Cranston is a

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

Midlothian Midlothian (; ) is registration county, lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area and one of 32 council areas of Scotland used for local government. Midlothian lies in the east-central Lowlands, bordering the City of Edinburgh council ar ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, lying south-east of

Dalkeith Dalkeith ( ; , ) is a town in Midlothian, Scotland, on the River Esk. It was granted a burgh of barony in 1401 and a burgh of regality in 1541. The settlement of Dalkeith grew southwestwards from its 12th-century castle (now Dalkeith Pala ...

. It is bounded by the parishes of Inveresk and

Ormiston Ormiston is a village in East Lothian, Scotland, near Tranent, Humbie, Pencaitland and Cranston, located on the north bank of the River Tyne at an elevation of about . The village was the first planned village in Scotland, founded in 173 ...

(East Lothian) on the east, by Crichton and Borthwick on the south ; and by

Newbattle Newbattle (from Old Scots ''Neubothle'', "new building") is a village and civil parish in Midlothian, Scotland. The village lies south of Dalkeith, about seven miles from Edinburgh. It is notable for containing Newbattle Abbey, a stately hom ...

on the west and north. The

River Tyne The River Tyne is a river in North East England. Its length (excluding tributaries) is . It is formed by the North Tyne and the South Tyne, which converge at Warden, Northumberland, Warden near Hexham in Northumberland at a place dubbed 'The ...

flows through the centre of the parish.Gazetteer of Scotland, publ, by W & AK Johnston, Edinburgh, 1937. Article on Cranston. Places are presented alphabeticallyThe Statistical Account of Edinburghshire, by the Ministers of the Respective Parishes, publ. William Blackwood and Sons, Edinburgh, 1845. Article on Cranston The parish is in the northern part of the Tynewater Community Council area and includes the villages of Edgehead, Pathhead, Midlothian and Ford, and the mansions of

Oxenfoord Castle Oxenfoord Castle is a country house in Midlothian, Scotland. It is located north of Pathhead, Midlothian, and south-east of Dalkeith, above the River Tyne, Scotland, Tyne Water. Originally a 16th-century tower houses in Britain and Ireland, tow ...

and Preston Hall.Gazetteer of Scotland, 2nd edition, by W. Groome, publ. 1896. Article on Cranston In a northern salient of the parish, almost detached from the rest, lies the village of Cousland. The chapelry of Cousland was annexed to Cranston about the time of the Reformation.Gazetteer of Scotland, 2nd edition, by W. Groome, publ. 1896. Article on Cousland In the 12th century Cranston was divided into two baronies, Upper Cranston and Nether Cranston, which were later known as New Cranston and Cranston Ridel, respectively. The church stands at Nether Cranston, which was the larger of the two baronies. This district was granted to Hugh Ridel from whom it obtained the name. The parish church was built at the expense of General Sir John Dalrymple, of Oxenfoord, replacing the previous church which was in the old burial grounds south of Oxenfoord Castle's gardens. The old church had been damaged by fire in 1796 and rebuilt in 1798, but was finally replaced by the new building in 1824. The present church was damaged by fire in 1861, but was quickly repaired and enlarged. The manse, which was re-sited from beside the Lion's Gate of Prestonhall House in 1835, has now been sold as a private house. A Parochial Board was established under the Poor Law (Scotland) Act 1845. With the

Local Government (Scotland) Act 1894 The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1894 ( 57 & 58 Vict. c. 58) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It created a Local Government Board for Scotland and replaced existing parochial boards with parish councils. Part I of the a ...

the Parish Council was established, which continued until 1930 when parish councils in Scotland were abolished,. Civil parishes persist for census and other non-administrative purposes. The civil parish has a population of 601 (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

Notable residents

*Rev Walter Fisher

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and Literature, letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". ...

(1749-1828), minister of Cranston

References

{{reflist Parishes in Midlothian Geography of Midlothian