Preston, Prestonpans

Preston
Preston
	Preston Lodge
	Preston Preston Location within Scotland
OS grid reference	NT388739
Civil parish	Prestonpans;
Council area	East Lothian Council;
Lieutenancy area	East Lothian;
Country	Scotland
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	PRESTONPANS
Postcode district	EH32
Dialling code	01875
Police	Scotland
Fire	Scottish
Ambulance	Scottish
UK Parliament	East Lothian;
Scottish Parliament	East Lothian;
	List of places UK Scotland 55°57′18″N 2°58′44″W / 55.955°N 2.979°W

Preston was a village on the East Lothian coast of Scotland, and is now a small part of the centre of Prestonpans. It is to the east of Prestongrange, and the southwest of Cockenzie and Port Seton.

The name Preston means "priest town", and the monks of Holyrood Abbey and Newbattle Abbey owned land there. The village was noted for St Jerome's Fair, held on the second Thursday of October. The chapmen of the area had formed themselves into a guild and elected their office bearers at the fair.

Two of Preston's most important structures were Preston Tower and Preston mercat cross. The mercat cross which dates from 1617, is unique both in its integrity and in that it is the only such structure in Scotland still in its original location and form. It has eight compartments, two doorways, six alcoves with semi-circular mouldings of scallop shells. The latter are said to be an allusion to the pilgrim traffic between North Berwick and St Andrews.

Preston Tower belonged to the Hamilton family (also known as the "haughty Hamiltons") who owned ten strongholds including Preston House, Hamilton House, Innerwick Castle and Brodick Castle, Arran.

Other notable buildings on the site of the former village of Preston include Northfield House and Preston Lodge, pictured on the right.