Everything about Dunbar totally explained
Dunbar is a town in
East Lothian on the southeast coast of
Scotland, approximately 30 miles east of
Edinburgh and 28 from the English Border at
Berwick-upon-Tweed. Dunbar is a former
Royal Burgh and gave its name to an ecclesiastical and civil
parish. The parish extends around 7 ½ miles east to west and is 3 ½ miles deep at greatest extent (12 by 5.5 kilometres) or 11 ¼ square miles (c.3000 hectares) and contains the villages of
West Barns,
Belhaven, East Barns (abandoned) and several hamlets and farms. Its strategic position gave rise to a history full of incident and strife but Dunbar has become a quiet dormitory town popular with workers in nearby Edinburgh, who find it an affordable alternative to the capital itself. Until the 1960s the population of the town was little more than 3,500. Subsequent development has practically doubled that figure to 6,354 (Census) in 2001.
The town is served by
Dunbar railway station.
History
Origins
The name Dunbar has
Brythonic roots and means something like ‘summit-fort’, which gives an idea about its beginning. To the north of the present High Street an area of open ground called Castle Park preserves almost exactly the hidden perimeter of an
iron age promontory fort. Archaeological excavations there show Dunbar to have had a settled community a few centuries BC. The settlement was a principal centre of the people known to the Romans as
Votadini and it may have grown in importance when the great
hillfort of
Traprain Law was abandoned at the end of the 5th century AD. Dunbar was subsumed into Anglian
Northumbria as that kingdom expanded in the 6th century and is believed to be synonymous with the Dynbaer of
Eddius around 680AD, the first time that it appears in the written record. It was then a king's
vill and prison to Bishop
Wilfrid. As a royal holding of the kings of
Northumbria, the economy centred on the collecting of food renders and the administration of the northern (now Scottish) portion of that kingdom. It was the base of a senior royal official, a reeve (later
sheriff), and, perhaps, in the 7th century a dynasty of
ealdormen or sub-kings who held northern Northumbria against
Pictish encroachment.
Scottish Conquest
Danish and Norse attacks on southern Northumbria caused its power to falter and the northern portion became equally open to annexation by Scotland. Dunbar was burnt by
Cináed mac Ailpín in the 9th century. Scottish control was consolidated in the next century and when
Lothian was ceded to
Máel Coluim II after the
battle of Carham in 1018, Dunbar was finally an acknowledged part of Scotland.
Throughout these turbulent centuries Dunbar’s status must have been preserved because it next features as part of a major land grant and settlement by
Máel Coluim III in favour of the exiled earl
Gospatric of Northumbria (to whom he may have been full cousin) during
1072. Malcolm needed to fill a power vacuum on his south-eastern flank; Gospatric required a base from which to plot the resumption of his Northumbrian holding. The grant included Dunbar and, it can be deduced, an extensive swath of
East Lothian and
Berwickshire or Merse (hence March). Gospatick founded the family of Dunbar,
Earls of Dunbar and March until the 15th century.
Later History
The town became successively a baronial burgh and royal burgh (
1370) and grew slowly under the shadow of the great
Castle of the earls. Scotland and
England contended often for possession of the castle and town. The former was 'impregnable' and withstood many sieges; the latter was burnt, frequently.
The castle had been
slighted (deliberately ruined) in 1568 but the town flourished as an agricultural centre and fishing port despite tempestuous times in the 17th and early 18th centuries.
Major battles were fought nearby in 1296 and
1650. The second
Battle of Dunbar (1650) was fought during the
Wars of the Three Kingdoms between a Scottish
Covenanter army and English Parliamentarians led by
Oliver Cromwell. The Scots were routed, leading to the overthrow of the monarchy and the occupation of Scotland.
Dunbar gained a reputation as a seaside holiday and golfing resort in the 19th century, the 'bright and breezy burgh' famous for its 'bracing air'.
Environment
Due to its geographical location, Dunbar receives less rain and more hours of direct sunshine per year than anywhere else in Scotland (according to the
Met Office). The town has begun to be referred to by locals as 'Sunny Dunny', after a local radio host popularised the term.
Economy
Agriculture remains important, but fishing has declined. Its main manufactures are
cement at
Lafarge Cement Oxwell Mains (the only integrated cement plant in Scotland) and the Scottish Ales of
Belhaven Brewery. Another large local employer is
Torness Nuclear Power Station. A large portion of the workforce now commute to Edinburgh or further afield.
Dunbar is noted as the birthplace of the explorer, naturalist and conservationist
John Muir. The house in which Muir was born is located on the High Street, and has been converted into a museum. There is also a commemorative statue beside the town clock, and
John Muir Country Park is located to the northwest of the town. The eastern section of the
John Muir Way coastal path starts from the harbour.
Each year on the last full weekend in September, Dunbar holds a traditional music festival sponsored by various local companies.
Planning Permission and construction for over two years on the outskirts at the Spott Roundabout site (A1) has given the town an
ASDA supermarket and petrol station (their first in East Lothian). The development is due to be accompied by a still unconfirmed fast food drive-thru restaurant, a tourist office and a hotel at a later date.
(External Link
) (External Link) ASDA are proposing to help local businesses and charities in the town as part of their commitment.
(External Link).
Although this will be guaranteed to boost the retail facilities and catchment area of Dunbar, attracting people from Berwick and Haddington to come, there's a fear it might bring congestion to the site and will lead to the decline of the present town centre shops especially the Co-op.
(External Link) (External Link)
Twin towns
Dunbar is
twinned with the following places:
Sport
Football
Dunbar is home to the
junior football club
Dunbar United.
Youth Facilities
Many youth groups use the facilities of The Countess Youth and Community Centre. Youth Club runs Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays (term time) between 1830 to 2000 for primary 4 to 7 children and 2000 to 2200 for young people at Secondary School. The Youth Cafe is held on Wednesday and Saturday evenings. The centre is also used by a Playgroup, an AfterSchool Club and a line dancing club to name a few.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Dunbar'.
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