- Penicuik
infobox UK place
country = Scotland
official_name= Penicuik
gaelic_name=
scots_name= Pen Y Cog (Ancient)
population= 14,759 [http://www.scrol.gov.uk/scrol/browser/profile.jsp?profile=Population&mainArea=Penicuik&mainLevel=Locality]
os_grid_reference= NT235598
latitude=55.825858
longitude=-3.220463
map_type=Scotland
unitary_scotland=Midlothian
lieutenancy_scotland= Midlothian
constituency_westminster= Midlothian
constituency_scottish_parliament= Midlothian
Lothians
post_town= EDINBURGH
postcode_district = EH26
postcode_area= EH
dial_code= 01968Penicuik is a burgh in
Midlothian ,Scotland , lying on the west bank of the River North Esk. The town was developed as a planned village in 1770 by SirJames Clerk of Penicuik. It became a burgh in 1867 . The town was well known for itspaper mill s, the last of which closed in 2005. More recently the town was home to theEdinburgh Crystal works.The town's name is derived from the ancient British "Pen Y Cog", meaning "Hill of the Cuckoo".
Near Penicuik is the Glencorse Parish Kirk, which formed part of the inspiration for Robert Louis Stevenson's "Kidnapped" (1886). Some of the streets nearby are named after characters in the novel and its sequel, "Catriona" (1893). Penicuik is home to the
Royal Highland Fusiliers , 2nd BattalionThe Royal Regiment of Scotland , garrisoned in Glencorse Barracks.Penicuik is twinned with the town of
L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue inFrance .History
The site of Penicuik was home to the paper mill established by Agnes Campbell in 1709. Around 1770, the arrival of the Cowan family, and their expanded mill, led to the need for homes for their workers. The hamlet of Penicuik was expanded as a planned village by Sir James Clerk of Penicuik, the builder of nearby
Penicuik House , and by 1800 the population had risen to 1,700.In 1803 Penicuik was the site of a prison camp for French prisoners during the
Napoleonic Wars . The former camp is now the site of a housing development in Valleyfield. Penicuik hosted the inauguralGrand Match incurling , between the north and the south of Scotland, in 1847. The town became aburgh in 1867Paper mills
Paper-making was started here by Mrs Agnes Campbell in 1709. The mill was subsequently purchased by Charles Cowan, originally a grocer in Leith, who established the Cowan Valleyfield Mills. In 1796, Charles Cowan brought in his son Alexander Cowan to manage the mill. An adjacent corn mill was purchased in 1803 which became known as Bank Mill after he converted it to produce the paper on which banknotes were printed. Paper was also produced at Eskmill which has recently now become a site for private housing.
The Dalmore paper mill on the Esk near
Auchendinny closed in 2005.People of interest
There have been a fair number of interesting and noteworthy people associated with Penicuik. According to just one webpage [http://penicuikcdt.org.uk/People.html] , famous people connected with Penicuik include the following: the papermakers Agnes Campbell [http://penicuikcdt.org.uk/Agnes_Campbell.html] , Marjorie Fidler [http://penicuikcdt.org.uk/Marjorie_Fidler.html] and Alexander Cowan [http://penicuikcdt.org.uk/Alexander_Cowan.html] ; the founder of Finland's second city, James Finlayson [http://penicuikcdt.org.uk/James_Finlayson.html] ; gas and oil makers John & William Young [http://penicuikcdt.org.uk/John_and_William_Young.html#WilliamYoung] ; the mathematician and seismologist Cargill Gilson Knott [http://penicuikcdt.org.uk/Cargill_Knott.html] FRS (Penicuik's links with Japan); the zoologist James Cossar Ewart [http://penicuikcdt.org.uk/James_Cossar_Ewart.html] FRS, whose home, Craigiebield, is now a hotel; children's writer Helen Bannerman [http://penicuikcdt.org.uk/Helen_Bannerman.html] ; teacher and writer Athole Cameron [http://penicuikcdt.org.uk/Athole_Cameron.html] ; Concorde's Delta Wing Designer, James Hamilton [http://penicuikcdt.org.uk/James_Hamilton.html] and grain scientist Geoff Palmer [http://penicuikcdt.org.uk/Geoff_Palmer.html] and not forgetting troll-lookalike Colin Scott esq.
The history of Penicuik as "The Papermaking Town" is well documented elsewhere. The scientific element also has its own history and webpages.
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