Rosewell, Midlothian

History

The colliery village was established by Archibald Hood, mining engineer and entrepreneur, who developed the Whitehill Colliery from 1856, which was located on the south-western edge of the village. He began a new shaft at the colliery in 1878, built railways for the mines (branching from the Peebles Railway) and erected well-designed houses for the miners, and also encouraged the establishment of a Co-operative Retail Society.

In 1890 he amalgamated his company with the mining interests of the Marquess of Lothian (9th marquess, 1833-1900) to form the Lothian Coal Company. The colliery was named after Whitehill House to the east and was also known as Rosewell. On 1 January 1947 the National Coal Board took over the colliery from the Lothian Coal Company, when mines in Britain were nationalised. The colliery had 3 deep shafts and one surface mine. It reached peak production in 1950, but closed in 1961.

Archibald Hood lived at Rosedale in the south of the village, which is now a category B listed building. This is a mid 19th century two storey gabled house, which was later used by the Lothian Coal Company as a house for its managers, in particular his son James Archibald Hood.

The Rosewell Institute, in Carnethie Street, was built for the Lothian Coal Company as a miners' institute in 1917. The Institute was built on an impressive scale with finely detailed sandstone features.

The Church in Rosewell was built 1871-72 and opened for worship 1874, when Rosewell became a separate ecclesiastical parish. The population of this new quoad sacra parish was recorded as 1,394 in 1881. It was re-united with Lasswade in 2008.

Rosewell was served by a railway station lying between Rosewell and Hawthornden. The station opened in 1855 under the name Hawthornden, but was renamed Rosewell and Hawthornden in 1928. It was served by the Peebles Railway, a branch line of the Waverley Line. Services ran from Peebles to Waverley Station in Edinburgh. The station wwas closed in 1962 but the line remained in use for goods traffic until 1967, although the colliery had already closed by then.

Schools

Rosewell has two primary schools, namely Rosewell Primary School and St Matthew's (Catholic) Primary School. The village is in the catchment area for Lasswade High School, and St David's Catholic High School.

Transport

Rosewell is well served by buses, mainly by route 49, though the service has recently been reduced despite a petition to Lothian Buses (and some route 31) services of Lothian Buses. There is also a small and local private hire company(Jed's Taxi Service).

For walkers the Penicuik–Dalkeith Walkway passes close by.

Churches

The village has two churches, namely Rosewell Parish Church (Church of Scotland) and St Matthew's Catholic Church.

Since 2008 Rosewell Parish Church has been formally united with Lasswade Church, forming Lasswade and Rosewell Parish Church (with a single minister and Kirk Session, although retaining both places of worship).

Whitehill House

Situated half a mile south-east of the village, Whitehill House is a Tudor-revival building designed by David Bryce and William Burn; according to the Gazetteer for Scotland, it was built in 1844 as a home for Wardlaw Ramsay, proprietor of the nearby Whitehill Colliery (which was later acquired by the engineer Archibald Hood). In World War I it was used as a Red Cross hospital. Until the late 1990s, Whitehill House was run by nuns of the Roman Catholic Church as St. Joseph's Hospital for disabled children. It was visited by Pope John Paul II when he came to Scotland in 1982. It is now privately owned and has a 9-hole golf course in its grounds.

Football

Whitehill Welfare F.C. play their home matches at Ferguson Park, Rosewell.