KEY FACTS:

CHURCHES

* First church at Lasswade circa 850 AD.



* St Edwin's Church, Lasswade was consecrated by the Bishop of St.Andrews in 1240.



* William Drummond of Hawthornden (1585-1649), the celebrated Scottish Poet is buried in Lasswade Kirkyard (Drummond Aisle).



* First Parish Church at Lasswade (Church of Scotland) established in 1565. Minister: William Barbour from 1565-1581.



* First church built in Bonnyrigg, 1845 (Cockpen United Free Church), when Thomas Pitcairn, then minister of Cockpen Church of Scotland, left the C of S. He then became a Free church of Scotland minister, taking his congregation with him. They also built their own school opposite the church. This building is now the Parish Church Halls.



* 1929 Free Church rejoins the Church of Scotland and Bonnyrigg Parish Church is created.



RAILWAYS

* 1855 Bonnyrigg Railway Station opened,(Edinburgh-Peebles Railway Company). The line closed to passenger traffic on 8 September 1962.

* 1877 Broomieknowe Railway Station opened linked by a tunnel to Lasswade Station. Polton Station was the terminus of the line. The line closed to passenger traffic in 1951.

INDUSTRIES

* 1828 St Ann's Distillery opened on the north bank of thr River North Esk on land belonging to Lord Melville. The business failed a few years later.

* 1834 Richard Whytock & Company converted the distillery into a carpet factory, employing 100 people.

* 1851 This company now employs a further 270 workers from Kilmarnock and a Mr Henderson becomes the part owner.

* 1857 The company is now called Henderson & Widnell and manufactures 10,000 yards of carpet per day.

* 1870's The St Ann's carpet factory closes and a new factory opens in Bonnyrigg. The company later becomes Henry Widnell & Stewart.

* 1861 The Census of Lasswade shows that there are 29 shops and 27 different businesses.

* 1857-58 Lasswade Parish records show the main business as:-



Paper Mills - Alexander Annandale & Son (Polton), Archibald Sommerville (Kevock), William Tod (St Leonard's, Lasswade), Cameron & Company (Springfield).

Carpet Factory - Henderson & Widnell.

* Roslin carpet factory closed in 1969.

* Bonnyrigg carpet factory 1978.

* Eskbank carpet factory closed in 1982.



Corn Mill - Robert Dickson (Middlemills).



Gun Powder Mill- Hay, Merricks & Co - (Roslin)