Old Photographs Prestonpans East Lothian Scotland

Tour Scotland wee video of photographs of Prestonpans is a small fishing town in East Lothian, situated to the east of Edinburgh. According to local legend Prestonpans was founded in the 11th century by a traveller named Althamer, who became shipwrecked on the local beach. Salt panning was a very important industry in the early history of Prestonpans. By the beginning of the fifteenth century there were 10 salt works belonging to the town capable of producing between 800 and 900 bushels of salt per week. The discovery and mining of coal by the Newbattle monks in the early thirteenth century was probably the first instance of coal mining in Britain. The oldest brewery in Prestonpans belonged to the Fowler family and was built in 1720. The Battle of Prestonpans, also known as the Battle of Gladsmuir, was the first significant conflict in the second Jacobite Rising. The battle took place on 21 September 1745. The Jacobite army loyal to James Francis Edward Stuart and led by his son Charles Edward Stuart defeated the army loyal to the Hanoverian King George II led by Sir John Cope. On 31 October 2004 the innocence was publicly declared of 81 Scottish women convicted of being witches and executed in the 16th and 17th centuries in Prestonpans. Of interest to folks with ancestry, genealogy or Scottish Family Roots in Scotland who may wish to visit one day. All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.

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