Newtongrange
Midlothian

The Pit Winding Wheel has become public art, Main Street, Newtongrange
©2011 Gazetteer for Scotland

A former mining village in E Midlothian, Newtongrange lies to the east of the River South Esk, 3 miles (5 km) south of Dalkeith. It was developed as a colliery village by the Marquess of Lothian from the 1830s and by the 1890s had become Scotland's largest mining settlement following the sinking of the Lady Victoria Colliery with a shaft of over 530m (1738 feet), the deepest mine in Scotland at the time. The Lady Vic employed 1765 men underground by 1953. The village was also the site of the Lingerwood Colliery, which pre-dated the Lady Vic, and comprised two shafts of 253m (830 feet) and 266m (872 feet) respectively. It employed 770 men at its peak. The two mines were linked below ground and shared overground facilities. Closed in 1981, the Lady Victoria colliery buildings have been preserved and now house the Scottish Mining Museum.

Newtongrange was laid out in a formal pattern with brick-built houses in parallel streets named First Street to Tenth Street respectively. The housing was segregated by rank within the pit, with simple dwellings centrally-located for the miners themselves, better homes for overseers while managers enjoyed grander residences on the edge of the village. The ruined 12th-century Cockpen Old Parish Church and 15th-century Dalhousie Castle are located to the southwest.

Use the tabs on the right of this page to see other parts of this entry