Kelso Town Trail.Indd
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
ke elso town trail . k lso n trail . k elso town tra to lso tow il . kelso wn ail . ke town t tr wn tr introductionrail . ail lso to kelso . kel il . ke tow so t n tra n t w own tow Scottish Borders Council has created which houses the Visitorra Infilor. mation Centre. to trai lso kel so l . kelso town trail . ke the Kelso Town Trail and would like to For those with more time, extensionsso t too wthe l . kel acknowledge and thank Mr Charles Denoon Trail which would add to the enjoyment ofn trail . kelso town trai for kindly allowing the use of material from the walk are suggested in the text. the Kelso Community Website (www.kelso. bordernet.co.uk/walks). The aim of the trail is In order to guide the visitor, plaques are sited to provide the visitor to Kelso with an added along the route at specific points of interest dimension to local history and a flavour of and information relating to them can be the town’s development, in particular, the found within this leaflet. As some of the sites historical growth of the town, its buildings along the Trail are houses, we would ask you and other items of interest. Along the route to respect the owners’ privacy. there is the opportunity to view structures which may be as old as the 12th century or We hope you will enjoy walking around as new as the year 2000, but all show the Kelso Town Trail and trust that you will have a architectural richness which together make pleasant stay in the town. up the town which locals know and love. An electronic version of this booklet is The Trail is approximately 3.5km (2 miles) available on Scottish Borders Council’s long. This should take about 11/2 to 2 hours website (www.scotborders.gov.uk) to complete. Those with less time to spare may wish to reduce this by referring to the Scottish Trail map in the centre pages. The walk starts Borders and finishes in The Square at the Town Hall C O U N C I L kelso town trail 1 k el kelso town trail . ke so n trail . lso town trail to elso tow . kelso t wn rail . k own t tr historical backgroundown t rail . k ail . elso t elso kels ail . k tow o t Kelso’s history is closely linked with thatt rof razed Roxburgh Castle. It was during this n t own town rail tow trail the Abbey which was foundedelso here in the siege that King James II, who was fascinated . kels lso . kelsth ail . k o t ke 12o centurtowny btyr King David I, who radically with artillery, died when a cannon exploded own tra trail . reorganised Scotland upon ascending to the near where he was standing. His Queen il . kelso town throne. King David I grew up in England urged the Scots to continue their siege and and was impressed by the Norman system eventually the castle was taken. Afterwards, of government. As a new king he stamped King James III was crowned at Kelso Abbey. his mark upon the country by introducing a new system of ecclesiastical parishes and Kelso suffered greatly in the 16th century new government based on the Norman when Anglo-Scottish warfare raged, and in system. In addition to founding new abbeys September 1545 the town, its mill and abbey he constructed Royal Centres of power were all destroyed by the Earl of Hertford. based on new town (Burghs). The abbey at Bizarrely, it was Spanish troops, not English, Kelso was sited close to his Royal Castle at that sacked and plundered the abbey. These Roxburgh and the important Royal Burgh troops were part of a multi-national force of the same name, which stood in the fields commanded by the Earl of Hertford under across the Tweed at modern day Friar’s King Henry VIII whose allies including King Haugh. Charles V of Spain. During the Anglo-Scottish conflicts of the In the 17th century, King James VII strove late 13th and early 14th centuries, Kelso and for religious tolerance between the Roman the nearby Royal Castle were under English Catholic and Protestant faiths. This led to control. In 1460, after more than a century the Bishop’s Wars and the Civil War during of English occupation, the Scots besieged and which the king was deposed and executed. 2 kelso town trail ke elso t o w n tr a i l . k lso n trail . k elso town tra to so tow il . kelso w . kel tow Street. Bridge Street and Roxburgh Street n t trail In October 1715, during the unsuccessfuln tra rai town attempted restoration of 1715-16 (led by iarel . theke two other major roads leading to and l . elso James VII’s son) the population of Kelso was from thels Squareo . kels ail . k tow o to n tr able to watch the Jacobites gather at the site n tr w wn ow Today, the town is thea il4th largest in the to trail . kelso t Wester Kelso (by Floors Castle). kelso lso kelso town trail . Borders and the community is proudt oofw itsn t ail . ke The late 18th and 19th centuries were peaceful rich heritage. The Kelso Civic Week, which is rail . ke l s o t own tr years, allowing the town to develop without held annually in the middle of July, celebrates fear of attack. As a result, Kelso prospered the history of the town. As in many other and expanded. For example, the town’s Border towns, this tradition has become an optician in the mid-18th century, John Gibson, established part of the social calendar. invented the reflecting microscope and made several models of telescopes which were used by the astronomers of the time. The present town is mainly Georgian and Victorian in appearance, although here and there we find individual buildings which have survived the ravages of time, fire and war. The basic structure of the town is that of the traditional Scottish Burgh, where there is a market place containing the main public building, with main roads on both sides of the Town Hall and with other routes radiating off the Square. The “island” on which Kelso Town Hall is built is bounded by Woodmarket, Horsemarket and Cross kelso town trail 3 k el kelso town trail . ke so n trail . lso town trail to elso tow . kelso t wn rail . k own t tr kelso town trailown t rail . k ail . elso t elso kels ail . k town o to TOWN HALL n tr a domed octagonal belfry with a clock which tra ow wn The Trail starts at the Visitort Infowormation would have been an essential method of il . t trail . k . kelso kelso elso eCentrelso to inw Kelson tr Taoilwn Hall. In 1793 it was time keeping on market days before pocket town t ail . k reported that “It is to be regretted, that the or wristwatches became common. For rail . kelso town tr elegant square in which the market is held, is many years the building contained the Town not better ornamented with Council offices and the facilities for the local a better town house”. court. Today, the hall is used for various civic Thus, with money functions and is one of the finest buildings in raised by public the town. Within the entrance hall, there is subscr iption a plaque gifted to the town by Polish troops in 1816, this who were stationed in the area during World magnificent War Two. building replaced The centre of Kelso is dominated by The an earlier Square, formerly a large market place and thatched the hub of the town from the Middle Ages tolbooth and onward. Prior to 1790, the majority of town house. The buildings were thatched with high pointed T ow arched windows at gables facing The Square. At its centre is the n H ground floor formed Kelso Bull Ring where bulls were tethered al l an open arcade until 1905 on market days for farmers to view. Under at which time the arches were the ring is a time capsule containing coins, filled in as part of extensive alterations. Above newspapers and other local artefacts. At the doorway, you can see the Burgh Arms each coronation new material is added and carved in stone. The building is crowned by the contents are updated. 4 kelso town trail ke elso t o w n tr a i l . k lso n trail . k elso town tra to so tow il . kels w . kel The buildings opposite the Town oHall to w(the stone. Built in 1833, this building originally n t trail n tra ra town west side of The Square) close the view from ihousedl . ke the British Linen Company Bank. il lso lso . kel il . ke the town to the River Tweed. At Numbers tow so to n tra 15-20 The Square, you can see a formally From May to Augustn tlookr out for Swifts flying w wn ow designed Georgian building. Although there rapidly overhead. Theseai lbirds nest under to trail . elso t . kels lso kelso town trail . k have been later alterations to this building, the eaves of many of the older buildingso tow inn il . ke the overall effect of the original design can the town centre and are remarkable in that trail . ke l s o t own tra still be seen. One of the features of Kelso they spend most of their lives in the air.