The Royal Burgh of Haddington (Scots: Haidintoun,[2] Scottish Gaelic: Baile Adainn) is a town in East Lothian, Scotland.

[3] The name Haddington is Anglo-Saxon, dating from the sixth or seventh century AD[4] when the area was incorporated into the Kingdom of Bernicia.

The town, like the rest of the Lothian region, was ceded by King Edgar of England and became part of Scotland in the tenth century.

Haddington received Burgh status, one of the earliest to do so, during the reign of David I (1124–1153),[5] giving it trading rights which encouraged its growth into a market town.

Other notable nearby sites include: the Jane Welsh Carlyle House; Mitchell's Close; and a building on the High Street that was the birthplace of the author and government reformer Samuel Smiles and is marked by a commemorative plaque.

It developed into the fourth-largest town in Scotland during the High Middle Ages, and later was at the centre of the mid-eighteenth century Scottish Agricultural Revolution.

In 1641, an Act was passed by the Parliament of Scotland to encourage the production of fine cloth, and in 1645 an amendment went through stating that the masters and workers of manufactories would be exempt from military service.

A new charter was drawn up in May 1681, and major capital invested in new machinery, but the New Mills had mixed fortunes, inevitably affected by the lack of protectionism for Scottish manufactured cloth.

This building occupies the site of Haddington's twelfth century royal palace and adjoins the former Sheriff Court complex.

Nationwide retailers with a presence in Haddington include: Tesco, Home Bargains, Boots, Aldi and Co-op Food.

[8] To the north and south the medieval rigg pattern of burgage plots can still be observed with narrow buildings fronting the main streets and long plots behind stretching back, originally to the line of the old town walls, accessed by small closes and pends.

Some comprehensive redevelopment did occur, chiefly around Newton Port and Hardgate to allow for widening of these narrow streets to improve motor traffic flow.

The church was partially destroyed during the 1548-49 Siege of Haddington that followed the Rough Wooing of Henry VIII, and on the advice of John Knox, it was restored "frae the tower to the West door".

In addition to the lending library the Centre comprises East Lothian Council's Historical Archives, Local History Collections and Reading Room, a new museum of East Lothian (with a temporary exhibition gallery), a computer suite and community room.

The Centre is named after a local minister whose bequest of books and money in 1717 gave the town one of the earliest community libraries in Scotland.

Since the withdrawal of many First Scotland East services in June 2012, the contracts for the 121 Haddington to North Berwick and the 123 Gifford Circle passed back to the Haddington-based firm Prentice Coaches.

Passengers from Haddington were required to alight at Longniddry and change trains in order to travel to Edinburgh.

[19] John Martine wrote Reminiscences of the royal burgh of Haddington and old East Lothian agriculturists in 1883.

[20] On 5 September 1618 a debt collector from Edinburgh, Thomas Allan, was attacked by Isobel Addington and 60 or 80 other women who beat him and then dragged him by the feet out of her house.

These include: Douglas Alexander, of the Scottish Labour Party has served as the MP for Lothian East since 2024.

A third primary school started construction at Letham Mains in April 2019, to serve the large number of new houses that have been built on the west side of the town from 2016 onwards.

[40] Art[42] and artists associated with Haddington include: Stephen Baillie,[43] John Guthrie Spence Smith,[44] William Darling McKay,[45] Colin Thoms,[46] William George Gillies,[47] Daisy R. Sharp[48] Robert Noble,[49] Shirley M. Maud,[50] Walter Dexter,[51] and Haugh.