Newtongrange Village

The monks of Newbatttle Abbey were the first to mine the coal in Midlothian back in the 13th century,they used it to keep their saltpans boiling at Preston (now Prestonpans). There was not a great domestic demand for another 200 years as coal was considered to be an unhealthy fuel but by the mid 16th century the monks found themselves with a very valuable resource. During the Reformation Mark Ker The Abbot at the time gave up Catholicism to retain the Abbey and its lands, his son became the first Earl of Lothian and the family continued to manage the mines for another 300 years. Initial mining methods were crude with shallow pits being dug and then abandoned but the industry was starting to gain structure as a 1606 Act of Parliament shows which made all miners serfs of the pit management to ensure a reliable source of manpower.

It was the industrialisation of the 19th century which brought massive changes to Midlothian, when the Edinburgh & Dalkeith Railway opened in 1829, it opened markets which had previously been inaccessible. Newtongrange started its transformation from a farming hamlet to a mining village, workers started to flood in for the mines, the papermill, the brickworks and the gasworks. In 1890 Newbattle and Whitehill collieries amalgamated to form the Lothian Coal Company and spent the next 5 years sinking the Lady Victoria Pit. This was a time of great expansion with houses and places of entertainment (including The Dean Tavern) being built.

The Lady Victoria closed in 1981 turning Newtongrange into a "Ghost Town" with boarded up shops. as people left to find work elsewhere threre was even a plan to demolish the village. The tide turned in the 90's with new housing schemes, a replacement for the Stars Park being built and the Lady Vic. emerging as The Scottish Mining Museum. The majority of the "incomers" are people who work in Edinburgh which is easily reached but they are slowly showing up in the pubs and clubs and generally taking part in village life.