Seton Dean is a small ribbon of woodland along the right of way
which runs beside the burn north from Seton Mains to the sea.
Despite its small area and the fact that many of the mature trees
in the strip were lost to Dutch Elm disease, it is a small gem of a
place, with a fine display of wild flowers and ground cover
supporting many butterflies. The 13th century Seton collegiate
church, a little to the west of Seton Dean is one of the finest
surviving collegiate churches in Scotland and can easily be visited
along with a walk along the Dean itself.
Very little is known about the history of Seton Dean. The
presence of wild garlic and bluebells indicate a long history of
woodland cover, however it is not included on the Inventory of
Ancient and Long Established woodland sites in Scotland. The area
is now managed by the Woodland Trust with replanting of
broad-leaved trees and maintaining some fine old yews that have
survived, apparently for many centuries.
The Dean features in a song called "Seton's Lassie" by
Davy Steele, about the ambitions of a farm labourer to marry his
master's daughter. The chorus and first verse run:
It's a hard life in the fields
An' workin' there is trashy,
But ah'll leave it a' behin'
When ah'm wad tae Seton's lassie.
Ah wis picked up at the feein' fair, a halflin' just
fourteen, man,
Bundled intae a horse an' cairt an' ta'en tae the Seton Dean,
man.
The first night ah wis pit in the byre, ah lay in the
beggar's bed, man.
Ah gret an' gret 'til the mornin' came, an' wished ah wis
hame instead, man.
To get there, turn off the dual carriageway section of the A198
road between Longniddry and Prestonpans at the signpost to the
settlement of Seton Mains. The reconstructed and new houses along
the private road are all very attractive. No "beggars' beds" here!
There is a small parking area at N55.58.131 W002.55.302.
From here you go directly into the Dean.
The cache itself lies just outside the area of land managed by
the Trust on the right of way to the sea. The ground immediately
around the cache is close to the burn and can get rather wet and
boggy. You can continue your walk to Seton Sands from here or
retrace your steps and travel on to the Collegiate church.