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In the 12C (~1150) the Earls of Fife created a ferry port at North Berwick to take pilgrims to Earlsferry, on their journey from the South (Berwick on Tweed, NE England and the Borders) to St Andrews. Infrastructure was set up to serve the pilgrims' needs. Hospices were built on each side of the Forth, in North Berwick the Norman church of St Andrew was built (earliest record 1177) at the harbour on the site of an earlier ruin. In 1199 the church and lands of the hospice were given to the local nunnery by Malcolm, Earl of Fife. The nunnery organised the ferry, and hospice at the harbour. The nuns made trinkets, pilgrims badges and tokens. At its busiest period, the ferry carried up to 10000 pilgrims a year. North Berwick was created a burgh by Royal Charter in 1373, reflecting its importance as a key ferry port to and from Fife. The Coat of Arms was a ferry boat with 4 oarsmen each wearing a Scots bonnet, a mast and a furled sail, the lion at the prow, the cross of St Andrew at the mast head and a crowned figure dressed in ermine at the stern – possibly a represenatation of the Earl of Douglas, while the cross of St Andrew emphasises the pilgrim theme. In the 1920's a stone mould for casting pilgrims' badges was unearthed from the old parish church of St Andrew at the harbour. The mould shows a figure of St Andrew on his diagonal cross, with loops to enable the badge to be sewn onto a pilgrim's hat; proof that he had visited this church and had undertaken the pilgrimage to St Andrews. Pilgrims continued to pass through North Berwick throughout the Middle Ages, dwindling to a trickle in early 16C. By 1592, the pilgrim traffic had ceased, with nunneries and monasteries being officially suppressed and the Pope's authority abolished. The first half of 19C was still the era of ship bourne traffic, until the coming of the railway in 1850. Coal as the basic fuel arrived on collier brigs from Bo'ness, Fife and as far afield as Newcastle. Apart from coal the main imports were fertilisers and cattle feed, while farm produce, grain and potatoes were exported through the harbour.
In 1827 the North Berwick Fishing Company was formed to regulate business and the herring trade did very well.
In 1859 a roup of herring stances on the quayside raised £175. The herring were packed into barrels lined with seaweed and sent to Billingsgate fish market. By 1865, there were no offers for herring stances and the 100 men employed in the industry dwindled, so fickle was this industry. Two Law stone warehouses were constructed between 1806 and 1811 as granaries. These overlooked the South quay and were joined together as a terrace. The grain ships lay alongside the South quay of the harbour and grain in bulk would be loaded into their holds down wooden chutes. This reached its peak between 1820 and 1830 and then started to fall away. New exports of potatoes, turnips and flour took over. In 1869 the granaries fell into possession of the Hislop family who converted them for use predominently by fishermen and their families. The granaries became known as 'Harbour Terrace'. In 1881 there were 110 dwellers living in 17 households. The Council took them over in the 1930's and then in 1970 they were converted to flats (architect Mary Tindall). The Swimming Pool first appeared in rudimentary form in 1905. Built on the site of a rubbish dump on the Platcock rocks. In 1919 an electric pump was installed to draw in fresh sea water, and eventually the water was heated (slightly!). Having been very popular in its prime, numbers using it declined and it was closed in 1995 at the end of an unusually hot summer. The pool was filled in when the area was refurbished as part of the Scottish Seabird Centre project, and it is now a fully subscribed dinghy park. Outside the harbour Galloway's Pier was built for the Galloway Saloon Steam Packet Company to enable pleasure boat passenger (dis)embarkation. The 'Tantallon Castle' was an example of the pleasure boats that would tie up. She was built 1889, length 210ft and carried 800 passangers. Thousands of passengers from Leith, Portobello, Elie and Leven came to North Berwick. Then in 1914 the Admiralty declared the Firth of Forth a controlled area and all excursions were prohibited. Pleasure craft have continued running from the harbour from between the wars to the present day. St Baldred, St Nicholas, Brittania were boats from the 1930's. The Sun parlour was built in 1939 to provide shelter for visitors to the town on inclement summer days. Over the years till August 1967, the Forth Pilotage Authority had the use of North Berwick harbour for their Pilot cutters: Traprain Law, Largo Law and Berwick Law. They would be also hold station in the shelter of Fidra. Key dates:
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