Inveresk
Inveresk (Gaelic: Inbhir Easg) is a village in East Lothian, Scotland situated immediately to the south of Musselburgh. It forms one of the finest conservation areas in Scotland having been designated a conservation area since 1969. It is situated on slightly elevated ground on the north bank of a loop of the River Esk. This ridge of ground, 20 to 25 metres above sea level, was used by the Romans as the location for a fort in the second century AD.[1]
The element "Inver", from the Gaelic inbhir, refers to the confluence of the river Esk with the Firth of Forth.[2]
The village was formerly in the Midlothian parish of the same name and developed distinctly from the separate burgh of Musselburgh.
Inveresk is notable for its fine street of 17th- and 18th-century houses. Inveresk Lodge is now privately leased, but the adjacent Inveresk Lodge Garden belongs to the National Trust for Scotland, and its west facing gardens overlooking the river Esk are open to the public. This was formerly the mansion of James Wedderburn who had made his fortune as a slave-owning sugar plantation owner in Jamaica. When his son by one of his slaves, Robert Wedderburn, travelled to Inveresk to claim his kinship he was insultingly rejected by his father who gave him some small beer and a broken or bent sixpence. This experience turned Robert Wedderburn to radicalism.
Notable persons
- James Murray, 2nd Duke of Atholl, buried here.
- Alexander Handyside Ritchie (sculptor 1804-1870) buried here.
- Clarissa Dickson Wright the chef and broadcaster lives here, as of March 2012.[3]
References
- ↑ Burnet,JEM (1999) A reason for Inveresk. Courtyard Press, Inveresk. ISBN 0-9537450-0-7
- ↑ Dixon, Norman. "The Placenames of Midlothian" (PDF). Retrieved 2012-07-04. "'The mouth of the R. Esk' v. G. inbhir, inbhear: 'the confluence of a stream with the sea.'"
- ↑ Dickson Wright, Clarissa (2012). Clarissa's England: A gamely gallop through the English counties (in English). Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 9781444729139.
Coordinates: 55°56′12″N 3°02′48″W / 55.9366°N 3.0468°W