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Penicuik Scottish Gaelic: Peighinn na Cuthaig Scots: Penicuik
Penicuik Town Hall
PenicuikLocation within Midlothian
Population	16,150 (2022)
OS grid reference	NT2359
• Edinburgh	8.5 mi (13.7 km)
• London	324 mi (521 km)
Council area	Midlothian
Lieutenancy area	Midlothian
Country	Scotland
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	PENICUIK
Postcode district	EH26
Dialling code	01968
Police	Scotland
Fire	Scottish
Ambulance	Scottish
UK Parliament	Midlothian
Scottish Parliament	Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale
List of places UK Scotland 55°49′34″N 3°13′12″W / 55.826°N 3.220°W / 55.826; -3.220

Penicuik (/ˈpɛnɪˌkʊk/ PEN-i-kuuk; Scots: Penicuik; Scottish Gaelic: Peighinn na Cuthaig) is a town and former burgh in Midlothian, Scotland, lying on the west bank of the River North Esk. It lies on the A701 midway between Edinburgh and Peebles, east of the Pentland Hills.

Name

The town's name is pronounced 'Pennycook' and is derived from Pen Y Cog, meaning "Hill of the Cuckoo" in the Old Brythonic language (also known as Ancient British and the forerunner of modern Welsh).

History

In 1296, Thomas Rymer's Foedera mentions a "Walter Edgar a person of Penicok south of Edenburgh", which logically can only be what is now called Penicuik. Penycook appears as the name on John Adair's map of 1682 and the ruined old parish church, in the centre of the graveyard, dates from the late 17th century.

Penicuik became home to an early paper mill, Valleyfield Mill, which was established by Agnes Campbell in 1709.

The Pomathorn Bridge was a toll bridge across the River Esk and the main route between Edinburgh to the north and the Scottish Borders to the south. "The Young Pretender", Charles Edward Stuart, is recorded as having crossed the River Esk on his march south on 8 November 1745.

The town was expanded as a planned village, roughly based on Edinburgh's New Town, by Sir James Clerk, 3rd Baronet of Penicuik in 1770.

Glencorse Barracks, which is home to the Royal Highland Fusiliers, 2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland, was established as a facility for incarcerating French prisoners of war during the Napoleonic Wars and was originally known as Greenlaw Military Prison when it was completed in 1803. Charles Cowan, who acquired Valleyfield Mill in 1779, sold it to the War Office in order to create additional prisoner of war facilities in 1811. In 1830, Alexander Cowan erected a monument, designed by Thomas Hamilton, to the memory of 309 prisoners who died in the prisoner of war camps.

Penicuik hosted the inaugural Grand Match in curling, between the north and the south of Scotland, in 1847. This took place on the "high pond" on the estate of Penicuik House, not the "low pond" which is still used for curling on rare occasions.

The town, whilst generally architecturally undistinguished, contains two masterpieces by Frederick Thomas Pilkington: the South Church (originally the United Free Church, of 1862; and the flamboyant "Park End" houses on Bridge Street also of 1862.

Following population growth, largely associated with the paper mills, the town became a burgh in 1866.

In 1889, a fire at the Mauricewood Colliery resulted in the death of 63 men and boys, with only seven survivors. Its owners, The Schotts Iron Company, closed the pit following the disaster.

The Cowan Institute, now known as Penicuik Town Hall, was funded by the Cowan family and designed by Campbell Douglas in 1893.

The Penicuik war memorial was designed by Sir Robert Lorimer and dates from 1920.

The Dalmore paper mill on the North Esk river at Auchendinny closed in 2004.

Schools

There are five primary schools in Penicuik, Cuiken Primary, Cornbank St James Primary, Sacred Heart Primary (Roman Catholic), Strathesk Primary and Mauricewood Primary. There are also two high schools, Penicuik High School and Beeslack High School (which is soon to move out of Penicuik itself).

Climate

Penicuik experiences a maritime climate with cool summers and mild winters. The town's somewhat elevated position (180 m O.S.) means it is more susceptible to snowfall than nearby Edinburgh; over 30 days of the year on average reported lying snow between 1951 and 1980, compared to 14 at Edinburgh. Temperature extremes since 1960 range from 30.2 °C (86.4 °F) during July 1983 to −19.2 °C (−2.6 °F) in January 1982. The coldest temperature in recent years was −12.5 °C (9.5 °F) during January 2010.

Demography

Its population at the 2020 census was 16,150 computed according to the 2020 definition of the locality.

Radio

Crystal FM is the Community Radio Station serving Penicuik & S W Midlothian on 107.4FM.

In popular culture

Near Penicuik is Glencorse Parish Kirk, which formed part of the inspiration for Robert Louis Stevenson's Weir of Hermiston.

Notable people

Notable people connected with Penicuik include;

• Jim Aitken, Scotland rugby union captain
• Tommy Banner, lead singer from The Wurzels
• Helen Bannerman, writer
• Joseph Bell, surgeon and lecturer at the medical school of the University of Edinburgh
• Agnes Borrowman, first woman to serve on the Pharmaceutical Society's Board of Examiners.
• Sir John Clerk, baronet, composer and leading Scottish politician during the period leading up to the 1707 Act of Union
• Alexander Cowan, papermaker and philanthropist
• Charles Cowan, papermaker and MP for Edinburgh
• James Cowan, Liberal Party politician
• James Cowan, cricketer
• Sir John Cowan, 1st Baronet of Beeslack, papermaker and chairman of the Midlothian Liberal Association
• Samuel Rutherford Crockett, novelist
• Claire Emslie, footballer
• James Cossar Ewart, zoologist
• James Finlayson, industrialist
• Sir James Hamilton, Aircraft designer who led the British Concorde development team
• Jason Kerr, footballer
• Cargill Gilston Knott, mathematician and seismologist
• Sam Nicholson, footballer
• Sir Geoff Palmer, scientist and human rights activist
• Craig Paterson, footballer
• Charles Thomson Rees Wilson, Nobel Prize-winning physicist, was born at a nearby farm

Twin town

Penicuik is twinned with:

• L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue in the region of Provence.
• Midlothian, Chicago (along with all other towns in Midlothian, Scotland).

Gallery

• St. Mungo's Church, Penicuik (1771)
• The Clerk mausoleum and old kirk, Penicuik
• Park End, Penicuik by Frederick Thomas Pilkington
• Picturesque housing on the south side of the river at Penicuik
• Penicuik Cemetery looking towards the Pentland Hills

References

1. "Mid-2020 Population Estimates for Settlements and Localities in Scotland". National Records of Scotland. 31 March 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
2. Robinson, Mairi, ed. (1999). "Some common elements of placenames". Chambers 21st Century Dictionary. Edinburgh, Scotland: Harrap. p. 1059. ISBN 978-0-550-14250-4.. There is a similarly-named "Pennyquick" just west of Bath in Somerset in England.
3. "Genealogial collections concerning the Scottish house of Edgar, with a memoir of James Edgar". London Grampian Club. 1 August 1873 – via Internet Archive.
4. "Map of Midlothian - Maps of Scotland". maps.nls.uk.
5. Historic Environment Scotland. "Penicuik, St Kentigern's Church And Churchyard (51652)". Canmore. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
6. "Paper Mills". Penicuik Papermaking: 300th Anniversary. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
7. Blaikie, Walter Biggar (1897). "Itinerary of Prince Charles Edward Stuart from his landing in Scotland July 1745 to his departure in September 1746" (PDF). Edinburgh University Press. p. 25.
8. ^ McWilliam, Colin; Wilson, Christopher (1978). Lothian, except Edinburgh (Buildings of Scotland Series). Penguin. pp. 379–385. ISBN 9780-140710663.
9. John Bartholomew's Gazetteer of the British Isles, Statistical and Topographical. A. & C. Black. 1887. p. 320.
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11. Historic Environment Scotland. "Valleyfield, Sepulchral Monument (LB39293)". Retrieved 27 October 2022.
12. "Scottish curling: life on the ice for almost 500 years". The Scotsman. 26 December 2016. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
13. "Penicuik Burgh". Vision of Britain. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
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15. Basic biographical details of (Sir) Robert Stodart Lorimer at the Dictionary of Scottish Architects Biographical Database.
16. "Dalmore Mill". Retrieved 19 June 2014.
17. "New Beeslack High School plans go out to public". Edinburgh Evening News. 31 August 2022. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
18. "Snowfall average". ScotClim.
19. "1983 Maximum". KNMI.
20. "1982 Minimum". KNMI.
21. "2010 Minimum". UKMO. Archived from the original on 17 October 2012.
22. "Penicuik (Midlothian Council) UK climate averages". Met Office. Retrieved 15 November 2023.
23. "Penicuik Climate". KNMI. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
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25. Stevenson, Robert Louis (2017). The Complete Works: Novels, Short Stories, Poems, Plays, Memoirs, Travel Sketches, Letters and Essays (Illustrated ed.). E-Artnow. ISBN 978-8026836599.
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27. ^ "Penicuik heroes". The Scotsman. 15 July 2010. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
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29. Holloway, Sydney W. F. (1991). Royal pharmaceutical society of Great Britain, 1841-1991 : a political and social history. Pharmaceutical Press. p. 268. ISBN 0-85369-244-0. OCLC 464125862.
30. Waterston, Charles D.; Macmillan Shearer, A. (1 July 2006). Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783-2002: Biographical Index (PDF). Vol. I. Edinburgh: The Royal Society of Edinburgh. p. 191. ISBN 978-0-902198-84-5. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 October 2006. Retrieved 29 September 2010.
31. "The Cowan Institute". Penicuik Papermaking, 300th Anniversary. Penicuik Historical Society. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
32. Waterston, Charles D.; Macmillan Shearer, A. (1 July 2006). Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783-2002: Biographical Index (PDF). Vol. I. Edinburgh: The Royal Society of Edinburgh. p. 209. ISBN 978-0-902198-84-5. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 October 2006. Retrieved 29 September 2010.
33. Wilson, John J. (1891). "The annals of Penicuik; being a history of the parish and of the village". T. & A. Constable. p. 208.
34. "James Cowan". Wisden. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
35. "Sir John Cowan". Gazetteer for Scotland. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
36. "S. R. Crockett". Future Museum. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
37. "Claire Emslie: Scotland winger targets World Cup after missing Euro 2017". BBC Sport. 13 March 2018. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
38. m., F. H. A. (1934). "James Cossar Ewart. 1851-1933". Obituary Notices of Fellows of the Royal Society. 1 (3): 189–195. doi:10.1098/rsbm.1934.0004.
39. "Finlayson, James". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/49393. ISBN 978-0-19-861412-8. Retrieved 27 October 2022. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
40. "Sir James Arnot Hamilton". Gazetteer for Scotland. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
41. "Jason Kerr's rise through the ranks shows no signs of letting up". Edinburgh Evening News. 1 March 2021. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
42. Knott, Cargill Gilston (1879). "Researches on contact electricity". D.Sc. Thesis. hdl:1842/26666. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
43. "Hearts star Sam Nicholson on setting Tynecastle alight and avoiding trouble on nights out in Edinburgh". Daily Record. 28 February 2016. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
44. "After life upstairs, downstairs is an eye-opener for defender: Craig's just happy to still have the ball at his feet". Herald Scotland. 23 March 1996. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
45. "www.illinoissistercities.org/?page_id=2650". illinoissistercities.org. Retrieved 10 April 2018.

• Penicuik
• Towns in Midlothian
• Burghs
• Papermaking in the United Kingdom
• Populated places established in 1770
• 1770 establishments in Scotland