Preston was a village on the

East Lothian East Lothian (; ; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, as well as a Counties of Scotland, historic county, registration county and Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area. The county was called Haddingtonshire until 1921. In ...

coast of Scotland, and is now a small part of the centre of Prestonpans. It is to the east of

Prestongrange Prestongrange is a place in East Lothian, Scotland, United Kingdom, situated between Musselburgh to the west, and Prestonpans to the east. The place name derives from "Preston", meaning "priest's town", and a Monastic grange, grange (or granary ...

, and the southwest of Cockenzie and Port Seton. The name Preston means "priest town", and the monks of

Holyrood Abbey Holyrood Abbey is a ruined abbey of the Canons Regular in Edinburgh, Scotland. The abbey was founded in 1128 by David I of Scotland. During the 15th century, the abbey guesthouse was developed into a List of British royal residences, royal r ...

and

Newbattle Abbey Newbattle Abbey was a Cistercians, Cistercian monastery near the village of Newbattle in Midlothian, Scotland, which subsequently became a stately home and then an educational institution. Monastery It was founded in 1140 by monks from Melrose ...

owned land there. The village was noted for St Jerome's Fair, held on the second Thursday of October. The chapmen of the area had formed themselves into a

guild A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular territory. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradespeople belonging to a professional association. They so ...

and elected their office bearers at the fair. Two of Preston's most important structures were Preston Tower and Preston

mercat cross A mercat cross is the Scots language, Scots name for the market cross found frequently in Scotland, Scottish cities, towns and villages where historically the right to hold a regular market or fair was granted by the monarch, a bishop or ...

. The mercat cross which dates from 1617, is unique both in its integrity and in that it is the only such structure in Scotland still in its original location and form. It has eight compartments, two doorways, six alcoves with semi-circular mouldings of scallop shells. The latter are said to be an allusion to the pilgrim traffic between

North Berwick North Berwick (; ) is a seaside resort, seaside town and former royal burgh in East Lothian, Scotland. It is situated on the south shore of the Firth of Forth, approximately east-northeast of Edinburgh. North Berwick became a fashionable holi ...

and

St Andrews St Andrews (; ; , pronounced ʰʲɪʎˈrˠiː.ɪɲ is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, southeast of Dundee and northeast of Edinburgh. St Andrews had a recorded population of 16,800 , making it Fife's fourth-largest settleme ...

. Preston Tower belonged to the

Hamilton family The Hamiltons of the United States are a family of Scottish origin, whose most prominent member was Alexander Hamilton (1755/57–1804), one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. Their ancestors and relations in Scotland included the Lai ...

(also known as the "haughty Hamiltons") who owned ten strongholds including Preston House, Hamilton House, Innerwick Castle and Brodick Castle, Arran. Other notable buildings on the site of the former village of Preston include Northfield House and Preston Lodge, pictured on the right.

Photo gallery

Image:PrestonMercatCross1.jpg Image:PrestonMercatCross4.jpg Image:PrestonMercatCross3.jpg Image:PrestonMercatCross2.jpg

External links

Castles Uncovered - Preston Tower
{{authority control Villages in East Lothian Prestonpans

See also

Photo gallery

External links