Seacliff
Encyclopedia
North Berwick
The Royal Burgh of North Berwick is a seaside town in East Lothian, Scotland. It is situated on the south shore of the Firth of Forth, approximately 25 miles east of Edinburgh. North Berwick became a fashionable holiday resort in the 19th century because of its two sandy bays, the East Bay and the...
, East Lothian
East Lothian
East Lothian is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and a lieutenancy Area. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Scottish Borders and Midlothian. Its administrative centre is Haddington, although its largest town is Musselburgh....
, 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...
.
History
The beach and estate command a strategic position at the mouth of the Firth of ForthFirth of Forth
The Firth of Forth is the estuary or firth of Scotland's River Forth, where it flows into the North Sea, between Fife to the north, and West Lothian, the City of Edinburgh and East Lothian to the south...
, and control of the area has been contested through the ages. The beach and estate were used as a staging post for various raids on nearby Tantallon Castle
Tantallon Castle
Tantallon Castle is a mid-14th-century fortress, located east of North Berwick, in East Lothian, Scotland. It sits atop a promontory opposite the Bass Rock, looking out onto the Firth of Forth...
from the 14th to the 17th century. Troops were also stationed here to prevent landings by the French 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...
in 1798. Before bloodshed touched the area, the 8th century Christian missionary Saint Baldred
Baldred of Tyninghame
Balthere of Tyninghame was a Northumbrian hermit and abbot, resident in East Lothian during the 8th century.-Dating:According to Hovendeus the date of Baldred's death is given as 756. Symeon of Durham says "the twentieth year of King Eadberht of Northumbria " and Turgot of Durham "the...
was based in nearby Scoughall, and several features of the area have been named after him, such as "Ghegan Rock" (Churchman's Haven).
David Bryce
David Bryce FRSE FRIBA RSA was a Scottish architect. Born in Edinburgh, he was educated at the Royal High School and joined the office of architect William Burn in 1825, aged 22. By 1841, Bryce had risen to be Burn's partner...
to build a new house in baronial style on the core of the older house. However, in 1907 it was gutted by fire. The exterior survives almost complete with gables, turrets and bartizans. The outbuildings were later purchased by the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
who established a top-secret research base there during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. The station, known as HMS Scottish Seacliff, was mainly used for navigation training and U-Boat defence.
Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson was a Scottish novelist, poet, essayist and travel writer. His best-known books include Treasure Island, Kidnapped, and Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde....
was related to the Dale family, who still own and farm much of the land around Seacliff today.
Modern day
Seacliff Harbour is a sheltered spot accessible through a narrow channel, all blasted out of the red sandstone
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
cliffs. This was constructed in 1890 by Andrew Laidley, the then laird, who used a steam engine and compressed air to cut the stone. It was once home to boats owned by fisherman and landowners but today it is rarely used by boats and more for diving and dive training. The entrance measures just two metres across and it is the smallest harbour in the UK.
The estate is home to farming, the Seacliff Haulage depot and a small number of cottages.