Located 10 miles (16 km) south of Edinburgh, on the west bank of the North Esk, the bustling town of Penicuik was originally developed as a planned village in 1770 by its laird, Sir James Clerk of Penicuik (1709-82). The name originates from Pen-y-Cog, or 'Hill of the Cuckoo' in the ancient Brythonic language, a toponymic fact uniquely commemorated on Lothian Transport's Nos. 37 and 47 buses between 2011 and 2014.
Penicuik's industries included first coal mining and then paper-making, a manufacture initially centred on the Valleyfield Mills which operated 1709 - 1975, creating wealth for the Cowan family who greatly influenced the town's economy and politics. Owing to a downturn in the demand for paper, Valleyfield was remodelled for use as a prisoner-of-war camp during the Napoleonic Wars (1810-15), a period commemorated by the French Prisoners' Monument (1830). In 1777, Scotland's first cotton mill was built here at Esk Mills and was employing over 500 people by 1794 but closed in 1811. The premises were sold to the Government and converted into barracks for 1500 soldiers tasked with guarding the French prisoners at Valleyfield. Both Valleyfield and Esk Mills were soon re-established as paper mills, with state-of-the-art machinery. Bank Mill began as a corn-mill but was converted to paper-making in 1803, and continued until 1975. While Esk Mills and Valleyfield have been redeveloped for housing, most of Bank Mill remains extant in 2024. Mauricewood Pit closed after a devastating fire in 1889. Penicuik was home to Edinburgh Crystal between 1969 and their bankruptcy in 2006. Today, Penicuik is primarily a dormitory for Edinburgh, although does have small industrial concerns and is a centre for agriculture and scientific research, at the nearby Edinburgh Technopole.
The graveyard of Penicuik Trinity Community Church (1771) includes remains of the old 17th-C. St. Kentigern's Church and its tower. Other important buildings include the Episcopal church of St. James the Less (1882) and Penicuik South Church (1862), a 'master work' by F.T. Pilkington (1832-98). Pilkington was also responsible for a group of unusual homes on Bridge Street, which are also now A-listed. The Town Hall was built as the Cowan Institute in 1893. Uttershill Castle (c. 1510) provides superb viewpoints 1 mile (1.5 km) south of the town, while 2 miles (3.2 km) southwest is Brunstane Castle and 1¼ miles (2 km) southwest is Penicuik House, home to the Clerk family, which was gutted by fire in 1899.
Penicuik benefits from two secondary schools; Penicuik High School and Beeslack Community High School, together with Cornbank St. James, Cuiken, Mauricewood, Sacred Heart and Strathesk Primary Schools. The latter was a 2007 merger of Eastfield and Ladywood Primary Schools, while Glencorse Primary School at Milton Bridge closed in 2021.
Notable individuals who born in Penicuik include industrialist James Finlayson (1772 - 1852), plant-hunter James Niven (1776 - 1827), tea merchant Andrew Melrose (1789 - 1855), cartographer Alexander Keith Johnston (1804-71) and aircraft designer Sir James Arnot Hamilton (1923 - 2012), while others associated with the town include the paper-makers and philanthropists Alexander Cowan (1775 - 1859) and Sir John Cowan (1814 - 1900), surgeon Dr. Joseph Bell (1837 - 1911) and photographer Albert Watson (b.1942).
