Midlothian is registration county, lieutenancy area and one of 32 council areas of Scotland used for local government. Midlothian lies in the east-central Lowlands, bordering the City of Edinburgh council area, East Lothian and the Scottish Borders. The modern council area was formed in 1975 when the historic county of Midlothian, also known as Edinburghshire, was altered substantially as part of local government reforms; its southern part formed a new Midlothian District within the Region of Lothian, whilst areas on the peripheries were assigned to other districts and the city of Edinburgh, which had always been autonomous to an extent, was formally separated as the City of Edinburgh District. In 1996 Midlothian became a unitary authority area, using the same name and territory as in 1975.

History

Midlothian County Council was abolished in 1975 under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, which abolished Scotland's counties and burghs as administrative areas and created a new two-tier system of upper-tier regions and lower-tier districts. Most of Midlothian's territory went to a new district called Midlothian within the Lothian region. The Midlothian district was smaller than the area of the pre-1975 county, parts of which went to other districts: Currie, Balerno, Ratho and Newbridge to the city of Edinburgh; Musselburgh burgh and parish of Inveresk (which included the villages of Inveresk, Wallyford and Whitecraig) to East Lothian; East Calder, Mid Calder and West Calder) and the Midlothian part of Livingston to West Lothian; Heriot and Stow parishes to the Ettrick and Lauderdale district of the Borders region. The boundaries of the historic county of Midlothian, including the city of Edinburgh, are still used for some limited official purposes connected with land registration, being a registration county. The Midlothian lieutenancy area corresponds to the current council area rather than the historic county. The last lord-lieutenant of the county of Midlothian was made lord-lieutenant for the new district of Midlothian when the reforms came into effect in 1975. The former county council's headquarters in Edinburgh became the offices of the new Lothian Regional Council, whilst the Midlothian District Council established its headquarters in Dalkeith. In 1991 the council built itself a new headquarters called Midlothian House at 40-46 Buccleuch Street in Dalkeith. The Lothian region was abolished in 1996. The four districts in the region, including Midlothian, became unitary council areas. The reconstituted Midlothian Council continues to be based at Midlothian House in Dalkeith.

Central government

There is a Midlothian constituency of the House of Commons. There was a Midlothian constituency of the Scottish Parliament up to the 2011 elections when it was divided between Midlothian North and Musselburgh and Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale.

Geography

The Midlothian council area contains the towns of Dalkeith, Bonnyrigg and Penicuik, as well as a portion of the Pentland Hills Regional Park, Rosslyn Chapel and Dalkeith Palace.

Settlements

Largest settlements by population:

Places of interest

Transport

Midlothian has a modern road network as well as some rural single-track roads. The Borders Railway runs between Tweedbank to Edinburgh, with four stations in Midlothian – Shawfair, Eskbank, Newtongrange and Gorebridge.

Notable people associated with Midlothian

Schools in Midlothian

Primary schools

Secondary schools

Special schools

Twin towns and sister cities

Midlothian is twinned with Komárom-Esztergom, Hungary and Kreis Heinsberg, Germany. Since 1978 it is a sister city with Midlothian, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago a town of Illinois.