| Fala | |
|---|---|
 Near Fala Mill, looking towards Fala Dam | |
  Fala Location within Midlothian | |
| OS grid reference | NT446603 |
| Council area | |
| Lieutenancy area | |
| Country | Scotland |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | PATHHEAD |
| Postcode district | EH37 |
| Dialling code | 01875 |
| Police | Scotland |
| Fire | Scottish |
| Ambulance | Scottish |
| UK Parliament | |
| Scottish Parliament | |
Fala is a hamlet in the south-eastern corner of Midlothian, Scotland, and about 15 miles from Edinburgh.
The parish of the same name is about five miles long from east to west, and one mile broad from north to south, and contains about 3,120 acres (12.6 km2). It is bounded by the following parishes: Humbie to the east, Soutra (to which it is now conjoined) on the south, Heriot & Stow on the west, and on the north by the detached parts of Borthwick, Cranstoun, and Crichton. Fala Hall Burn rises in the moor to the south of Fala Flow and forms the boundary between Fala and Soutra parishes. The streams eventually run into the Cakemuir Burn above Costerton. Due to its location, the village, and more so Fala Dam due to its topography, can often get cut off from the outside world during heavy snowfalls, with residents known to be snowed in for several days.
The hamlet has buildings from the 18th and 19th centuries. [1]
In 1834 a road (today the A68), with a still extant Toll House at Fala, was constructed between Edinburgh and Lauder and it bisects the parish, marking off the cultivated lands to the east from the pastures to the west. To the west of this highway can be traced the King's Road, which is said to have been made by King Malcolm IV to cross the Lammermuirs to Lauderdale. Dere Street, the Roman road, can be traced at various places on the hills towards Channelkirk to the south west of the A68.
James VI was riding to Lauder and Thirlestane Castle from Edinburgh on 12 October 1593 and at Fala the Earls of Angus, Huntly, and Errol, with Sir James Chisholm appeared suddenly and dismounted and knelt before him. [2]
The location of the dam at Fala Dam is unknown, but is believed to refer to a construction dating possibly from the Middle Ages. The location of the Dam House to the west of the hamlet shows no evidence for the location of the dam and it is uncertain how it would relate to the mill.
In the ancient taxation of 1137, Fala Kirk had to pay, as its proportion, the sum of six merks, and the Rectory of Fala was, like the other churches in Midlothian during the tenth and eleventh centuries, under the diocese of St. Cuthbert. The patronage of Fala, from that time until the 19th century lay with the Lord of the Manor or principal laird of the parish. In ancient times there were some Trinity Friars who had charge of a small hospital in connection with Fala Church (not to be confused with Soutra Aisle), as is evidenced by an entry in the Exchequer Rolls of Scotland in 1365. In Forbes's Book on Tithes, he mentions that the Order of the Trinity Friars was appointed and confirmed by Pope Innocent III in 1200. In the time of King James V the Rectory of Fala was taxed at £6, 13s. 4p.
The present parish church is a long 18th century building, with a modest rebuild to an economically Gothicized design by David Bryce in 1863. The Manse of 1792 also survives.
The school and connected school house of circa 1840 was extended in 1875. However, due to a declining roll, the primary school eventually closed but the building remains and is now used as a private nursery for children aged 6 months to 5 years. Children of primary school age are accommodated at the nearby Pathhead Primary School. Secondary school education is provided at Dalkeith High School.
Midlothian is a historic county, registration county, lieutenancy area and one of 32 council areas of Scotland used for local government. Midlothian lies in the east-central Lowlands, bordering the City of Edinburgh, East Lothian and the Scottish Borders.
Pencaitland is a village in East Lothian, Scotland, about 12 miles south-east of Edinburgh, 5 mi (8 km) south-west of Haddington, and 1 mi (2 km) east of Ormiston.
Greyfriars Kirk is a parish church of the Church of Scotland, located in the Old Town of Edinburgh, Scotland. It is surrounded by Greyfriars Kirkyard.
Soutra Aisle, not far from Fala, is the remains of the House of the Holy Trinity, a church that was part of a complex comprising a hospital and a friary. It lies half a mile along the B6368 from its junction with the A68.
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Thomas Lauder was a 15th-century Scottish churchman. A graduate of the University of Paris, he served the Scottish king at the Council of Basel in the 1430s. Before he rose to the position of Bishop of Dunkeld, he had been Master of the famous hospital at Soutra Aisle, and the tutor to King James II of Scotland.
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Trinity College Kirk was a royal collegiate church in Edinburgh, Scotland. The kirk and its adjacent almshouse, Trinity Hospital, were founded in 1460 by Mary of Gueldres in memory of her husband, King James II who had been killed at the siege of Roxburgh Castle that year. Queen Mary was interred in the church, until her coffin was moved to Holyrood Abbey in 1848.
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John Henderson was a Scottish architect operational in the mid-19th century. He is chiefly remembered as a church architect, with his early work being in the Gothic revival and tractarian style, before developing his own distinct style.
Cockpen is a parish in Midlothian, Scotland, containing at its north-west corner the town of Bonnyrigg, which lies two miles (3.2 km) south-west of Dalkeith. It is bounded on the west and north by the parish of Lasswade, on the east, by Newbattle and on the south by Carrington. It extends about three miles (4.8 km) from north to south and its greatest breadth is about 2+1⁄2 miles (4.0 km).
Channelkirk is a parish and community council area in the north-west corner of the historic county of Berwickshire in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland, forming the upper part of the ancient district of Lauderdale, while the parish of Lauder forms the lower part. The Community Council has the name Oxton and Channelkirk, Oxton being the main village of the parish. It was formerly in the Ettrick and Lauderdale district of Borders Region. A small strip of land along the northern boundary of the parish was added to Ettrick and Lauderdale district and thus also to the community council area, in the Brothershiels area, in 1988.
Glencorse is a parish of Midlothian, Scotland, lying 7 miles south of Edinburgh. It is bounded on the north-west by the former parish of Colinton now within the City of Edinburgh, to the north and west by Lasswade and to the south and west by Penicuik.
Kirkurd is a parish in Peeblesshire in the Scottish Borders situated 3 miles south-east of Dolphinton and 6 miles north-east of Broughton. Tarth Water, a tributary of Lyne Water forms the northern boundary, with the parishes of Linton and Newlands on the north bank. The parish of Stobo lies to the east and south, the parish of Broughton, Glenholm and Kilbucho to the south, Skirling and Dolphinton (Lanarkshire) to the east.
