Parish Representative & Parish Editor:
Diana Harrow
Introduction
Stenton parish is in an attractive part of East Lothian, situated eight miles from Haddington and five miles from Dunbar. The whole parish is ten miles from north to south, covers some 2920 ha (7215 acres), and at one point is only 400 yards wide. Stenton is bounded to the north by Prestonkirk and Dunbar parishes, to the west by Whittingehame and to the east by Spott. The Whiteadder flows through the southern part of the parish. The Sauchet Water flows through the western part of the parish and Biel Water to the north. The village sits on a ridge between glacial valleys; the 100m contour line runs along the main street.
To the north, where the land falls towards the Dunbar plain, are scattered farms; here trees have been planted in small groups, and woodland has been planted on the Biel estate. To the south are the Lammermuirs, which rise to 300m, dotted with hill farms, and the land then drops towards Millknowe farm, part of which was flooded to form the Whiteadder reservoir in 1968.
In 1947/48 Stenton, like many other rural East Lothian parishes, had a lot of derelict houses. Many of these ran along the northern side of the main street. In 1969, much of Stenton village was designated an Outstanding Conservation Area; this was extended in 1979. In 2000, Stenton was a desirable place to live; its houses were in good repair, and it was (and remains) a pretty village. It was however, for many people, almost impossible to afford to buy a home here.
The main visual change in the parish farms has been the addition of custom-built tractor sheds and barns, as are required by the scale of modern machinery. The often draughty and inconveniently shaped steadings remain, their main role now aesthetic, many being attractive in their own right. The farmhouses are generally good and large.