal Government (Scotland) Act 1973, Scotland's county councils were dissolved and a new system of regional and district councils was created. East LothianDistrict was created within the widerLothianregion. The district comprised the historic county of East Lothian plus the burgh of Musselburgh and the parish ofInveresk (which includedWallyford andWhitecraig) from the county of Midlothian.
When further reforms in 1996 moved Scotland to a system of 32 unitary local authorities, the modern council area of East Lothian was created.
East Lothian is predominantly rural. It has 40 miles (64 km) of coastline where the towns ofMusselburgh,Prestonpans,Cockenzie and Port Seton,Longniddry,Gullane,North Berwick andDunbar lie along the coast of theFirth of Forth. The coast has several headlands and bays, most notablyGosford Bay,Aberlady Bay,Gullane Point,Sandy Hirst,Tyne Mouth,Belhaven Bay,Barns Ness,Chapel Point andTorness Point. There are several small islands off the coast north of North Berwick, the largest of these beingFidra,Lamb,Craigleith andBass Rock.
Only two towns are landlocked,Tranent and Haddington. To the south are theLammermuir Hills along the boundary with Berwickshire; it is here thatMeikle Says Law, the highest point in the county at 535 metres (1,755 ft), can be found. TheRiver Tyne flows through Haddington and several of East Lothian's villages, reaching the Firth of Forth nearBelhaven. TheRiver Esk flows through Inveresk and Musselburgh where it empties at the north of the town into the Firth of Forth. Major bodies of water includePressmennan Lake, theWhiteadder Reservoir,Hopes Reservoir,Stobshiel Reservoir andLammerloch Reservoir.
TheA1 road travels through East Lothian where it meets the Scottish Borders southbound and Edinburgh northbound. The A1 throughout East Lothian isdual carriageway and major junctions include Dunbar, Haddington, Tranent, Prestonpans and Musselburgh.[citation needed]
Starting inLeith, the A199 road also travels through East Lothian beginning at Musselburgh and passing through Wallyford, Tranent,Macmerry and Haddington before joining the A1 inWest Barns.[11]
Some non-primary routes in East Lothian are the A198, A1087, A6093 and A6137 roads.[12]
East Lothian is served by eight railway stations: East Linton (opened December 2023),Dunbar andMusselburgh on theEast Coast Main Line; andNorth Berwick,Drem,Longniddry,Prestonpans andWallyford on theNorth Berwick Line. Rail service operators which travel through and stop at stations in the area include:ScotRail on both lines; andCrossCountry andLondon North Eastern Railway on the East Coast Main Line.
Bus operators in East Lothian are:Lothian Buses and its subsidiary East Coast Buses, Eve Coaches of Dunbar, Prentice of Haddington andBorders Buses. East Coast Buses is the main bus service provider connecting the towns and villages of East Lothian to Edinburgh. The company has depots in North Berwick and Musselburgh.[13]
The population of East Lothian as of 2022 is 112,450.[2] The fastest growing district in East Lothian is the Tranent, Wallyford and Macmerry ward which is expected to see its population of just over 20,000 increase to just under 30,000 by 2026.[14]
| Ethnic Group | 2001[15] | 2011[14][16] | 2022[17] | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | |
| White: Total | 89,433 | 99.27% | 98,011 | 98.29% | 108,844 | 96.94% |
| White:Scottish | 79,942 | 88.74% | 85,347 | 85.59% | 89,252 | 79.49% |
| White:Other British | 7,708 | 8.56% | 9,244 | 9.27% | 13,508 | 12.03% |
| White:Irish | 547 | 0.61% | 870 | 0.87% | 1,186 | 1.06% |
| White:Gypsy/Traveller[note 1] | – | – | 13 | – | 61 | 0.05% |
| White:Polish[note 1] | – | – | 811 | 0.81% | 1,492 | 1.33% |
| White:Other | 1,236 | 1.37% | 1,726 | 1.73% | 3,341 | 2.98% |
| Asian,Asian Scottish orAsian British: Total | 319 | 0.35% | 955 | 0.96% | 1,368 | 1.22% |
| Asian, Asian Scottish or Asian British:Indian | 63 | 0.07% | 275 | 0.28% | 318 | 0.28% |
| Asian, Asian Scottish or Asian British:Pakistani | 110 | 0.12% | 288 | 0.29% | 436 | 0.39% |
| Asian, Asian Scottish or Asian British:Bangladeshi | 14 | – | 43 | – | 28 | – |
| Asian, Asian Scottish or Asian British:Chinese | 95 | 0.11% | 209 | 0.21% | 266 | 0.24% |
| Asian, Asian Scottish or Asian British:Asian Other | 37 | – | 140 | 0.14% | 323 | 0.29% |
| Black,Black Scottish orBlack British[note 2] | 18 | – | – | – | – | – |
| African: Total | 31 | – | 179 | 0.18% | 315 | 0.28% |
| African:African,African Scottish orAfrican British | – | – | 177 | 0.18% | 38 | – |
| African:Other African | – | – | 2 | – | 279 | 0.25% |
| Caribbean orBlack: Total | – | – | 107 | 0.11% | 99 | 0.09% |
| Caribbean | 30 | – | 59 | 0.06% | 46 | – |
| Black | – | – | 29 | – | 10 | – |
| Caribbean or Black:Other | – | – | 19 | – | 43 | – |
| Mixed or multiple ethnic groups: Total | 176 | 0.20% | 363 | 0.36% | 1,164 | 1.04% |
| Other: Total | 81 | 0.09% | 102 | 0.10% | 496 | 0.44% |
| Other:Arab[note 1] | – | – | 74 | 0.07% | 153 | 0.14% |
| Other: Any other ethnic group | – | – | 28 | – | 339 | 0.30% |
| Total: | 90,088 | 100.00% | 99,717 | 100.00% | 112,284 | 100.00% |
In the2014 Scottish independence referendum, a majority of voters in the East Lothian council area opted for Scotland to remain a part of the United Kingdom - with 61.72% casting their ballots for the Union and 38.28% voting for independence.[18]
Lothian East is a constituency in theHouse of Commons, electing oneMember of Parliament. It is one of only four UK Parliamentary Constituencies in Scotland—along withInverclyde,Moray andNa h-Eileanan an Iar—that matches the boundaries of itsLocal Authority area.
The current MP for Lothian East isDouglas Alexander of the Labour Party, who has represented the constituency since the2024 general election, replacing Alba Party MP,Kenny MacAskill.[19]
FormerUK Prime MinisterArthur Balfour was born on 25 July 1848 atWhittingehame House in what is now the Lothian East constituency.[20][21]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour Co-op | Douglas Alexander | 23,555 | 49.2 | +18.5 | |
| SNP | Lyn Jardine | 10,290 | 21.5 | −13.4 | |
| Conservative | Scott Hamilton | 5,335 | 11.1 | −16.0 | |
| Reform UK | Robert Davies | 3,039 | 6.3 | N/A | |
| Liberal Democrats | Duncan Dunlop | 2,649 | 5.5 | −0.8 | |
| Scottish Green | Shona McIntosh | 2,477 | 5.2 | N/A | |
| Alba | George Kerevan | 557 | 1.2 | N/A | |
| Majority | 13,265 | 27.7 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 47,902 | 63.4 | −8.3 | ||
| Registered electors | 75,546 | ||||
Most of East Lothian is in theEast Lothian Scottish Parliament constituency andSouth Scotland region with the exception of Musselburgh which is inMidlothian North and Musselburgh and theLothians region.
East Lothian Council is based in the historic county town of Haddington, with the council meeting at theHaddington Town House and offices at nearby at John Muir House.[24] The unitary local authority contains six wards, electing 22 councillors.
Largest settlements by population:
| Settlement | Population (2020)[25] |
|---|---|
| Musselburgh | 21,100 |
| Tranent | 11,910 |
| Prestonpans | 10,460 |
| Haddington | 10,360 |
| Dunbar | 10,270 |
| North Berwick | 7,840 |
| Cockenzie | 5,370 |
| Wallyford | 3,370 |
| Gullane | 2,810 |
| Longniddry | 2,340 |
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In 1894, John Martine publishedReminiscences and Notices of Ten Parishes of the County of Haddington.[27]
There are a range of schools in the county, including sixstatesecondaries: Dunbar Grammar School,Knox Academy (formerly the Grammar School) in Haddington,Musselburgh Grammar School,North Berwick High School,Preston Lodge High School in Prestonpans andRoss High School inTranent.[28]
There are twoindependent schools in the county.Loretto School is a day and boarding school in Musselburgh founded in 1827 andBelhaven Hill School, established in 1923 is a smallerpreparatory school in Dunbar also providing boarding.
In 2007,Queen Margaret University began its move to a new, purpose-built campus in Musselburgh within East Lothian, providing it with its first university.
In November 2017, a county flag competition was launched in East Lothian to register an officialflag of East Lothian. Anyone willing to enter this competition was allowed to enter, which resulted in 623 entries to the competition; which closed on 28 February 2018. Four final flag designs were placed in a vote to the residents of East Lothian. In December 2018, the winning design was announced, designed by Archie Martin, a local man fromMusselburgh and residing inGifford who had worked for East Lothian Council for 23 years. Mr Martin died in July 2018. The flag features a saltire representing East Lothian as the birthplace of Scotland's flag. A gold cross signifies the wealth of East Lothian's farmlands and reputation as the granary of Scotland; with a lion in the centre representing theHaddington lion along with blue stripes to represent the riversEsk andTyne.
East Lothian is served by a local paid-for weekly newspapers, theEast Lothian Courier.
TheEast Lothian Courier (known locally as "The Courier") began as the Haddingtonshire Courier in 1859, before changing its name in 1971.[29] It was owned by D&J Croal, based in Haddington, until its purchase by the Dunfermline Press Group in 2004. It is now owned byNewsquest.
TheEast Lothian News was first published in 1971, as part of Scottish County Press Group, with editorial offices inDalkeith and printing atBonnyrigg (both in Midlothian). The Scottish County Press Group was acquired by Regional Independent Media in 2000, which was in turn bought byJohnston Press in 2002. TheEast Lothian News closed in 2015.[30]
There are two local community radio stations in East Lothian, broadcasting on FM and online. East Coast FM, based in Haddington, has been broadcasting since 2009.Radio Saltire, formerly East Lothian FM, is now based in Tranent.
A number of sports personalities also have links with East Lothian:
The following people and military units have received theFreedom of the County of East Lothian.
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It was agreed at a special meeting of Haddington County Council on Friday [1 April 1921], on the motion of Lord Polwarth, to apply for a Provisional Order to vest Haddington County Buildings in the Council, and to change the designation of the county from "Haddington" to "East Lothian".
Media related toEast Lothian at Wikimedia CommonsEast Lothian | |
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