St Mary's Church - Lamp of Lothian

Historic Buildings held in Trust for the community

Formed in April 1967, the idea behind the Lamp of Lothian Collegiate Trust was born from the realisation by a few people that Parish and community life, in a largely rural area, were threatened with decline. The early Trustees – Elizabeth Duchess of Hamilton, The Earl of Wemyss, Lady Broun-Lindsay, Mrs Greenlees, John Rattray and Bailie Wood - believed that community life should be revitalised in an imaginative way; that this way must have a relevance to the area, its heritage and tradition; that this way must be in tune with the times.

The Lamp quickly established its home at the Poldrate Mill buildings on the south side of Haddington and began restoring the derelict properties to provide accommodation for the Collegiate Clubs: the Bridge Centre; Poldrate Arts and Crafts Centre; Haddington Camera Club; Poldrate Quilters. During its 40 years of life the Trust has raised £1.1 million for capital projects from over 100 different donors including grant making Trusts, individuals, Tyne Esk Leader Plus, the Community Fund and the local authority. With restoration of all the buildings complete the Lamp now maintains and insures the properties making them available for the community’s use.

The Bridge Centre, Haddington’s Community Centre, is housed in the former Poldrate Mill Cottages. The centre is run by a management committee with Lamp involvement and managed on a day-to-day basis by a Community Development Officer and administrative support seconded from East Lothian Council. Some thirty community groups use the Bridge Centre facilities offering a wide range of activities including keep fit, ballet classes, U3A classes, a lip-reading group, yoga, salsa jive class, a war-hammer group, youth café, after school club, playgroup, Sunday Christian meeting, muay thai kickboxing and kung Fu! The centre also offers committee room space, ad hoc training courses, a coffee bar for centre users and photocopying facilities. Some 800 people a week use the Bridge Centre.

The Poldrate Granary is home to the Poldrate Arts and Crafts Centre (PACC) and Volunteer Development East Lothian. The PACC is a charity offering arts and crafts tuition in some 18 different disciplines to its members. The Lamp Trustees were delighted to be able to totally refurbish the Granary in 2006 using the Lamp’s own funds and monies gratefully received through grants from Tyne Esk Leader Plus, the Edward Cadbury Trust and the Stevenston Trust.

The Mault House is home to two major projects managed by the Bridge Centre. The upper floor of the building is used by the Bridge Music project and provides music tuition space and a recording studio. On the ground floor can be found the workshops of the Bridge Motorcycle project. Both projects provide support, fun and tuition for young people across the county. In its March 2007 report, the two projects were singled out for high praise by Her Majesty’s Inspector of Education.

In 2001, after a lengthy and successful Lottery application process, the Lamp built The Alistair Grant Building, named after the Trust’s late chairman who spent his childhood living in one of the mill cottages. The building, designed by local architect Alan Smith, is acoustically controlled and provides the music project’s youth bands the facilities to make music without disturbing the neighbourhood! The Poldrate Mill, originally conceived as a small theatre space, now provides office accommodation for the Bridge Motorcycle project staff, a studio for upholstery, spinning and weaving classes, and a kiln room for potters and glass artists.

The Lamp has been very involved for over 40 years with the cultural life of East Lothian. With an emphasis on exciting young musicians of the highest artistic calibre, the Lamp used to offer a wonderful concert season. For many years Yehudi Menuhin was the Lamp’s highly supportive Patron.