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This is a former harbour located opposite the Prestongrange Industrial Heritage Museum.
The trade that took place was mostly with England, the Netherlands, the Baltic and Scandinavia, the goods exported includes hides, kelp, woollen cloth, linen, fish and oysters as well as coal and salt. Imports comprised of wood, foodstuff, flax, hemp, hops, tar and lead.
Timeline of Historic Events
1526
King James V gave the monks of Newbattle Abbey permission to build a harbour called Newhaven, this was to allow export of salt and coal, but also to provide a safe fishing port.
1542
The harbour was let to an Alexander Acheson so the harbour became Acheson’s Haven. Acheson’s Haven was the location of the oldest recorded Masonic Lodge in the world, with records dating back to 1599, the stone predates this period.
1622
The harbour became known as Morrison’s Haven in 1622 after Alexander Morison who bought the estate of Prestongrange from Robert Ker, 2nd Earl of Lothian.
1707
Act of Union took place between Scottish and English Parliament therefore smuggling activity came to an end
End of 18th Century
Trade had picked up after the sequestration of the Prestongrange estate in 1734 with pottery transported as far as North America and chemicals for the bleaching industry manufactured in Prestonpans.
1850s
The Prestongrange Colliery was redeveloped giving the harbour had a new lease of life exporting coal.
1875
A small community with a school was built and a brick and tile work constructed which was connected by rail to the harbour
1950s
The harbour was filled with colliery waste and reclaimed from the sea in association with the building of Cockenzie Power Station.
In present day
A promenade, park which is popular with dog-walkers and improved coastal defences were developed. The tops of the old harbour walls have been re-exposed in the park and a ruined masonry pier still extends into the sea. Ash from the power station is piped through the area as slurry and deposited in lagoons immediately to the west.
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