Prestongrange Industrial Heritage Museum, Edinburgh

About Prestongrange Industrial Heritage Museum

”Prestongrange Museum is an industrial heritage museum at Prestongrange between Musselburgh and Prestonpans on the B1348 on the East Lothian coast, Scotland. Founded as the original site of the National Mining Museum, its operation reverted to East Lothian Council Museum Service (the current operators) in 1992.History of the siteFor centuries Prestongrange was a place of intense industrial activity. A harbour, glass works, pottery, colliery and brickworks have all left their marks on the landscape. Monks from Newbattle Abbey first mined for coal here in the 12th century. From that a coalmining industry developed and the first shaft of Prestongrange's last mine was sunk in 1830. A beam engine, built by Harvey and Company of Hoyle in Cornwall, and shipped to Scotland in 1874, pumped water out of the pit, in three stages, at 2,955 litres a minute. The mine was eventually closed in 1963.Cradled by woodland with views out over the Firth of Forth the site is now a haven for wildlife where visitors are free to roam and explore monumental relics of Scotland's industrial heritage and discover giant machines such as the pit head winding gear and the Cornish beam engine, structures such as the powerhouse and a vast brick kiln, as well as coal wagons, a steam crane and more besides.The colliery, with its pump house and beam engine, is a designated scheduled monument. The pumphouse and engine are also a Category A listed building. Read more

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