Port Seton (East Lothian)

Lat:55.972 Lon: -2.956

Cockenzie and Port Seton is a town situated on the coast of the Firth of Forth in East Lothian.

Originally two small fishing villages, Cockenzie and Port Seton spread and gradually joined, forming one linear settlement.

The original Port Seton Harbour was built by the 11th Lord Seton in 1656. As well as being a fishing port, it served the Seton Estate.

Until the mid-19th Century, fishing from Cockenzie and Port Seton was largely based on shellfish, including oysters. During the herring boom of the late 1800s, Cockenzie Harbour became too small to accommodate the large boats used for drift-net fishing. Through a combination of their own fund raising and donation, local fishermen paid for the expanded Port Seton Harbour to be built. It opened in 1880.

In 1958, the Weatherhead and Blackie boatyard opened at the harbour. The photograph shows the launch of "North Star", one of the first fishing boats built here. The yard moved to Dunbar in 1965, before this too closed in 1976.

Today, Port Seton is one of the few East Lothian harbours to maintain a fishing fleet.

In addition to fishing, there is a history of salt panning and coal mining in the area. Cockenzie is now home to a large coal-fired power station.

Features of the area

• Coast
• Harbour
• Fishing
• Town
• Mine
• Power

East Lothian Group

East Lothian is one of Scotland’s 32 unitary council areas. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Scottish Borders and Midlothian, and has Haddington as its administrative centre.

The council area was created in 1996 with the same boundaries as the East Lothian district of the then Lothian region.

Elsewhere on the BBC

• BBC Edinburgh, Fife and East Scotland

Elsewhere on the web

• East Lothian Local History
• Wikipedia entry on Cockenzie and Port Seton