Danderhall is a village in

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, just outside

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

but inside the Edinburgh City Bypass.

Overview

The village includes a large amount of

council housing Public housing in the United Kingdom, also known as council housing or social housing, provided the majority of rented accommodation until 2011, when the number of households in private rental housing surpassed the number in social housing. D ...

— 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 resource extraction, extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its Energy value of coal, energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to Electricity generation, generate electr ...

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, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

, two churches (a

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland (CoS; ; ) is a Presbyterian denomination of Christianity that holds the status of the national church in Scotland. It is one of the country's largest, having 245,000 members in 2024 and 259,200 members in 2023. While mem ...

and "

Calvary Chapel Calvary Chapel is an international association of charismatic evangelical churches, with origins in Pentecostalism. It maintains a number of radio stations around the world and operates many local Calvary Chapel Bible College programs. Beg ...

of Edinburgh"). Notable people from Danderhall include: footballer

Grant Brebner Grant Ian Brebner (born 6 December 1977) is a Scottish football coach and former player who was the head coach at Australian side Melbourne Victory. Born in Edinburgh, Brebner joined Manchester United as a 16-year-old in 1994. While at Mancheste ...

, 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 wh ...

., 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. ...

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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

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

International relations

Danderhall is twinned with:

Angres Angres () is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France. Geography A farming and light industrial suburb situated just southwest of Lens centre, at the junction of the D51 and D58e roads. The A26 autorou ...

Pas-de-Calais The Pas-de-Calais (, ' strait of Calais'; ; ) is a department in northern France named after the French designation of the Strait of Dover, which it borders. It has the most communes of all the departments of France, with 890, and is the ...

Hauts-de-France Hauts-de-France (; ; ), also referred to in English as Upper France, is the northernmost region of France, created by the territorial reform of French regions in 2014, from a merger of Nord-Pas-de-Calais and Picardy. Its prefecture is Lille. ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Woolmet

Woolmet Hill is notable feature to the east of the road called The Wisp. On 3 April 1594, a battle known as the "Raid of Leith" was fought between the supporters of the rebel

Francis Stewart, 5th Earl of Bothwell Francis Stewart, 5th Earl of Bothwell (c. December 1562 – November 1612), was Commendator of Kelso Abbey and Coldingham Priory, a Privy Counsellor and Lord High Admiral of Scotland. He was a notorious conspirator who led several uprisings aga ...

, who claimed the backing of

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudo ...

, and soldiers and cavalry led by Alexander, Lord Home for

King James VI James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until ...

. Bothwell's force sheltered by Woolmet Hill and surprised Lord Home's force. Lord Home's foot soldiers retreated to

Craigmillar Castle Craigmillar Castle is a ruined medieval castle in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is south-east of the city centre, on a low hill to the south of the modern suburb of Craigmillar. The Preston family of Craigmillar, the local feudal barons, began buil ...

. Despite this initial victory, Bothwell encountered more royal troops and was forced to retreat from Edinburgh. The contemporary writer

David Moysie David Moysie () was a Scottish notary public, known as the author of the ''Memoirs of the Affairs of Scotland, 1577–1603''. Life He was by profession a writer and notary public. A notarial attestation of a lease by him occurs in 1577. From 1582 ...

, who described the fighting, calls the hill "Edmestoun eadge".

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 of

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 inv ...

(father of

John Napier John Napier of Merchiston ( ; Latinisation of names, Latinized as Ioannes Neper; 1 February 1550 – 4 April 1617), nicknamed Marvellous Merchiston, was a Scottish landowner known as a mathematician, physicist, and astronomer. He was the 8 ...

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 th ...

). 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 The Castle of Mey (also known for a time as Barrogill Castle) is located in Caithness, on the north coast of Scotland, about west of John o' Groats. In fine weather there are views from the castle north to the Orkney Islands. History The lands ...

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 (1829–1904) 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.

Transport

Danderhall is served by Shawfair railway station on the

Borders Railway The Borders Railway connects the city of Edinburgh with Galashiels and Tweedbank in the Scottish Borders. The railway follows most of the alignment of the northern part of the Waverley Route, a former double-track line in southern Scotland a ...

. Danderhall is on the

A7 road A7, A.7, A 7, A07 or A-7 may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * A7, the A dominant seventh chord used in many rock songs, see dominant seventh chord * A (musical note) * ''A7'' (mixtape), by SCH, 2015 * Avenged Sevenfold, a hard rock/meta ...

inside the Edinburgh City Bypass. Just off the Bypass and south of Danderhall is the Sheriffhall

park and ride A park and ride, also known as incentive parking or a commuter lot, is a parking lot with public transport connections that allows commuters and other people heading to city centres to leave their vehicles and transfer to a bus, Rail transport, r ...

, served regularly by

Lothian Buses Lothian Buses is a major bus operator based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is the largest municipal bus company in the United Kingdom: the City of Edinburgh Council (through Transport for Edinburgh) owns 91%, Midlothian Council 5%, East Lothia ...

route 33 between Millerhill and Edinburgh (continuing to the western suburb of

Wester Hailes Wester Hailes is an area in the south west of Edinburgh, Scotland. Wester Hailes borders on Kingsknowe and Longstone to the east. Bankhead Industrial Estate and Sighthill Park lie to the north. History Although named after a large private ...

). Danderhall is also served by half-hourly routes 46 and 48https://www.lothianbuses.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/r48_24_03_24_WEB.pdf between

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 ...

and

Musselburgh Musselburgh (; ; ) is the largest settlement in East Lothian, Scotland, on the coast of the Firth of Forth, east of Edinburgh city centre. It had a population of as of . History The name Musselburgh is Old English language, Old English in ...

References

External links

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