In the 12th century
David I gave lands in Saltoun to
Hugh de Moreville. In 1643 the lands and barony were sold to
Andrew Fletcher, Lord Innerpeffer, (grandfather of
Andrew Fletcher, the Patriot), and it was the Fletcher family who attempted to make Saltoun a centre of manufacturing in the early 18th century. Most industry was sited in West Saltoun (formerly Milton), on the
Birns Water. At the instigation of Andrew Fletcher, James Meikle, a neighbouring
millwright, went to
Holland to learn the construction of the iron-work of barley mills, and the mill which he erected at Salton after his return not only gave Salton barley a strong hold on the market, but was also for forty years the only mill of its kind in the British Isles. Another
Andrew Fletcher, nephew of the elder Andrew, became
Lord Justice Clerk as Lord Milton. By his mother's energy the art of weaving and dressing
Holland cloth was introduced into the village. She travelled in Holland with two skilled mechanics who learned the secrets of the craft. Under Lord Milton's patronage, the
British Linen Company had
bleachfields in West Saltoun in 1746. In the early 19th century the Fletcher family invested further in the parish by helping to pay for a new church, manse and school in East Saltoun, and commissioning additions to
Saltoun Hall (near West Saltoun). By the mid 19th century most of the parish's industries were failing, and the land was given over to agriculture. == East Saltoun ==