Gladsmuir parish was created in 1692 and in its original form it reached the southern shores of the Firth of Forth and extended to an area of 10 square miles. As well as the modern village of Gladsmuir the villages of
Longniddry,
Macmerry,
Elvingston and
Samuelston were within the newly created parish. The name Gladsmuir was originally 'Gledsmuir' and this name means 'the moor of the kite or hawk', gled being the
Scots word for either a
red kite or a
common buzzard. There were limestone and coal deposits within the parish, as well as rich deposits of clay and iron and in the 19th century this was an industrial parish. Weaving dominated in Longniddry and Samuelston while there were iron works at Macmerry and limeworkings at Harlow. Distinctively white bricks and roof tiles were produced locally, while the coal mines employed 50 miners, in addition to 30 women and 36 boys in 1836. In the mid-20th century mining had mostly disappeared from the area; however, open-cast coal extraction continued at
Blindwells up to the 1970s. The
Great North Road between
Edinburgh and
London once passed through the parish, as does the railway lines to North Berwick and the south. In the 20th century Longniddry and Macmerry expanded and overtook Gladsmuir village in size and importance. ==Butterdean wood==