The Parishes
|
The Parishes. Bolton and Saltoun are adjacent parishes in the eastern part of south-central Scotland, in the county of East Lothian, not far from the county town of Haddington. Both are rural and agricultural these days, although with the reduction of labour on increasingly mechanised farms, many people now have little connection with the land, and commute to Edinburgh or the neighbouring towns for employment. Both parishes lie on the southern banks of the (Scottish) river Tyne and the land is undulating with some woodland and low hills. This is quiet attractive countryside which has so far resisted over-development. Long may it do so. (Though the pressures from rapacious developers seeking a quick profit, are unceasing.)
Bolton is a small, very irregularly shaped parish, squashed in between Saltoun and Yester. It looks as if it has been made up of the bits and pieces left over when the neighbouring parishes were formed. The tiny village of Bolton, with about fifteen homes, a village hall, and the church, forms its focus. Together with a handful of outlying farms, that's about it. There is no school these days, no shops, no post office - nothing really, except a fierce determination to survive, as the community and the church have survived since before the beginning of the parochial system. Fortunately for the church, there is a flourishing "Bolton diaspora" which attends Bolton church regularly from homes in Haddington and further afield. There is a long-held suspicion that elements in Lothian Presbytery would like to close Bolton church for reasons of administrative tidiness. So far the determination of the congregation has thwarted this misguided aim. Records of Bolton go back to the thirteenth century or perhaps earlier, from which date it has continuously been a seat of worship. Details of the parish are best found in the three Statistical Accounts of Scotland - the "Old" written in 1791, the "New" in 1835, and the "Third" in 1953. All are now available on-line.
An article describing the history of Bolton parish, written in the early 1970s by the Bolton Women's Rural Institute (WRI) has recently come my way. It is transcribed on a separate page - for the benefit of anyone with a particular interest in the history of this parish. Click
here A postscript to the above needs to be written in 2008. Bolton, no more than many another village, can resist the Developers. The large steading of Under Bolton farm (the village farm, in effect) has been sold off for the construction of 31 houses. This will more than treble the size of the present village and will present a real challenge to all of us who wish to retain a Community Spirit. East Lothian already has too many dormitory settlements, with Legoland houses straight from the (usually English) developer's pattern book and quite unsympathetic to Scottish vernacular styles, packed into small steadings. Let us hope that whatever happens at Bolton will be better than the visionless norm and can be better integrated into the local scene. Time will tell. The church, of course, always stands ready to welcome all new residents and to make them at home in the community, should they wish to participate in local life.
Saltoun is a bigger and chunkier parish which includes the two villages of East and West Saltoun, about a mile apart on the hill slope which rises on the south side of the River Tyne. Of the two villages, East Saltoun is much the larger, having some 600 residents, who enjoy a primary school, a village hall, and about half a dozen streets of houses apart from the "main road", and with twenty-odd new houses built in 2003, and another twenty-odd even newer houses built in 2007. All sorts of Community organisations exist. Even the odd bus passes through now and again. A metropolis indeed! West Saltoun these days comprises only about fifteen or sixteen houses and nothing else (it was once larger with a shop and a post office of its own - see page 10 of this website). It is now effectively a satellite of the East Village, although its residents won't like that term!. There are also several farms and vestigial "ferm touns" in the parish. Once again, the three Statistical Accounts give a good description of the parish, although new housing in East Saltoun and renovation of old steadings have changed the focus and introduced new pockets of population. In Church of Scotland terms, the two parishes of Bolton and Saltoun were united in 1929, but the historical record shows that there was much interaction and common ground between them virtually thoughout all their history.
In 1970 the parishes were linked, in ecclesiastical terms, with Yester and with Humbie. Bolton and Saltoun, as I write has a congregation of about 150 souls, a Kirk Session of some sixteen elders, and a quoad omnia constitution.
There are surprisingly few sites for Bolton or Saltoun parishes on the Internet, but for anyone interested in the area there is a great amount of information in the cramped but amazingly comprehensive Local History Room of the East Lothian Council's Library in Haddington. The opening hours are somewhat restricted, but the service, which sometimes used to include a free cup of tea/coffee, and even, if you were lucky, a biscuit, is second to none. Phone 01620 82 3307 for details, or email localhistory@eastlothian.gov.uk , or check on their Homepage Click on the link below to see the map.
|
