Penicuik
Encyclopedia
Penicuik is a burgh
and civil parish
in Midlothian
, Scotland
, lying on the west bank of the River North Esk
. The town was developed as a planned village
in 1770 by Sir James Clerk
of Penicuik. It became a burgh in 1867. The town was well known for its paper mill
s, the last of which closed in 2005. More recently the town was home to the Edinburgh Crystal
works. Penicuik has two secondary schools, Penicuik High School
and Beeslack Community High School
.
The town's name is pronounced 'Pennycook' and is derived from Pen Y Cog, meaning "Hill of the Cuckoo" in the Old Brythonic language (also known as Ancient British and the forerunner of modern Welsh).
Near Penicuik is Glencorse Parish Kirk, which formed part of the inspiration for Robert Louis Stevenson's Kidnapped
(1886). Some of the streets nearby are named after characters in the novel and its sequel, Catriona
(1893). Penicuik is home to the Royal Highland Fusiliers
, 2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland
, garrisoned in Glencorse Barracks.
Penicuik is twinned with the town of L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue
in France
.
The site of Penicuik was home to the paper mill established by Agnes Campbell in 1709. A monument in the churchyard reads "1737, Annabel Millar spouse to Thomas Rutherford Papermaker at Pennycuik".
Around 1770, the arrival of the Cowan family, and their expansion of the paper mill, led to the need for homes for their workers. The hamlet of Penicuik was expanded as a planned town (roughly based on Edinburgh's New Town) by Sir James Clerk of Penicuik, the builder of nearby Penicuik House, and by 1800 the population had risen to 1,700.
Penicuik was the site of a prison camp for French prisoners during the Napoleonic Wars
(housed in the old range at Valleyfield Mill). The former camp is now the site of a housing development in Valleyfield. A monument dated 1830 by the River Esk
commemorates "the mortal remains of 309 prisoners of war who died 1811-14". It was erected by Alexander Cowan owner of the paper mill, whose house overlooked the burial site.
Penicuik hosted the inaugural Grand Match
in curling
, between the north and the south of Scotland, in 1847. The town became a burgh
in 1867
In the oldest part of Penicuik, surrounding the town centre and to the South of the old POW camp, crossing the river Esk is Pomathorn Bridge which was once a toll bridge and the main route between Edinburgh to the North and the Scottish Borders to the South. As such Penicuik has a number of ancient travellers' Inns, including The Crown, and the Royal. Because of their location on such a busy caravan route, both these pubs advertise the patronage of many characters from Scottish 18th Century history, allegedly (but unlikely) including visits from Burke and Hare and even Bonnie Prince Charlie
.
The Dalmore paper mill on the North Esk river near Auchendinny
closed in 2005.
and Scotland, Penicuik experiences a maritime climate with cool summers and mild winters. The towns somewhat elevated position means it is more suseptible to snowfall than nearby Edinburgh; over 30 days of the year on average reported lying snow for the period 1951-1980, compared to 14 at Edinburgh. Temperature extremes since 1960 range from 30.2 °C (86.4 °F) during July 1983 to -19.2 C in January 1982. The coldest temperature in recent years was -12.5 C during January 2010.
Police burgh
A police burgh was a Scottish burgh which had adopted a “police system” for governing the town. They existed from 1833 to 1975.-The 1833 act:The first police burghs were created under the Burgh Police Act, 1833...
and civil parish
Civil parishes in Scotland
In Scotland, parishes, as units of local government, were abolished by the Local Government Act 1929. The geographical area is sometimes still referred to, however, for statistical purposes....
in Midlothian
Midlothian
Midlothian is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and a lieutenancy area. It borders the Scottish Borders, East Lothian and the City of Edinburgh council areas....
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, lying on the west bank of the River North Esk
River Esk, Lothian
The River Esk is a river which flows through Midlothian and East Lothian, Scotland.It initially runs as two separate rivers, the North Esk and the South Esk....
. The town was developed as a planned village
New town
A new town is a specific type of a planned community, or planned city, that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed in a previously undeveloped area. This contrasts with settlements that evolve in a more ad hoc fashion. Land use conflicts are uncommon in new...
in 1770 by Sir James Clerk
Clerk Baronets
There has been one creation of baronets with the surname Clerk . It was created in the Baronetage of Nova Scotia by Letters Patent dated 24 March 1679, for John Clerk of Pennycuik , whose father, also John Clerk of Penicuik, had returned from Paris in 1647 with a considerable fortune and purchased...
of Penicuik. It became a burgh in 1867. The town was well known for its paper mill
Paper mill
A paper mill is a factory devoted to making paper from vegetable fibres such as wood pulp, old rags and other ingredients using a Fourdrinier machine or other type of paper machine.- History :...
s, the last of which closed in 2005. More recently the town was home to the Edinburgh Crystal
Edinburgh Crystal
Edinburgh Crystal was a cut glass crystal manufactured in Scotland between 1867 and 2006, and was also the name of the manufacturing company. In addition to drinking glasses, Edinburgh Crystal have made decanters, bowls, baskets, and bells, in several ranges...
works. Penicuik has two secondary schools, Penicuik High School
Penicuik High School
Penicuik High School is a non-denominational secondary state school located in Penicuik, Midlothian, Scotland. It is situated on Carlops Road, opposite the town's main park....
and Beeslack Community High School
Beeslack High School
Beeslack Community High School is a non-denominational secondary state school located in Penicuik, Midlothian, Scotland, United Kingdom. It is known locally as the 'Biscuit Factory' due to its large orange and black industrial block-shaped appearance...
.
The town's name is pronounced 'Pennycook' and is derived from Pen Y Cog, meaning "Hill of the Cuckoo" in the Old Brythonic language (also known as Ancient British and the forerunner of modern Welsh).
Near Penicuik is Glencorse Parish Kirk, which formed part of the inspiration for Robert Louis Stevenson's Kidnapped
Kidnapped (novel)
Kidnapped is a historical fiction adventure novel by the Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson. Written as a "boys' novel" and first published in the magazine Young Folks from May to July 1886, the novel has attracted the praise and admiration of writers as diverse as Henry James, Jorge Luis...
(1886). Some of the streets nearby are named after characters in the novel and its sequel, Catriona
Catriona (novel)
Catriona is a novel written in 1893 by Robert Louis Stevenson as a sequel to his earlier novel Kidnapped...
(1893). Penicuik is home to the Royal Highland Fusiliers
Royal Highland Fusiliers
The Royal Highland Fusiliers, 2nd Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Scotland is an infantry battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland....
, 2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland
The Royal Regiment of Scotland
The Royal Regiment of Scotland is the senior and only Scottish line infantry regiment of the British Army Infantry. It consists of five regular and two territorial battalions, each formerly an individual regiment...
, garrisoned in Glencorse Barracks.
Penicuik is twinned with the town of L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue
L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue
L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue is a town and commune on the Sorgue river southeastern France. Politically, the commune is in the arrondissement of Avignon within the département of Vaucluse and the region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur.The small town is famous for its many antique shops and hosts antique...
in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
History
A hamlet stood here from at least the 17th century. The ruined old parish church, in the centre of the graveyard, dates from the late 17th century.The site of Penicuik was home to the paper mill established by Agnes Campbell in 1709. A monument in the churchyard reads "1737, Annabel Millar spouse to Thomas Rutherford Papermaker at Pennycuik".
Around 1770, the arrival of the Cowan family, and their expansion of the paper mill, led to the need for homes for their workers. The hamlet of Penicuik was expanded as a planned town (roughly based on Edinburgh's New Town) by Sir James Clerk of Penicuik, the builder of nearby Penicuik House, and by 1800 the population had risen to 1,700.
Penicuik was the site of a prison camp for French prisoners during the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
(housed in the old range at Valleyfield Mill). The former camp is now the site of a housing development in Valleyfield. A monument dated 1830 by the River Esk
River Esk, Lothian
The River Esk is a river which flows through Midlothian and East Lothian, Scotland.It initially runs as two separate rivers, the North Esk and the South Esk....
commemorates "the mortal remains of 309 prisoners of war who died 1811-14". It was erected by Alexander Cowan owner of the paper mill, whose house overlooked the burial site.
Penicuik hosted the inaugural Grand Match
Grand Match
The Grand Match, also called The Bonspiel, is an outdoor curling tournament, or bonspiel, held most recently on the Lake of Menteith in Stirling, Scotland when the weather is cold enough. Traditionally it is a match between the north and south of Scotland....
in curling
Curling
Curling is a sport in which players slide stones across a sheet of ice towards a target area. It is related to bowls, boule and shuffleboard. Two teams, each of four players, take turns sliding heavy, polished granite stones, also called "rocks", across the ice curling sheet towards the house, a...
, between the north and the south of Scotland, in 1847. The town became a burgh
Burgh
A burgh was an autonomous corporate entity in Scotland and Northern England, usually a town. This type of administrative division existed from the 12th century, when King David I created the first royal burghs. Burgh status was broadly analogous to borough status, found in the rest of the United...
in 1867
In the oldest part of Penicuik, surrounding the town centre and to the South of the old POW camp, crossing the river Esk is Pomathorn Bridge which was once a toll bridge and the main route between Edinburgh to the North and the Scottish Borders to the South. As such Penicuik has a number of ancient travellers' Inns, including The Crown, and the Royal. Because of their location on such a busy caravan route, both these pubs advertise the patronage of many characters from Scottish 18th Century history, allegedly (but unlikely) including visits from Burke and Hare and even Bonnie Prince Charlie
Charles Edward Stuart
Prince Charles Edward Louis John Casimir Sylvester Severino Maria Stuart commonly known as Bonnie Prince Charlie or The Young Pretender was the second Jacobite pretender to the thrones of Great Britain , and Ireland...
.
Paper mills
Paper-making was started here by Mrs Agnes Campbell in 1709. The mill was subsequently purchased by Charles Cowan, originally a grocer in Leith, who established the Cowan Valleyfield Mills. In 1796, Charles Cowan brought in his son Alexander Cowan to manage the mill. An adjacent corn mill was purchased in 1803 which became known as Bank Mill after he converted it to produce the paper on which banknotes were printed. Paper was also produced at Eskmill which has recently now become a site for private housing.The Dalmore paper mill on the North Esk river near Auchendinny
Auchendinny
Auchendinny is a small village near Penicuik, Midlothian, Scotland. The village had a paper mill at Dalmore, until its closure in 2005. Nearby Auchendinny House was the last country house designed by gentleman architect Sir William Bruce.-References:...
closed in 2005.
Climate
As with the rest of the British IslesBritish Isles
The British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and over six thousand smaller isles. There are two sovereign states located on the islands: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and...
and Scotland, Penicuik experiences a maritime climate with cool summers and mild winters. The towns somewhat elevated position means it is more suseptible to snowfall than nearby Edinburgh; over 30 days of the year on average reported lying snow for the period 1951-1980, compared to 14 at Edinburgh. Temperature extremes since 1960 range from 30.2 °C (86.4 °F) during July 1983 to -19.2 C in January 1982. The coldest temperature in recent years was -12.5 C during January 2010.
Notable people
Notable people connected with Penicuik include;- Sir John Clerk, baronet, composer and leading Scottish politician during the period leading up to the 1707 Act of Union
- The Scotland rugby unionScotland national rugby union teamThe Scotland national rugby union team represent Scotland in international rugby union. Rugby union in Scotland is administered by the Scottish Rugby Union. The Scotland rugby union team is currently ranked eighth in the IRB World Rankings as of 19 September 2011...
captain Jim AitkenJim AitkenJim Aitken is a British businessman and former Scotland international rugby union player. He won 24 international caps and scored one try, playing at loose head prop, between 1977 and 1984, and captained the Scottish Grand Slam side in the 1984 Five Nations Championship.He is now a successful...
, - The founder of FinlandFinlandFinland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
's second city, James Finlayson - The mathematician and seismologist Cargill Gilston KnottCargill Gilston KnottCargill Gilston Knott was a Scottish physicist and mathematician who was a pioneer in seismological research. He spent his early career in Japan...
FRS - The zoologist James Cossar Ewart FRSJames Cossar EwartJames Cossar Ewart FRS was a Scottish zoologist. He was the son of John Ewart, a joiner, and Jean Cossar....
, whose home, Craigiebield House, is now a hotel - Children's writer Helen BannermanHelen BannermanHelen Bannerman was the Scottish author of a number of children's books, the most notable being Little Black Sambo. She was born in Edinburgh and, because women were not admitted as students into British Universities, she sat external examinations set by the University of St. Andrews and attained...
- Charles Thomson Rees WilsonCharles Thomson Rees WilsonCharles Thomson Rees Wilson, CH, FRS was a Scottish physicist and meteorologist who received the Nobel Prize in physics for his invention of the cloud chamber.- Biography:...
, Nobel prizeNobel PrizeThe Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...
-winning physicist, was born at a nearby farm - Tommy Banner, musician, The WurzelsThe WurzelsThe Wurzels are a British Scrumpy and Western band...
- James 'Grim Jim' Livingstone, musician, Neonatal Death, Scotland's first GoregrindGoregrind-History:Despite the early impact of albums such as Repulsion's Horrified and Impetigo's Ultimo Mondo Cannibale, the origins of the genre really lie with the British band Carcass, who began their career in the late 1980s...
Band