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Coordinates: 55°49'33?N 3°13'14?W? / ?55.825858, -3.220463
Penicuik is a burgh 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 mills, the last of which closed in 2005. More recently the town was home to the Edinburgh Crystal works.
The town's name is derived from the ancient British Pen Y Cog, meaning "Hill of the Cuckoo".
Near Penicuik is the 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.
[edit] History
The site of Penicuik was home to the paper mill established by Agnes Campbell in 1709. Around 1770, the arrival of the Cowan family, and their expanded mill, led to the need for homes for their workers. The hamlet of Penicuik was expanded as a planned village by Sir James Clerk of Penicuik, the builder of nearby Penicuik House, and by 1800 the population had risen to 1,700.
In 1803 Penicuik was the site of a prison camp for French prisoners during the Napoleonic Wars. The former camp is now the site of a housing development in Valleyfield. 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
[edit] 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 Esk near Auchendinny closed in 2005.
Perhaps the only "person of notability" to come from Penicuik is Gordon Grahame aka Lucky Jim who recorded the song "Your Lovely To Me" and even wrote a song "Listen To The Birds Sing" which mentions Penicuik in a perhaps less than favourable light " ink is bled and punk is dead and Penicuik's a dying town..."
[edit] People of interest
There have been a fair number of interesting and noteworthy people associated with Penicuik. According to just one webpage [2], famous people connected with Penicuik include the following: the papermakers Agnes Campbell [3], Marjorie Fidler [4] and Alexander Cowan [5]; the founder of Finland's second city, James Finlayson [6]; gas and oil makers John & William Young [7]; the mathematician and seismologist Cargill Gilson Knott [8] FRS (Penicuik's links with Japan); the zoologist James Cossar Ewart [9] FRS, whose home, Craigiebield, is now a hotel; children's writer Helen Bannerman [10]; teacher and writer Athole Cameron [11]; Concorde's Delta Wing Designer, James Hamilton [12] and grain scientist Geoff Palmer [13].
The history of Penicuik as "The Papermaking Town" is well documented elsewhere. The scientific element also has its own history and webpages. The Concorde which now lives nearby at East Fortune came to Scotland to retire because of its connections with the South-East of Scotland. All that - and the writer of a notoriously banned children's book[14], beloved by many, too!
Oh yes - and Penicuik is still in an attractive location between the Pentland and the Moorfoot Hills, although like other towns it has its problems, largely generated by the everflowing flock of chavs, neds and scenesters causing trouble throughout Penicuik.
(Source: Wikipedia) |