Heritage | Mysite

Three of the Murals to be found in Cat's Close

Heritage

North Berwick is rich in heritage, from the earliest settlements on the Law during the Iron Age, through the middle Ages and pilgrimages across the Forth to St Andrews, to its heyday as the “Biarritz of the North” in the 19th and early 20th Century when it was the holiday destination of choice for Kings and Members of Parliament. North Berwick has the distinction of being the first town in Scotland to hold witch trials.

This heritage is demonstrated around the town through a wide variety of means:

Interpretation Boards describing the shaping and formation of the landscape through the effects of both volcanic activity and ice age glaciers.

Historical Interpretation Boards to inform about the first Iron Age settlements, and later times in the Middle Ages when North Berwick was an important route on pilgrimages.

Links to childhood holiday visits to North Berwick by the writer Robert Louis Stevenson are commemorated by the Lighthouse corner at Quality Street and painted wall murals in Cat's Close.

A circular tree seat around a sycamore in Quality Street commemorates the planting of the tree by King Edward VII in 1902 when he visited North Berwick.

A display poster at North Berwick railway station explains the history of the station.

North Berwick's public park, the Lodge grounds, demonstrates a wide range of historical planting styles.

A statue of Ben Sayers commemorates one of North Berwick's most famous golfers.

A Golf Heritage Trail is marked by green plaques and a leaflet. More than 40 of the town's golfing greats are included in the honorary scheme, with plaques mounted on the properties where they lived, worked or were born.