Smeaton is a village and country estate in

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 ...

, Scotland. It is off the B1407, near

East Linton East Linton is a village and former police burgh in East Lothian, Scotland, situated on the River Tyne, Scotland, River Tyne and A199 road (former A1 road (Great Britain), A1 road) five miles east of Haddington, East Lothian, Haddington, with ...

, and very close to

Prestonkirk Parish Church Prestonkirk Parish Church is a Church of Scotland parish church at East Linton, in the parish of Traprain, East Lothian, Scotland, UK, close to Preston Mill, Smeaton, Phantassie, and the River Tyne. Building The original church is said to h ...

as well as the

National Trust for Scotland The National Trust for Scotland () is a Scottish Building preservation and conservation trusts in the UK, conservation organisation. It is the largest membership organisation in Scotland and describes itself as "the charity that cares for, sha ...

properties

Preston Mill Preston Mill is a watermill on the River Tyne at the eastern edge of East Linton on the B1407 Preston Road, in East Lothian, Scotland, UK. It is situated close to Prestonkirk Parish Church, the Smeaton Hepburn Estate, Smeaton Lake, and Phan ...

and Phantassie Doocot.

The Estate

The Smeaton Estate belonged to the Hepburn family for 400 years, until 1934. It is now owned by the Gray family, but it remains to be called "Smeaton-Hepburn Estate". The mansion no longer exists. (

Smeaton House Smeaton House, which was originally known as Smeaton Castle - in 18th century as East Park House - and most recently as Dalkeith Home Farm, appears originally to have been a courtyard castle, dating from the 15th century. It was rebuilt in the 16 ...

, which is 19 miles away and located within the

Dalkeith Palace Dalkeith Palace is a country house in Dalkeith, Midlothian, Scotland. It was the seat of the Duke of Buccleuch, Dukes of Buccleuch from 1642 until 1914, and is owned by the Buccleuch Living Heritage Trust. The present palace was built 1701–1711 ...

Estate, is not an adjacent or related property.)

Smeaton Lake and parkland

Smeaton Lake is one of a handful of "

lake A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...

s" in Scotland - most are referred to as

loch ''Loch'' ( ) is a word meaning "lake" or "inlet, sea inlet" in Scottish Gaelic, Scottish and Irish Gaelic, subsequently borrowed into English. In Irish contexts, it often appears in the anglicized form "lough". A small loch is sometimes calle ...

s. With the exception of the

Lake of Menteith Lake of Menteith, also known as Loch Inchmahome (Scottish Gaelic: ''Loch Innis Mo Cholmaig''), is a loch in Scotland located on the Carse of Stirling (the flood plain of the upper reaches of the rivers River Forth, Forth and River Teith, Teith, u ...

, they are all artificial. In 1764, George Buchan-Hepburn succeeded George Hepburn as

laird Laird () is a Scottish word for minor lord (or landlord) and is a designation that applies to an owner of a large, long-established Scotland, Scottish estate. In the traditional Scottish order of precedence, a laird ranked below a Baronage of ...

of Smeaton. He was a passionate farmer and

agricultural Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created f ...

reform Reform refers to the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The modern usage of the word emerged in the late 18th century and is believed to have originated from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement, which ...

er. His descendants continued his work, and in 1820, a lake was created with a circular walkway. It is renowned for the variety of mature specimen trees. The gales of 1968 and of Boxing Day 1998 caused damage to a number of trees, and in 2005, a team of forty

tree surgeon In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, e.g., including only woody plants with secondary growth, only p ...

s did some remedial work. In the winter months the lake was used for

curling Curling is a sport in which players slide #Curling stone, stones on a sheet of ice toward a target area that is segmented into four concentric circles. It is related to bowls, boules, and shuffleboard. Two teams, each with four players, take t ...

competitions and continued to do so until 1982. Sit Thomas Hepburn, Baron Smeaton, was President of the

Royal Caledonian Curling Club The Royal Caledonian Curling Club (RCCC), branded as Scottish Curling is a curling club in Edinburgh, Scotland. It developed the first official rules for the sport, and is the Sport governing body, governing body of curling in Scotland. The RCCC ...

. In recent years, curling matches have not been possible because the tall trees provide good protection from the frost. Although Smeaton is a privately owned estate, members of the public are allowed to walk around the lake from 10am till dusk, free of charge, using either of the two gates. The lake entrance is about 20 mins walk from the entrance lodge.

Smeaton Nursery

Smeaton Nursery & Gardens is a plant nursery in a

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literatur ...

walled garden A walled garden is a garden enclosed by high walls, especially when this is done for horticultural rather than security purposes, although originally all gardens may have been enclosed for protection from animal or human intruders. In temperate c ...

, with a Victorian conservatory serving as a tearoom.

Photo gallery

Image:Smeaton Estate 01.jpg, Smeaton-Hepburn Estate Image:Smeaton lodge2.jpg, Smeaton Estate entrance lodge Image:SmeatonLake01.jpg, Perfect peace Image:SmeatonLake13.jpg, Geese on the Lake Image:SmeatonLake10.jpg, Bluebell Wood Image:Smeaton sign1.jpg, Sheep have no road sense Image:SmeatonLake15.jpg, White geese Image:SmeatonLake sign.jpg, A place for wildlife

External links

East Lothian Council: Map leaflet: Walks around East Linton

Review of Smeaton Nursery and Garden Centre
Villages in East Lothian {{EastLothian-geo-stub

The Estate

Smeaton Lake and parkland

Smeaton Nursery

Photo gallery

See also

External links