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Coordinates: 55°54′11″N 2°44′42″W / 55.903°N 2.745°W / 55.903; -2.745
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{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}
{{Infobox UK place|
{{Infobox UK place
|country = Scotland
|country = Scotland
|official_name= Gifford
|official_name= Gifford
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|scots_name=
|scots_name=
|static_image_name= Town Hall, Gifford - geograph.org.uk - 318559.jpg
|static_image_name= Town Hall, Gifford - geograph.org.uk - 318559.jpg
|static_image_caption= Town Hall, Gifford
|static_image_caption= [[Gifford Town Hall]]
|map_type= Scotland
|map_type= Scotland
|coordinates = {{coord|55.903|-2.745|display=inline,title}}}
|latitude= 55.903
|pushpin_map = Scotland East Lothian
|longitude= -2.745
|population = {{Scottish locality populations|name|POP=Gifford}}
|population= 700
|population_ref = ({{United Kingdom statistics year|ScotSettlement}})<ref>{{Scotland settlement population citation}}</ref>
|os_grid_reference= NT534680
|os_grid_reference= NT534680
|civil_parish= [[Yester]]
|civil_parish= [[Yester]]
|unitary_scotland= [[East Lothian]]
|unitary_scotland= [[East Lothian Council]]
|lieutenancy_scotland= [[East Lothian]]
|lieutenancy_scotland= [[East Lothian]]
|constituency_westminster= [[East Lothian (UK Parliament constituency)|East Lothian]]
|constituency_westminster= [[East Lothian (UK Parliament constituency)|East Lothian]]
|constituency_scottish_parliament= [[East Lothian (Scottish Parliament constituency)|East Lothian]]
|constituency_scottish_parliament= [[East Lothian (Scottish Parliament constituency)|East Lothian]]
|historic_county=
|post_town= HADDINGTON
|post_town= HADDINGTON
|postcode_district = EH41
|postcode_district = EH41
|postcode_area= EH
|postcode_area= EH
|dial_code= 01620
|dial_code= 01620
}}
}}
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'''Gifford''' {{IPAc-en|ˈ|ɡ|ɪ|f|ər|d}} is a village in the parish of Yester in [[East Lothian]], Scotland. It lies approximately {{convert|4|mi}} south of [[Haddington, East Lothian|Haddington]] and {{convert|25|mi}} east of [[Edinburgh]].
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[[File:Common Green, Gifford, East Lothian.jpg|thumb|265px|Common Green, Gifford, East Lothian]]

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[[File:The Tweeddale Arms Hotel, Gifford, East Lothian.jpg|thumb|265px|The Tweeddale Arms Hotel, Gifford, East Lothian]]
It groups around the Colstoun Water (locally called Gifford Water) at the junction of the [[B roads in Zone 6 of the Great Britain numbering scheme|B6369]] and [[B roads in Zone 6 of the Great Britain numbering scheme|B6355]] surrounded by rural farmland.
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[[File:18th century houses on the Avenue, Gifford, East Lothian.jpg|thumb|265px|18th century houses on the Avenue, Gifford, East Lothian]]
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'''Gifford''' {{IPAc-en|ˈ|ɡ|ɪ|f|ər|d}} is a village in the parish of Yester in [[East Lothian]], Scotland. It lies approximately 4 miles south of [[Haddington, East Lothian|Haddington]] and 25 miles east of [[Edinburgh]].


==History==
==History==
[[File:Garvald or Yester Tower, 1814.jpg|left|upright|thumb|[[Yester Castle]] in 1814]]
[[File:Garvald or Yester Tower, 1814.jpg|upright|thumb|left|[[Yester Castle]] in 1814]]
[[File:Colstoun Water at Gifford, East Lothian.jpg|upright|thumb|left|Colstoun Water at Gifford, East Lothian]]
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The village takes its name from the 13th-century Sir [[Hugo de Giffard]] of [[Yester House|Yester]], whose ancient [[Scoto-Norman]] family possessed the baronies of Yester, [[Morham]], and [[Duncanlaw]] in [[Haddingtonshire]], and Tayling and Poldame in the counties of [[Perthshire]] and [[Forfar]].<ref>Gifford, John, ''East Lothian Villages'', East Lothian, 1975</ref>
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[[File:Common Green, Gifford, East Lothian.jpg|thumb|Common Green, Gifford, East Lothian]]
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[[File:The Tweeddale Arms Hotel, Gifford, East Lothian.jpg|thumb|The Tweeddale Arms Hotel, Gifford, East Lothian]]
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[[File:18th century houses on the Avenue, Gifford, East Lothian.jpg|thumb|18th century houses on the Avenue, Gifford, East Lothian]]
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The village of Gifford takes its name from the 13th-century Sir [[Hugo de Giffard]] of [[Yester House|Yester]], whose ancient [[Scoto-Norman]] family possessed the baronies of Yester, a name that derives from the Cambro-British word Ystrad (modern Welsh: Vale),<ref>{{cite web|title=Yester, Ystrad |url=https://translate.google.com/#view=home&op=translate&sl=cy&tl=en&text=ystrad}}</ref> [[Morham]], and [[Duncanlaw]] in [[Haddingtonshire]], and Tayling and Poldame in the counties of [[Perthshire]] and [[Forfar]].<ref>Gifford, John, ''East Lothian Villages'', East Lothian, 1975</ref>

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The first Hugo de Giffard's grandson, Hugh de Giffard, was a magician who built [[Yester Castle]] ({{convert|1/2|mi|m|abbr=out|disp=or}} south-east of the present-day [[Yester House]]),<ref>McWilliam, Colin, ''Lothian Except Edinburgh'', London, 1978, p. 215</ref> the ruins and an underground chamber (the 'Goblin Ha') of which can be seen in Yester Wood. The same ''Hobgoblin Hall'' featured in the poem "[[Marmion (poem)|Marmion]]" by [[Walter Scott]].<ref>ed [[William Henry Oliphant Smeaton|Smeaton, Oliphant]], ''Poems of Scott'' - ''Marmion: The Host's Tale'', London</ref>


The [[Mercat Cross]] was built in 1780 and is still standing in the centre of the village.<ref>McWilliam, Colin, 1978, p. 209</ref> [[Gifford Town Hall]] started life as an early 18th century private house which was later extended and then partially rebuilt.<ref>{{Historic Environment Scotland|num=LB14684|desc= Gifford, The Square, Town Hall|access-date=4 August 2022}}</ref>
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The first Hugo de Giffard's grandson, Hugh de Giffard, was a noted magician<ref>McWilliam, Colin, ''Lothian Except Edinburgh'', London, 1978: 215</ref> who built [[Yester Castle]] (half a mile south-east of the present-day [[Yester House]]), the ruins and an underground chamber (the 'Goblin Ha') of which can be seen in Yester Wood. The same ''Hobgoblin Hall'' featured in the poem "[[Marmion (poem)|Marmion]]" by [[Walter Scott]].<ref>ed [[William Henry Oliphant Smeaton|Smeaton, Oliphant]], ''Poems of Scott'' - ''Marmion: The Host's Tale'', London</ref>


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The [[ITV Network|ITV]] television series ''[[Adam Smith (TV series)|Adam Smith]]'' was filmed in and around Gifford in the early 1970s.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://nostalgiacentral.com/television/tv-by-decade/tv-shows-1970s/adam-smith/|title=Adam Smith|publisher= Nostalgia Central|access-date=4 August 2022}}</ref>
The [[Mercat Cross]] was built in 1780 and is still standing in the centre of the village.<ref>McWilliam, Colin, 1978: 209</ref>


==Former Industries==
==Former industries==
The initial chief industry in the town was the paper mill, which was once the source of the [[Bank of Scotland]]'s bank notes. However, this mill closed in the late 18th century and since then the village has largely been residential and supported local farming communities, although a pottery, known as Castle Wynd Pottery, operated at Gifford for a short time in the 1950s.
The initial chief industry in the town was the paper mill, which was once the source of the [[Bank of Scotland]]'s bank notes. However, this mill closed in the late 18th century and since then the village has largely been residential and supported local farming communities, although a pottery, known as Castle Wynd Pottery, operated at Gifford for a short time in the 1950s.


==Church==
==Church==
{{main|Yester Parish Church}}
{{main|Yester Parish Church}}
The earliest recorded presence of a church in the area is in 1241, the ruins of which lie in the woods beside Yester House, to the south-west of the village centre. A church also once stood at Duncanlaw, a former settlement to the south-east of the main village. The present building (in the centre of the village) was built in 1710.<ref>McWilliam, Colin, 1978: 208</ref>
The earliest recorded presence of a church in the area is in 1241, the ruins of which lie in the woods beside Yester House, to the south-west of the village centre. A church also once stood at Duncanlaw, a former settlement to the south-east of the main village. The present building (in the centre of the village) was built in 1710.<ref>McWilliam, Colin, 1978, p. 208</ref>


==Infrastructure and amenities==
==Infrastructure and amenities==
[[File:Mercat Cross, Gifford.jpg|240px|thumb|East Lothian mobile library parks by the mercat cross in Gifford]]
Gifford was the terminus on a branch railway which was originally intended to extend to [[Garvald, East Lothian|Garvald]] and was built by the [[Gifford and Garvald Railway|Gifford and Garvald Light Railway Company]]. The company seal, which features the Mercat Cross, is in the Glasgow Museum of Transport. The line was operated by the [[North British Railway]] and then the [[London and North Eastern Railway]]. The section of line to Gifford was closed in 1947, following the loss of a bridge washed away by flooding. [[British Rail]]ways operated the line as far as [[East Saltoun and West Saltoun|East Saltoun]] until the [[Beeching Axe|Beeching cuts]] of the 1960s.
Gifford was the terminus on a branch railway which was originally intended to extend to [[Garvald, East Lothian|Garvald]] and was built by the [[Gifford and Garvald Railway|Gifford and Garvald Light Railway Company]]. The company seal, which features the Mercat Cross, is in the Glasgow Museum of Transport. The line was operated by the [[North British Railway]] and then the [[London and North Eastern Railway]]. The section of line to Gifford was closed in 1947, following the loss of a bridge washed away by flooding. [[British Rail]]ways operated the line as far as [[East Saltoun and West Saltoun|East Saltoun]] until the [[Beeching Axe|Beeching cuts]] of the 1960s.


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A large park (known as the [[Bleachfield]], from its historic use) lies near the centre of the village, and the East Lothian Core Paths network has been expanded to improve access to the surrounding countryside. The village has two golf courses. Gifford Golf Club is on the western edge of the village, while Castle Park Golf Club is to the south. The Gifford Cup is an annual golf event, which is held in alternate years between the two courses.
A large park (known as the [[Bleachfield]], from its historic use) lies near the centre of the village, and the East Lothian Core Paths network has been expanded to improve access to the surrounding countryside. The village has two golf courses. Gifford Golf Club is on the western edge of the village, while Castle Park Golf Club is to the south. The Gifford Cup is an annual golf event, which is held in alternate years between the two courses.
[[File:WelcomeSign.jpg|alt=Welcome Sign at the entrance of Gifford Community Woodland|thumb|Welcome Sign at the entrance of Gifford Community Woodland]]
In 2017 the local Gifford community bought {{convert|55|acre}} of woodland, including which comprises Fawn Wood, Speedy Wood, located to the north west of the village with financial support from the [[Scottish Land Fund]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/our-region/east-lothian-group-wins-300k-grant-for-woodland-purchase-1-4318757|title=East Lothian group wins £300k grant for woodland purchase|newspaper=The Scotsman|access-date=2018-07-09|language=en}}</ref> It is now called Gifford Community Woodland, and is managed by the charity Gifford Community Land Company with the vision of a restored native woodland supporting broad biodiversity which is an asset to the local community for leisure, health and learning.[https://giffordcommunitywoodland.com/]


==Notable people==
==Notable people==
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*Reverend [[John Witherspoon]], was born in Gifford in 1723. He studied at the Haddington Grammar School, gained a [[Master of Arts (Scotland)|Master of Arts]] from the [[University of Edinburgh]] in 1739, and was a Presbyterian minister in [[Beith]], [[Ayrshire]], before accepting an offer from [[Princeton University|Princeton]] in [[New Jersey]] to be their 6th President. He was the only clergyman to sign the [[Declaration of Independence (United States)|Declaration of Independence]] of the [[United States]], on 4 July 1776.
*Reverend [[John Witherspoon]], was born in Gifford in 1723. He studied at the Haddington Grammar School, gained a [[Master of Arts (Scotland)|Master of Arts]] from the [[University of Edinburgh]] in 1739, and was a Presbyterian minister in [[Beith]], [[Ayrshire]], before accepting an offer from [[Princeton University|Princeton]] in [[New Jersey]] to be their 6th President. He was the only clergyman to sign the [[Declaration of Independence (United States)|Declaration of Independence]] of the [[United States]], on 4 July 1776.
*[[Willie Wood (bowler)|Willie Wood]], double Commonwealth Games Bowls gold medallist, is from Gifford. He learned the sport at the Gifford Bowling Club, and as well as a large collection of medals he holds the record of competing in seven Commonwealth Games.
*[[Willie Wood (bowler)|Willie Wood]], double Commonwealth Games Bowls gold medallist, is from Gifford. He learned the sport at the Gifford Bowling Club, and as well as a large collection of medals he holds the record of competing in seven Commonwealth Games.
*[[William Stewart MacGeorge]] (1861–1931) artist associated with the [[Kirkcudbright School]].
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*The [[ITV Network|ITV]] television series ''[[Adam Smith (TV series)|Adam Smith]]'' was filmed in and around Gifford in the early 1970s.


==References and notes==
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}


==Further reading==
* Burke, John, ''History of the Commoners of Great Britain and Ireland - Volume 3'', London, 1836: page 434/5
* Burke, John, ''History of the Commoners of Great Britain and Ireland - Volume 3'', London, 1836: page 434/5
* Burns, David G. C., ''The Princeton Connection'' in ''The Scottish Genealogist'', volume 52 number 4, Edinburgh, 2005
* Burns, David G. C., ''The Princeton Connection'' in ''The Scottish Genealogist'', volume 52 number 4, Edinburgh, 2005
Line 72: Line 82:
==External links==
==External links==
{{Commons category|Gifford, East Lothian}}
{{Commons category|Gifford, East Lothian}}
* [http://www.gifford-village.org.uk Gifford Village Community Website]
* [http://www.gifford-village.org.uk Gifford Village Community Website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180105123131/https://www.gifford-village.org.uk/ |date=5 January 2018 }}
* [http://www.giffordonline.co.uk Gifford Village website]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100105213111/http://www.giffordonline.co.uk/ Gifford Village website]
* [https://giffordcommunitywoodland.com/ Gifford Community Woodland]
* [http://www.goblinha.com The Goblin Ha' Country Inn & Restaurant, Gifford]
* [http://www.giffordgolfclub.com/ Gifford Golf Club]


{{East Lothian Towns & Villages}}
{{East Lothian Towns & Villages}}

{{authority control}}


[[Category:Villages in East Lothian]]
[[Category:Villages in East Lothian]]
[[Category:Parishes in East Lothian]]

Latest revision as of 10:39, 3 June 2024

Gifford
Gifford is located in East Lothian
Gifford
Gifford
Gifford is located in Scotland
Gifford
Gifford
Location within Scotland
Population790 (2022)[1]
OS grid referenceNT534680
Civil parish
Council area
Lieutenancy area
CountryScotland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townHADDINGTON
Postcode districtEH41
Dialling code01620
PoliceScotland
FireScottish
AmbulanceScottish
UK Parliament
Scottish Parliament
List of places
UK
Scotland
55°54′11″N 2°44′42″W / 55.903°N 2.745°W / 55.903; -2.745}

Gifford /ˈɡɪfərd/ is a village in the parish of Yester in East Lothian, Scotland. It lies approximately 4 miles (6.4 km) south of Haddington and 25 miles (40 km) east of Edinburgh.

It groups around the Colstoun Water (locally called Gifford Water) at the junction of the B6369 and B6355 surrounded by rural farmland.

History

[edit]
Yester Castle in 1814
Colstoun Water at Gifford, East Lothian
Common Green, Gifford, East Lothian
The Tweeddale Arms Hotel, Gifford, East Lothian
18th century houses on the Avenue, Gifford, East Lothian

The village of Gifford takes its name from the 13th-century Sir Hugo de Giffard of Yester, whose ancient Scoto-Norman family possessed the baronies of Yester, a name that derives from the Cambro-British word Ystrad (modern Welsh: Vale),[2] Morham, and Duncanlaw in Haddingtonshire, and Tayling and Poldame in the counties of Perthshire and Forfar.[3]

The first Hugo de Giffard's grandson, Hugh de Giffard, was a magician who built Yester Castle (1⁄2 mile or 800 m south-east of the present-day Yester House),[4] the ruins and an underground chamber (the 'Goblin Ha') of which can be seen in Yester Wood. The same Hobgoblin Hall featured in the poem "Marmion" by Walter Scott.[5]

The Mercat Cross was built in 1780 and is still standing in the centre of the village.[6] Gifford Town Hall started life as an early 18th century private house which was later extended and then partially rebuilt.[7]

The ITV television series Adam Smith was filmed in and around Gifford in the early 1970s.[8]

Former industries

[edit]

The initial chief industry in the town was the paper mill, which was once the source of the Bank of Scotland's bank notes. However, this mill closed in the late 18th century and since then the village has largely been residential and supported local farming communities, although a pottery, known as Castle Wynd Pottery, operated at Gifford for a short time in the 1950s.

Church

[edit]
Main article: Yester Parish Church

The earliest recorded presence of a church in the area is in 1241, the ruins of which lie in the woods beside Yester House, to the south-west of the village centre. A church also once stood at Duncanlaw, a former settlement to the south-east of the main village. The present building (in the centre of the village) was built in 1710.[9]

Infrastructure and amenities

[edit]

Gifford was the terminus on a branch railway which was originally intended to extend to Garvald and was built by the Gifford and Garvald Light Railway Company. The company seal, which features the Mercat Cross, is in the Glasgow Museum of Transport. The line was operated by the North British Railway and then the London and North Eastern Railway. The section of line to Gifford was closed in 1947, following the loss of a bridge washed away by flooding. British Railways operated the line as far as East Saltoun until the Beeching cuts of the 1960s.

The village has a school, church, several shops, two traditional hotels and a garage. A bus service, operated by Prentice Coaches, connects the village to Haddington and Pencaitland.

Like the church, the school takes the name of the parish, as Yester Primary School. The current school building was built in 1968, when East Lothian County Council reorganised schooling arrangements in the area. Yester Primary was expanded to accommodate children from the small schools in Bolton, Morham, Garvald and Longyester, which were all closed between 1968 and 1971. The school roll in recent years has been around 150 pupils, plus up to 40 children in the attached nursery. Secondary education is provided at Knox Academy, in Haddington.

A large park (known as the Bleachfield, from its historic use) lies near the centre of the village, and the East Lothian Core Paths network has been expanded to improve access to the surrounding countryside. The village has two golf courses. Gifford Golf Club is on the western edge of the village, while Castle Park Golf Club is to the south. The Gifford Cup is an annual golf event, which is held in alternate years between the two courses.

Welcome Sign at the entrance of Gifford Community Woodland
Welcome Sign at the entrance of Gifford Community Woodland

In 2017 the local Gifford community bought 55 acres (22 ha) of woodland, including which comprises Fawn Wood, Speedy Wood, located to the north west of the village with financial support from the Scottish Land Fund.[10] It is now called Gifford Community Woodland, and is managed by the charity Gifford Community Land Company with the vision of a restored native woodland supporting broad biodiversity which is an asset to the local community for leisure, health and learning.[1]

Notable people

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Mid-2020 Population Estimates for Settlements and Localities in Scotland". National Records of Scotland. 31 March 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  2. ^ "Yester, Ystrad".
  3. ^ Gifford, John, East Lothian Villages, East Lothian, 1975
  4. ^ McWilliam, Colin, Lothian Except Edinburgh, London, 1978, p. 215
  5. ^ ed Smeaton, Oliphant, Poems of Scott - Marmion: The Host's Tale, London
  6. ^ McWilliam, Colin, 1978, p. 209
  7. ^ Historic Environment Scotland. "Gifford, The Square, Town Hall (LB14684)". Retrieved 4 August 2022.
  8. ^ "Adam Smith". Nostalgia Central. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
  9. ^ McWilliam, Colin, 1978, p. 208
  10. ^ "East Lothian group wins £300k grant for woodland purchase". The Scotsman. Retrieved 9 July 2018.

Further reading

[edit]
  • Burke, John, History of the Commoners of Great Britain and Ireland - Volume 3, London, 1836: page 434/5
  • Burns, David G. C., The Princeton Connection in The Scottish Genealogist, volume 52 number 4, Edinburgh, 2005

See also

[edit]
[edit]
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