Scotland > 1868, 1878 - Slater's (late Pigot & Co.'s) Royal national commercial directory and topography of Scotland > 1878 > Part 1

HADDINGTONSHIRE.
DUNBAR.
SLATER'S
dated fragments of this once almost impregnable fortress are now
visible, and these have been much reduced by the excavations for
Victoria harbour. On a columnar I'ocky projection, between these
ruins and the harbour, was the battery ; this has been abandoned
by government, and it is now used as an hospital for fever
patients. The town is built upon a gentle rise from the beach ; the
principal street is wide and spacious, and the chief thoroughfares
are macadamised ; the streets and shops are Ughted with gas j
and a good supply of soft water is conveyed to the town, from a
distance of two miles, by means of pipes. In High street are
branches of the Commercial Bank of Scotland and the City of
Glasgow Bank, and several insurance agency offices, and there is
on a prominent site at the south end, a handsome place of
worship in couTiection with the Free church of Scotland. There
has recently been erected at the south end a large public hall,
called St. Catherine's Hall. The opening of the hall was celebrated
by a torch light procession of the Freemasons, Free Gardeners,
and Templars, on the 5th January, 1872. There is a spacious room,
fitted either for balls or concerts ; also three large rooms held re-
spectively by the Freemasons, Free Gardeners, and Templars, as
lodge rooms. The accommodation in every repect is excellent. In
Westportis a branch of the British Linen Company's bank, and at
the shore is a custom house. The houses are generally large, and
of pleasing exterior, and few towns present to the stranger a more
agreeable and respectable appearance. Dunbar House, formerly
the mansion of the Earl of Lauderdale, stands at the northern end
of the main street; its grand front faces the sea, and consists of
two extensive wings, with a circular centre, forming an elegant
elevated portico, supported by handsome corresponding pillars ; on
the top of the centre, at the back of the edifice, and facing the
_ street, is a finely executed and large proportioned figure of that
' ideal animal the sphyns, in a couchant position, with the wings
erect j the house is now used as a barracks for the militia.
The herring fishery has long been a very considerable source of
wealth to Dunbar. Frequently five hundred boats are at the station,
and since the opening of the railway, large quantities are sent, in a
green state, to the inland counties — sometimes to the extent of from
two hundred to three hundred tons a day. A great weight is also
cured into white or red herrings, which are then exported to the
Baltic, the Mediterranean, the West Indies, and to Ireland; as
many as ten thousand barrels have been cured here in one season.
Cod-fishing is likewise a profitable pursuit here ; the produce is
mostly depatched to meet the London demand ; and Edinburgh is
also a market for white fish, lobsters, Ac. in gi-eat supply from this
port. The district around Dunbar is one of the richest and best
cultivated in Scotland, and produces a much greater supply than
is required by the inhabitants. The chief exports are corn, fish
and potatoes, and the imports coal and timber. The manufactures
of Dunbar were at one period numerous and extensive; the most
important branch now in operation is fish-curing, comprising
several extensive concerns. The domestic trade furnishes all the
necessary articles of life, and the shops exhibit a respectable dis-
play of useful and fashionable productions. Dunbar was elevated
to the rank of a royal burgh by David II., and its burghal privileges
were confirmed and extended by James IV. and James VI.; it was
governed by a provost and three bailies, a treasurer, town clerk
aud chamberlain, with fifteen members of council. An act of
parliament for reducing the number of the municipal corporations
in Scotland, has now limited the number of corporate officers in
Dunbar to a provost, three bailies, a treasurer and seven councillors.
This burgh joins with Jedburgh, Lauder, Haddington and North
Berwick, in returning one member to parliament.
At the southern end of the High street stands the elegant
parish church, the erection of which commenced (on the site of
the old kirk) in the summer of the year 1819, and it was opened
on the 16th of September, 1821 ; its architectural style is the
modern Gothic, and the body of the edifice is very commodious,
containing eighteen hundred sittings ; a very handsome square
tower, with a pinnacle at each corner, embellishes the structure;
the entire building is of a rather dark red stone, not unlike brick
when seen at a distance; but the quality of the material is con-
sidered of superior escelleuce and durability; the completion of
the fabric cost upwards of c£8,00t). The interior is enriched with
a beautiful marble monument to the memory of George Home,
lord high treasurer of Scotland in the reign of James VI., the
height of this fine memorial is twenty-six feet, and its breadth
twelve ; while the church was rebuilding, the most judicious care
was taken not to injure or disturb what is deemed the finest piece
of tomb sculpture in Scotland. The Seceders have two places of
worship here ; the Free Church, the Wesleyan Methodists and
Baptists each one. The town has the advantage of a good gram-
mar school, wherein all the useful branches of education are taught ;
a commodious building was erected in 1823 (on the beach near the
church), consisting of two wings, with a house for tlie master in the
centre; it is an addition of great utility and convenience to this
exceUent establishment" There are also several excellent private
schools, in the town, one under the management of the Free church.
Other institutions, belonging to the burgh and parish, of a praise-
worthy nature are well sustained.
The country about Dunbar is exceedingly pleasant, and the pros-
pects from the high grounds, which rise gradually from the sea
coasts, are expansive, and present a variety of delighlful objects;
the most striking of these are the North Berwick Law andTautallan
Castle, the Bass, the Isle of May, the Frith of Forth and the moun-
tains of Angus. The p:u,.-^h of Dunbar extends about eight miles along
the coast and embraces an area of 7,497 statute acres. The soil is
rich and dry, and produces all kinds of crops, as early as any in
Scotland. The market, a bulky one, is held on Tuesday, the grain
is :'.U weighed and delivered immediately on being sold. There
ar<; Lwo annual fairs— one on the first Tuesday after the 26th of
Mfiy, the other on the first Tuesday after the 22nd of November.
Thd entire parish contained in 1871 a population of 4,982. of this
number 3,32U were returned for the town, including that portion
comprised in Belhaven,for which 369 were returned.
Belhaven is a remarkably neat village, included within the
jurisdiction of the burgh of Dunbar, situated about a mile west
from that town, at the head of a small bay of the sea, which in
former times formed a good harbour. It gives the title of lord to a
branch of the family of Hamilton. Belhaven is the principal
watering place of Dunbar, and is fast rising into importance, not
only on account of the great extent and beauty of the sands for
bathing purposes, but also from the erection of villas for the accom-
modation of visitors. A magnificent building, erected by William
Brodie, Esq. on a commanding site near the village, is intended as
the first of a series of similar structures, which will, when com-
pleted, form a very fine crescent, having a view of the surrounding
country almost unequalled. At a short distance from the village
are the remains of an ancient British cemetery, and near the beach
is a valuable mineral spring, which at one time was a source of
great attraction. There is also a school in the village especially
directed to the training of females for industrial occupations, in
addition to all the useful branches of education. Between Bel-
haven and West Barns are the Seafleld Brick and Tile Works ; a
large quantity of drainage tiles are manufactured here, and on
account of their superior quality find a ready market, not only in
this district, but are also sent by rail tc the extremity of Berwick-
shire, aud shipped extensively to the northern ports of Scotland.
Population returned with Dunbar.
East Barns is a village in Dunbar parish, about three milea
south-east from that town, and a little to the right of the road lead-
ing thence to Berwick. In this village there is a school for the
eastern district of the parish.
West Barns, another part of the royalty of Dunbar, is about
half a mile west from Belhaven. In this village, on the river Eiel,
are extensive corn and flour mills , there is also a brewery, a mafiu-
factory for agricultural implements, and the; extensive paper mills
of Messrs. A. Annandale & Sons. Here also is the Board school of
Dunbar, an excellently conducted and numerously attended insti*
tution. Population of the village in 1871, 535.
Spott is a small rural village in the parish of that name, situated
two miles south from Dunbar. The parish is of an irregular figure,
being about five miles in length by two in breadth, and includes an
acreage of 7,583. The low country is well enclosed and cultivated,
and the higher grounds afi'ord good pasture. Spott House, in this
parish, is romantically perched upon a rock, rising from a low glen,
surrounded with beautiful pleasure grounds. In this neighbourhood
was fought, on the 3rd of September, 1650, the battle of Downshill
(so decisively unfortunate to the royal cause), in which the Scotch
forces were totally routed by CromweU. The parish contained in
1871 a population of 560.
,_.o:^
POST OPPIGE, HIG-H STEEET, DUNBAE,
CHBISTINA BARCLAY, Post Mistress.
Arrivals.
From Edinburgh, England, and all parts at nine morning.
From Ayton, Dunse, and Midland counties of England at four afternoon.
From Edinburgh, Glasgow, Ireland, Ac. at four afternoon.
From England, Ireland, and East Coast at eight evening.
From Edinburgh, Glasgow, and South of Scotland at eight evening.
Despatclies.
To Ayton, Dunse, and Cockburnspath at eight morning.
To Edinburgh, Glasgow, and South of Scotland at five minutes past nine morning.
To Edinburgh, Glasgow, Ireland, and North-west Coast of England at a quarter past two afternoon.
To Ayton, Berwick, London, all England, and Foreign at ten minutes before three afternoon.
To London, East Coa^t of England, and Foreign at fifteen minutes past three afternoon.
To Edinburgh, West Coast of England, and Foreign at ten minutes before six evening.
To Berwick, Ayton, &c. at fifteen minutes past seven evening.
To Edinburgh, England, and all parts at twenty minutes before eight evening.
Sundays.— To Ayton, Dunse, and Cockburnspath at ten minutes past nine morning.
To London, East Coast of England, and Foreign at ten minutes past seven evening.
To Edinburgh, West Coast of England, and Foreign at ten minutes before six evening.
To Berwick, Ayton, &c. at ton minutes past seven evening.
To Edinburgh, England, and all parts at ten minutes past seven evening.
Money Order and Telegaph Ojffice and Savings Bank.
IXTall Bos, KiREHiLL.— Hours of collection: Ten minutes before eight evening, twenty minutes before two afternoon, and
B9ven evening. Sundays: Thirty minutes past three afternoon.
Post O^ce, Spott, George Ford, Post ilTosier.— Letters from all parts arrive (from Dunba*r) at ton morning and ten minutes
past nine evening, and are despatched thereto at ten minutes before seven morning and ten minutes before six evening.
The nearest Money Order Oj^ce is at Dunbar.
Post Office, West Barns, Annie Pefi'ers, Poit ilfwiiress.— Letters from all parts arrive (from Dunbar) at ten morning aud nine
ATOning, and are despatched thereto at five minutes past seven morning and fifteen minutes past six evening.
The nearest Money Order Offi-ce Is at Dunbar,
872 1-1