Farmland in East Lothian is currently being lost to development, often of new housing. Consequentially the names of fields, many of which are very old, are being lost. Loss has also been caused by the amalgamation of fields into larger areas to allow mechanised farming has also been going on for the past 70 or so years and more slowly for another 150 -200 years.
Project aim
To record the field names as they are now, assess their age and also record any earlier names used for the fields that can be identified from surviving records.1
The size of the task
East Lothian has:
- 25 Parishes, with some boundary changes amalgamations over time
- There were 493 farms in the county in 17692
- There were approximately 400 farms in 20003
Methods
- A group of volunteer researchers has been established from within the ELA&FNS membership. Non-members have also volunteered. Further volunteers are welcome.
- Available records will be examined by the group e.g. old maps, estate plans, sasines.
- Information Collection. Many farmers have maps of their farm and obviously know the field names currently in use. It would be helpful if people could send us such information perhaps in the form of a map marked up with the names (plus their contact details). The simplest way would be to take a photo of the map & add to an email. Any older records would be of interest, depending upon volume of records and willingness, a farm visit may be appropriate. Word of mouth has reached some farmers & marked up plans have already been sent to us.
- Many old estate plans of the 18th and 19th Centuries survive, some are in private hands while others are held by the National Records of Scotland and the National Libraries of Scotland. These will be searched for and examined.
- Farm visits may take place by mutual agreement. A review of information gathered often prompts the memory, producing more information for the record.
- Old photos may be collected/copied to illustrate the reports or website posts.
- There is an earlier example of field name recording in Vol. 23 of our Transactions (1996) on pages 49-85. Click on Transactions of the East Lothian Antiquarian and Field Naturalists’ Society – East Lothian Antiquarian & Field Naturalists’ Society
- A Digital Field Names of East Lothian map is being developed in conjunction with the National Libraries of Scotland Mapping Department. This map represents the most recent data entered and is free to access.
Outcomes and Access
- A series of farm plans will be produced with a list of current field names plus field names recorded in historical plans and documents. Name developments and changes may be analysed.
- A selection of the farm plans with field names will be posted in this section of the ELA&FNS website. This website is free for anyone to access.
- Plans may be published in our Transactions in due course.
If you would like to contribute contact us at: fieldnames@eastlothianantiquarians.org.uk
Examples of both contributions sent in and reports developed by the researchers
Lochouses is an example of a map sent in to the project shortly after its launch
A worked example of a farm record map: Newmains Dirleton
| Field # | Database fields | Farm & Parish | Description & Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Newmains Farm Dirleton | |||
| Introduction | Newmains is so called because it was formed relatively recently from some farmland and the taking in of links land. On the available OS maps of 1895 and earlier there are no fields recorded north of the Eel Burn (area marked as fields 2,3,6,7 & 8 on map). The land is shown as links. The fields are recorded on the 25inch 1907 OS map, surveyed 1906. Therefore these fields names cannot be older than 1895. | ||
| Current Name | Previous Name | Name derivation, sources and other observations | |
| 1 | Curling Pond | Has clearly been named for the pond immediately to the east of the field. The pond itself is Victorian. It does not appear on the OS 6inch 1854 map | |
| 2 | Cow Park | Probably based on its use, to hold cows. | |
| 3 | Byre | Fields are often named for the nearest feature, so in this case a byre at the steading that the field butts against seems likely. This field was created by the amalgamation of two fields at this position, as shown on the 25inch 1907 OS map. | |
| 4 | Oatfield | Named for the late 18th C. farmhouse located part-way up its east side. It appears on Forests’ 1799 map, with a field shown to the east having a similar shape to No.5 Café | |
| 5 | Café | The farmer reports that there was a village café next to this field and that the name continued in use after the café closed. This field is an amalgamation of four areas, their boundaries can be seen on the map. | |
| 6 | Radar | Named for the radar station set up in this field in 1943. The station remained operational until 1946 and continued to be used as a training facility until 1954. For further details see ELA&FNS Transactions vol.28. 2008, p117-131. The radar station buildings were converted into a house (at X on the map) in the mid-2000s, with a section of the field becoming its garden. | |
| 7 | Road End | Another location name, it is at the end of the farm where the Ware Road is. | |
| 8 | Horse and Cottage | Horse Cottage | The farmer reports (i) that an old fence line can be seen across this field so it is probable that two field have been combined. The 25inch 1907 OS map confirms that this area used to be two fields. (ii) That Cottage as a field name probably came from that previous farmers cottage that bordered the field and that Horse may be from the other field being used as a horse paddock. So fields, and possibly their names, were amalgamated. |
| 9 | Glebe | This field is located north of the manse and is the name applied to land provided as part of a Minister’s stipend. | |
| x | Lysander House | ||
| Sources | Current field names were provided by the farmer of Newmains at Dirleton. ELA&FNS Transactions vol.28. 2008, p117-131. Forrest’s 1799 Map of East Lothian. OS maps as listed in introduction |
The final result
Click on the image above to preview the final result on the National Library of Scotland hosted map page. Nota bene there are numerous selectable mapping layers and the navigation options include place name search (top left) and fine grained touch zoom as well as arrow keys to move around the map in a controlled way. To view the current field name and accompanying report, click the field, once zoomed in. We’re working with NLS staff who have generously created the data entry and display system, to make improvements as and when we can. We have further mapping in-house capabilities if anyone is interested in the technical side.
Other Field Names Recording Projects
Scotland
The Borgue Field Names Project is centred upon the parish of Borgue, near Kirkcudbright in South-West Scotland. It has been researching field names since 2019 and has expanded considerably beyond the parish boundaries in that time.
For more information go to: Borgue Area Field Names | Borgue
Ireland
There are several small Irish projects which were usually ran in conjunction with Placenames investigations. Meath has a larger project, started 2010. County Meath has a little over 1,600 townlands. It is a vast area. As some townlands are totally urban and are within towns and villages, these are outside the remit of this project. They estimated that were 1,400 townlands its target area. As of December 2012, approximately 850 townlands in Meath have been surveyed, 60% of the 1,400 estimated rural townlands in Meath. There are records for just over 24,700 fields in the database. Information from Meath Field Names Project on 15/2/2025
More will be added to this website page as the Field Names of East Lothian Recording Project progresses.
Contact East Lothian Antiquarians about the project at: fieldnames@eastlothianantiquarians.org.uk
D.J. Sowerby
The National Libraries of Scotland Maps website is a wonderful resource for anyone interested in maps. Go to: Map images – National Library of Scotland
Latest Field Name Updates
- Proposed Field Name Recording Project for East Lothian
The Need Farmland in East Lothian is currently being lost to…
Updates to the project will appear above.
- ‘Combine in field’ and’ farm sign’ are by and with permission of Michael Williams of Eaglescairnie, ELAFNS member and Field Names Team member ↩︎
- Soc Ant Scot Vol. 1 (1792) ↩︎
- The 4th Statistical Account of East Lothian (2003-2008) also available in an expanded digital version: el4.org.uk ↩︎