Prestongrange Industrial Museum, East Lothian
Written by Karen Bryan
Prestongrange Industrial Museum lies between Musselburgh and Prestonpans in East Lothian eight miles from the centre of Edinburgh. The museum lies on an industrial site which employed more than 1000 in its heyday. The Visitor Centre is open from 11am – 4pm every day from April to October. There is a cafe and toilets in the Visitor Centre and you can borrow a recorder and headphones to do an audio tour of the site. Outwith these hours you can either download the tour to your mp3 player or dial a number from your mobile phone.
The Hoffman Kiln, constructed in 1937, could bake 30,000 bricks in its 24 chambers during the fifty hour long firing session.
Hoffman Kiln
The Cornish Beam Engine enabled the 128 metre deep “Great Seam” to be mined without flooding as it could pump 45 million litres of water a day. The Engine was built in Plymouth in 1853 and brought to East Lothian in 1874. During its 71 year working life at Prestongrange it only had to be shut down twice for repairs. It is last engine to be left on site in Scotland.
Cornish Beam Engine
Just along the road in Prestonpans, you can walk around the Mural Trail which also celebrates the industrial heritage of the area.
More on European Museums
Find out about more museums in Europe on Europe a la Carte.
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- Prestonpans Murals, East Lothian
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- The Scottish Mining Museum, Newtongrange, near Edinburgh
- Art Class Exhibition at Prestongrange Museum 8/9/07 – 31/10/07
[...] provide a list of reputable companies providing such tours.” Now I tried an audio tour at the Prestongrange Industrial Heritage Museum near Edinburgh and couldn’t get it to work. Continuing the Scottish theme, when I was [...]
[...] The murals honour the memory of the history of the town and its rich industrial heritage . You can also visit the nearby Prestoungrange Industrial Museum. [...]