Penicuik

Sister cities

• L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue

History

In 1296, Thomas Rymer's Foedera mentions a "Walter Edgar a person of Penicok south of Edenburgh", which logically can only be what is now called Penicuik. Penycook appears as the name on John Adair's map of 1682 and the ruined old parish church, in the centre of the graveyard, dates from the late 17th century. Penicuik became home to an early paper mill, Valleyfield Mill, which was established by Agnes Campbell in 1709. The Pomathorn Bridge was a toll bridge across the River Esk and the main route between Edinburgh to the north and the Scottish Borders to the south. "The Young Pretender", Charles Edward Stuart, is recorded as having crossed the River Esk on his march south on 8 November 1745. The town was expanded as a planned village, roughly based on Edinburgh's New Town, by Sir James Clerk, 3rd Baronet of Penicuik in 1770. Glencorse Barracks, which is home to the Royal Highland Fusiliers, 2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland, was established as a facility for incarcerating French prisoners of war during the Napoleonic Wars and was originally known as Greenlaw Military Prison when it was completed in 1803. Charles Cowan, who acquired Valleyfield Mill in 1779, sold it to the War Office in order to create additional prisoner of war facilities in 1811. In 1830, Alexander Cowan erected a monument, designed by Thomas Hamilton, to the memory of 309 prisoners who died in the prisoner of war camps. Penicuik hosted the inaugural Grand Match in curling, between the north and the south of Scotland, in 1847. This took place on the "high pond" on the estate of Penicuik House, not the "low pond" which is still used for curling on rare occasions. The town, whilst generally architecturally undistinguished, contains two masterpieces by Frederick Thomas Pilkington: the…

Most-observed species

• Common Wood-Pigeon

  Columba palumbus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  15,290
• Carrion Crow

  Corvus corone Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  13,880
• Eurasian Magpie

  Pica pica (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  13,313
• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  11,137
• European Robin

  Erithacus rubecula (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  10,946
• Herring Gull

  Larus argentatus Pontoppidan, 1763 · Aves
  10,180
• Eurasian Blue Tit

  Cyanistes caeruleus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  10,055
• Western Jackdaw

  Coloeus monedula (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  9,844

Most recent

• M 2.5 — 2018-08-30
  1 km ENE of Gourock, United Kingdom
• M 3.6 — 2006-12-26
  2 km NW of Dumfries, United Kingdom
• M 2.5 — 2005-12-31
  3 km WSW of Auchterarder, United Kingdom
• M 2.5 — 2003-06-20
  12 km NNW of Balfron, United Kingdom
• M 2.8 — 2003-06-20
  14 km NNW of Balfron, United Kingdom
• M 3 — 2003-06-20
  12 km NNW of Balfron, United Kingdom