James Currie

Braewell
 House | The
Lane

High
Street,
 Gifford
EH41
4QU


It struck me that one of the most interesting things about the village is that it is very much off the beaten track. What marks it out from many of the other small towns and villages in East Lothian is its relative remoteness, and its distance from the A1. Where as few of the other settlements in the area have become commuters’ towns peripheral to Edinburgh, Gifford has always enjoyed a parochial feel, with a strong sense of community. The village is just far enough from the Edinburgh and the dual carriageway, so that it misses out on the city busses, leaving it much more in its own sphere. I think this makes Gifford quite an interesting foil for the second half of the residency, whether any of us want to tackle this contrast directly or not.

The village started out as a couple of rows of buildings housing workers from the local estate; of which Braewell house was one. Over the centuries it has supported various industries, such as logging and wood milling, farming, and until the end of the war it had a train station. These days however, it is very much residential area, with only a handful of businesses in the village itself.

Facillities

The property, which used to belong to my Dad’s Uncle has been in the family for over 100 year, and was originally one of the estate workers’ houses, servicing the local Yester Estate. When we inherited it recently, it was in a state of near ruin, and we have spend much of the last two years bringing it back to a liveable condition. At the moment it is still in a basic state, but it is fitted out with a kitchen and bathroom, and although it’s still uncarpeted, the walls are clean and painted white.

Upstairs there are two double bedrooms, and a toilet / shower room. Downstairs there is a decent sized kitchen with access to a private garden, which unfortunately is a bit rough and ready at the moment. Across the hallway from the kitchen is a large living room, which could easily become a workspace/exhibition space, or whatever we decide it should be used for.

Gifford is a very small village of about six hundred people, but there are still shops, bars, and hotels. There is a small supermarket, which is about 100 meters walk from the residency. There is a pub just one street over, and a bowling club with a bar just 500 meters walk in the other direction. You should be able to get everything you need for the four and a half days in the village itself, however the nearby town of Haddington has larger shops and pharmacists.