Danderhall is a village in Midlothian, Scotland, just outside

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

but inside the

Edinburgh City Bypass The Edinburgh City Bypass, designated as A720, is one of the most important trunk roads in Scotland. Circling around the south of Edinburgh, as the equivalent of a ring road for the coastal city, it links together the A1 towards north-east Eng ...

Overview

The village includes a large amount of council housing — although much of this is now privately owned by the occupiers. Danderhall was formerly a mining village, supplying labour for the nearby

coal mines Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron fro ...

of Edmonstone to the northwest, Sheriffhall to the southeast, Woolmet to the east and Monktonhall beyond that. The latter was the last to remain open, but closed for good in 1998. Danderhall is made up of 1,200 homes and a small number of shops. Danderhall also includes a library,

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

, two churches (a

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland ( sco, The Kirk o Scotland; gd, Eaglais na h-Alba) is the national church in Scotland. The Church of Scotland was principally shaped by John Knox, in the Reformation of 1560, when it split from the Catholic Church ...

and "

Calvary Chapel Calvary Chapel is an association of evangelical churches, maintains a number of radio stations around the world and operates many local Calvary Chapel Bible College programs. Beginning in 1965 in Southern California, this fellowship of chur ...

of Edinburgh"). Notable people from Danderhall include: footballer Grant Brebner, now playing in Australia, former Hearts and Motherwell footballer

Kevin Twaddle Kevin Twaddle (born 31 October 1971 in Edinburgh) is a Scottish former professional footballer. A forward, Twaddle began his career with junior club Dunbar United where he made 45 appearances and scored 23 goals. He entered senior football w ...

., Commonwealth Gold Medalist and triple World Champion David Peacock (bowls), former International darts player Rab Stewart and darts and autocross champion Blair Hamilton. Danderhall and District is a

Community Council A community council is a public representative body in Great Britain. In England they may be statutory parish councils by another name, under the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007, or they may be non-statutory bodies. In ...

area of Midlothian and is within the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

of Newton. In addition to Danderhall village, Danderhall Community Council area also takes in the area of Millerhill, Newton Village, Hilltown and various farms. These are small residential areas and without shops and similar amenities, which are concentrated in nearby Danderhall. The civil parish (Newton) has an area of and a population of 3,258 (in 2011).Census of Scotland 2011, Table KS101SC – Usually Resident Population, publ. by National Records of Scotland. Web site http://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/ retrieved March 2016. See “Standard Outputs”, Table KS101SC, Area type: Civil Parish 1930

Woolmet House

Woolmet House was a large mansion built for Archibald Napier (1575-1600) around 1590 as a wedding present from his wealthy father

Archibald Napier Archibald Napier may refer to: * Sir Archibald Napier (landowner) (1534–1608), Scottish landowner and official, master of the Scottish mint and Laird of Merchiston * Archibald Napier, 1st Lord Napier (c. 1576–1645) * Archibald Napier, 2nd Lord ...

Merchiston Castle Merchiston Tower, also known as Merchiston Castle, was probably built by Alexander Napier, the 2nd Laird of Merchiston around 1454. It serves as the seat for Clan Napier. It was the home of John Napier, the 8th Laird of Merchiston and the inven ...

(father of

John Napier John Napier of Merchiston (; 1 February 1550 – 4 April 1617), nicknamed Marvellous Merchiston, was a Scottish landowner known as a mathematician, physicist, and astronomer. He was the 8th Laird of Merchiston. His Latinized name was Ioan ...

and of

Alexander Napier, Lord Laurieston Sir Alexander Napier, Lord Laurieston (c. 1578 – 1629) was a 17th-century Scottish landowner, judge and Senator of the College of Justice. He was half-brother of the mathematician John Napier. Life He was born in Merchiston Castle the thi ...

)). It was demolished in the 1950s due to subsidence caused by Woolmet Colliery. Some carved stones from Woolmet were incorporated into the Castle of Mey around 1990. All that remains is an ornamental doorway of around 1700, now attached to the modern Miners' Welfare Club.

Woolmet Colliery

The Colliery opened late in Scottish mining history (1898) and closed in 1966. It was operated by the Niddrie and Benhar Coal Company. It employed around 700 men and produced around 200,000 tons of coal per annum, under the control of

Sir James Steel Sir James Steel, 1st Baronet (1830–1904) was a Scottish builder and businessman who served as Lord Provost of Edinburgh from 1900 to 1903. He was the largest building firm in Edinburgh in his day. His rise to fame and fortune is described ...

Edmonstone House

This mansion stood west of Woolmet House, north of Danderhall village. It was certainly extant in 1600 as home to the Edmonstone family. It was remodelled in the 18th century but demolished in the 1950s to avoid tax (the fate of many mansions in the 1950s). An entrance lodge and the base of the mansion still survive.

References

External links

Records and information for the Parish of Newton, Midlothian
{{authority control Villages in Midlothian Mining communities in Scotland