CHURCHES
* First church at Lasswade circa 850 AD.
* St Edwin’s Church, Lasswade was consecrated by the Bishop of St.Andrews in 1240.
* William Drummond of Hawthornden (1585-1649), the celebrated Scottish Poet is buried in Lasswade Kirkyard (Drummond Aisle).
* First Parish Church at Lasswade (Church of Scotland) established in 1565.
Minister: William Barbour from 1565-1581.
* First church built in Bonnyrigg, 1845 (Cockpen United Free Church), when Thomas Pitcairn, then minister of Cockpen Church of Scotland, left the C of S. He then became a Free Church of Scotland minister, taking his congregation with him. They also built their own school opposite the church. This building is now the Parish Church Halls.
* 1929 Free Church of Scotland rejoins the Church of Scotland and Bonnyrigg Parish Church is created.
RAILWAYS
* 1855 Bonnyrigg Railway Station opened,(Edinburgh-Peebles Railway Company). The line closed to passenger traffic on 8 September 1962.
* 1877 Broomieknowe Railway Station opened linked by a tunnel to Lasswade Station. Polton Station was the terminus of the line. The line closed to passenger traffic in 1951.
INDUSTRIES
* 1828 St Ann’s Distillery opened on the north bank of thr River North Esk on land belonging to Lord Melville. The business failed a few years later.
* 1834 Richard Whytock & Company converted the distillery into a carpet factory, employing 100 people.
* 1851 This company now employs a further 270 workers from Kilmarnock and a Mr Henderson becomes the part owner.
* 1857 The company is now called Henderson & Widnell and manufactures 10,000 yards of carpet per day.
* 1870’s The St Ann’s carpet factory closes and a new factory opens in Bonnyrigg. The company later becomes Henry Widnell & Stewart.
* 1861 The Census of Lasswade shows that there are 29 shops and 27 different businesses.
* 1857-58 Lasswade Parish records show that the main businesses as:-
Paper Mills
Alexander Annandale & Son (Polton),
Archibald Sommerville (Kevock),
William Tod (St Leonard’s, Lasswade),
Cameron & Company (Springfield).
Carpet Manufacture
Henderson & Widnell.
* Roslin carpet factory closed in 1969.
* Bonnyrigg carpet factory 1978.
* Eskbank carpet factory closed in 1982.
Corn Mill
Robert Dickson (Middlemills).
Gun Powder Mill
Hay, Merricks & Co – (Roslin)