CRICHTON - Extract from National Gazetteer, 1868

"CRICHTON, a parish in the county of Edinburgh, Scotland. It contains the villages of Crichton and Pathhead together with part of the villages of Fala, Dam, and Ford. Its length northward is 5½ miles, with a breadth of 4½. It is bounded by the county of Haddington and by the parishes of Borthwick, Cranston Heriot, and Fala. The ground is undulating, and fresh undulations are said to occur by the sinking of portions of the surface. The soil is rich and deep, and well adapted for tillage. Limestone is extensively worked. J. A. B. Callander, Esq., is the chief landowner.

A well-defined British camp exists at Longfaugh, on an eminence; but the magnificent ruin of Crichton Castle, situated above a glen through which the Tyne winds, is the chief antiquity. It was successively the property of William III., Lord Crichton, Sir John Ramsay of Balmain, Patrick Hepburn, the third Lord Hales, the Earl of Bothwell, on whose forfeiture it became the property of the crown in 1567, and subsequently of Francis Stewart, Earl of Bothwell.

The road from Edinburgh to Lauder traverses the E. of the parish. The village of Crichton is situated on the road from Ford to the vale of the Gala, near Crichton Castle, and 6 miles S. of Dalkeith. The North British railway passes through the S. part of the parish, and has a station at Tynehead. This parish is in the presbytery of Dalkeith, and in the patronage of J. A. Burn Callander, Esq. The stipend of the minister is £294. The church, a venerable cruciform structure, is incomplete as regards the W. end. There is also a Free church at Pathhead."

"FALADAM, a village in the parishes of Fala and Crichton, county Edinburgh, Scotland, 1 mile W. of Fala. It is situated on the Cake Moor, and the road from Edinburgh to Lauder."

"FORD, a post village in the parishes of Borthwick, Crichton, and Cranston, county Edinburgh, Scotland, 11 miles S.E. of Edinburgh, on the road from thence to Lauder. It stands on the banks of the Tyne, near the viaduct which crosses the valley of the Tyne. It contains a United Presbyterian church. Ford House is the neighbouring seat. Fairs are held on the first Thursdays in August and September."

"PATHHEAD, a village in the parish of Crichton, county Edinburgh, Scotland, 4 miles S.E. of Dalkeith. It is situated on the river Tyne, and on the road from Edinburgh to Lauder. The village is neatly built. The dell of the Tyne is here crossed by a bridge of five arches, each 50 feet span and 80 feet in height. A portion of the inhabitants are engaged in the collieries. There are a Free church, also a police station, bank, school, and a circulating library."

[Description(s) from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868)
Transcribed by Colin Hinson ©2003]

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