Eyemouth is a busy port with many If you would like to find out more about the interesting buildings and a fascinating history history of and the surrounding that includes smuggling, shipwrecks and area, the Museum shop carries a wide range witch-burning. The aim of the Town Trail of books, maps and leaflets. is to show the visitor to Eyemouth how the town’s buildings are closely linked with We hope you will enjoy walking around its heritage, and to provide a flavour of its the Town Trail and trust that you will have a development through time. pleasant stay in Eyemouth.

The Trail is approximately 3km/ 2 miles long Council would like to thank and takes about two hours to complete. the following for their help in producing this Those with less time to spare may wish to booklet: reduce this by referring to the Trail map in the centre pages.

In order to guide the visitor, plaques have COUNCIL been sited along the route of the Trail at specific points of interest and information relating to them can be found within this Eyemouth and East Partnership, leaflet. Some of the sites on the Trail are Mr Peter Aitchison, Eyemouth University of the houses and we would ask you to respect the Third Age and the Gunsgreen House Trust. owners’ privacy. Front Cover Photograph c John McNeill

eyemouth town trail 1 The town of Eyemouth was established as a Point, the promontory above the town was port and to serve fortified successively by English invaders and Priory, which is some 8km/ 5 miles to the then by French acting on behalf of the north. The town is first documented in the Scottish Crown in the mid-16th century. The late 12th century when two house-plots in town was chartered as a Burgh of Barony in Eyemouth, the port of , 1597-8, which entitled the inhabitants to hold were given to the Priory by Edward of markets and to buy and sell merchandise Lastelrig. Around this date there were only subject to the tolls and customs exacted by twenty-five houses with gardens in the village the lord of the Barony of Coldingham. It is and nine of them were unoccupied. In the likely that the town developed because of late 14th century the Priory kept fishing lines, this change in status and the return of peace two large fishing boats, a small fishing boat, to the Border with the Union of Crowns in a skiff and a coble each with four oars at 1603, when, following the death of Queen Eyemouth. The Priory, whose remains are Elizabeth I, King James VI of claimed open to the public (access to the church the English throne. A market place that was during the summer only), also used the port established at the east end of the High Street to bring in building materials including timber most likely dates to this time. and lead from Holy and levied tolls on the use of the port by others. In the early 17th century Eyemouth was elevated to the status of a parish, and by 1695 Eyemouth came to have strategic importance the population had risen to 304 persons, as the most southerly haven in Scotland excluding the poor who were not counted. after the loss of Berwick-upon-Tweed to It was also a bleak time for Eyemouth as the English in 1482. Because of this, Fort more than two dozen men, women and 2 eyemouth town trail children were burnt as witches on the beach. the 19th century which provided the basis for In the following century, two factors helped the subsequent dramatic development of the development of the town. Firstly, in the . 1763 the common fields of the parish were enclosed and divided which allowed the However, disaster struck on Friday 14th introduction of modern methods of farming October 1881, when 189 east coast and improved productivity. Secondly, the fishermen perished, 129 of them from harbour was improved by the construction Eyemouth. The fleet had sailed to the fishing of stone piers on the west and east sides of grounds in brilliant sunshine, but without the entrance in 1747 and 1769 respectively. warning a violent storm broke and only a These improvements led to increased few made it back to safety, many perishing trade, particularly in corn, and encouraged within sight of their families waiting anxiously wholesale merchants in imported goods to on the shore. It took almost 100 years for set up in the town. the town’s population to return to the level it had been before ‘Black Friday’, and further The fishing industry was still relatively improvements that had been planned for the undeveloped with only six working crews harbour were cancelled. at the turn of the 19th century. Their chief concern was providing the hinterland with Today, the town is the 7th largest in the herring, although the surplus, as red or white Borders and the community is proud of its herring (smoked or salted), was sent to rich heritage. The Herring Queen Festival, and abroad. Despite the new piers, which is held annually in July, is a week-long the harbour was poorly protected from celebration of the fishing industry and the northerly gales, there being no inner harbour town’s history. The Festival started in 1936, bar, so it had no secure harbour for a large celebrating its 60th anniversary in 2004 (it was fishing fleet. Further developments were suspended during the Second World War). made to the harbour during the first half of

eyemouth town trail 3 THE AULD KIRK However, during the Great Tithes Dispute The Auld Kirk is the start and finish point in the middle of the 19th century, when of the Town Trail. It was built by Alexander protests were organised against a tax levied Gilkie in 1812 as Eyemouth Parish Church by the Kirk, few fishermen went across its for the . The first minister step. Most married at Lamberton Toll, a few evidently had mixed opinions miles to the south and few bothered with a of the building, as he christening. commented, “We cannot say much The previous Parish Church stood in Market of the taste which Place and when it was demolished, skeletons its external were found about two feet below floor level. appearance This is an indication that, as was common indicates; but practice in earlier times, the church had been we may add, used as a place of burial. that it is one of the most In 1981, the Auld Kirk was converted into a comfortable Museum and Visitor Information Centre. This

T places of worship coincided with the centenary of the 1881 h e A in this part of Fishing Disaster. As well as housing exhibitions u ld K the country”. The about local history, the Museum is also home irk consecration of the to the Eyemouth Tapestry, a magnificent work church was not without incident, measuring 4.5m/15ft long and incorporating as a drunken smuggler John Dangerfield nearly a million stitches, which was created appeared on the seen challenging all present by local residents in commemoration to the to a fight! victims of the Disaster. 4 eyemouth town trail From the Auld Kirk, turn left down Manse Registration Marks Road towards the Harbour. AH Arbroath FR Fraserburgh PD Peterhead At the end of Manse Road is the quayside BF Banff INS Inverness SD Sunderland and what was formerly known as Salt Greens. BK Berwick LH Leith SN North Shields Here herring were landed, gutted and salted BH Blyth LK Lerwick WK Wick in barrels by fisher lassies. A left turn brings BCK Buckie ME Montrose you on to the Old Quay. When the fishing fleet is in, the quay is a hive of activity with fish boxes, nets and floats littering the walkways. THE SHIP Th e Extreme care should be taken when Sh HOTEL ip H walking on the quayside, especially near Buildings along o t e ropes and wire hawsers. the quayside l date from Modern fishing boats powered by diesel the early 18th engines seem much less romantic than century with the earlier sailing ‘Fifies’ or ‘Zulus’ but are some later unquestionably more efficient and safer, additions. being fitted with radios and navigation aids. One of the Each boat displays a registration mark, which earliest of consists of letters indicating the port of these is the registration (e.g. BK = Berwick, LH = Leith) Ship Hotel, with and an individual number for the boat. its gables facing the harbour, one of which Continue along the Old Quay towards is Dutch in character, the the beach. remainder being distinctly Scottish.

eyemouth town trail 5 THE FISHERMEN’S MISSION The lights at the harbour entrance are very Immediately adjacent to the Ship Hotel is a carefully positioned to guide incoming boats. former granary, nicknamed the Hippodrome When lined up, they indicate the safest by 19th century fishermen because they passage into the harbour. used to hold impromptu concerts there. Built in 1846, it was renovated in the 1980s Continue along the quayside towards to provide premises for the Royal National the beach and turn left into Marine Mission To Deep Sea Fishermen, which still Parade. provides a place to stay for visiting fishermen. MARINE PARADE AND THE SEAFRONT Look over the Marine Parade has a fine example of a harbour towards modern housing development that retains Gunsgreen House much of the scale and character of the local and the Lifeboat area. From Marine Parade it is just a short Station. James distance to the Old Town, through winding Adam designed vennels. As in most coastal communities, the House along smuggling was rife during the 18th century Palladian lines and the apparently disorganised layout of in 1755, and this the narrow streets was well suited to this

F is is perhaps one clandestine trade. h e rm of the best views e n’ of any building in the “Imagine a moonless night...a small boat s M is Borders. Past Gunsgreen stealthily sliding into the harbour...silent dark sion House can be seen the newly forms appearing on the quay-side ready to tie up constructed fishmarket. the boat and quickly unload the precious cargo. A shout and the sound of running feet disturbs

6 eyemouth town trail the night. Torches flare along the quay as the accused by neighbours for no other reason discharge of a pistol shatters the silence. The than bad fortune had befallen the community. silent figures shoulder the cargo and disappear They would be kept in the Common Pitt into the maze of wynds and vennels. By the (Eyemouth did not have a jail) until being time the excise men have reached the spot, the burned at the stake along the foreshore. boat has slipped its moorings and merged with the darkness...another night’s work complete”. THE BANTRY From the mid point of The Bantry, Most houses would have had their secret it is possible to see Ae storage places and, it is traditionally thought, Eyemouth’s notorious ria l v underground passages linked many buildings. Hurkur Rocks, ie w

It has been said that there was more of which pose a o f

E Eyemouth below ground than above. Sadly, great to y e

m

much of the Old Town has been demolished fishing boats, o

u

t to make way for modern buildings. especially h at high Now walk towards the town’s beach when most of along the sea front, called The Bantry. the rocks are covered by the The town’s beach is sandy and popular sea. In the Great with locals and visitors, but it disappears Disaster of 1881, completely at high tide. Please do not walk the townspeople had your dogs on the beach. to stand by helplessly and watch as much of the town’s In the 17th century, Eyemouth was one of fishing fleet was dashed against these rocks, the major Scottish centres of witch mania. with great loss of life. Yet despite the danger, At least two dozen women and several the Hurkurs also provide shelter to the men were found guilty of witchcraft, usually approach to the harbour and river mouth. eyemouth town trail 7 In the bay eider duck are often present and “Later in the day, the ‘Pilgrim’ was driven into occasionally grey seal can be seen bobbing in the bay. Hers was a remarkable escape, for the water. When the tide is out, rockpools with one wave she was thrown on to the rock are revealed which are well worth exploring at the Fort Point and was lifted with another for shore and hermit crabs, sea anemones, clean over Black Carr and pitched almost high winkles, whelks, limpets and many more and dry on the shore. With the aid of lines her marine animals and seaweeds. Please take crew was all saved”. care, the rocks can be very slippery and do not be caught out by COASTGUARDS’ COTTAGES the rising tide. At the far end of The Bantry, to the right of Eyemouth’s leisure centre, is a row of houses. To the North, These were the Coastguards’ Cottages until the cliffs below the present Coastguard Station was built at the old fort the top of the cliff behind the houses. Where can appear the private house stands to the north of dark and these cottages stood a building commonly forbidding, known as the ‘Barracks’, which seems to have a death been used for housing militia men in the trap for the Napoleonic war of 1803-14. unwary sailor. C o a However, on During a cholera epidemic in 1849, when s tg u ‘Black Friday’ in more than 100 people out of the town’s ar ds 1881, one crew at population of 1400 died, the ‘Barracks’ was ’ C ott least was thankful to used as a temporary hospital. The building ages see the rocks at Fort Point: was demolished early in the 20th century, though the remains of the gable-end wall now serve as a sea wall. This can be seen on

8 eyemouth town trail the way along the beach to the cliff walk and a subject of contention during the last war where you may be able to spot the blocked between Scotland and England. It was finally up door. demolished in 1560 in accordance with the Treaty of Cateau-Cambresis, when Queen It is possible to take the footpath via Elizabeth I agreed to refrain from acts of the short steep flight of steps located aggression within Scotland. along the beach up to Fort Point from here. Alternatively walk past Two cannon pointing seaward now take the Swimming Pool and down North pride of place on the Point. The cannon Street, then turn right and right again are 32 pounders (from to follow Fort Road to Fort Point. the of the F or t Please note the last section of this shot) and were Po in path is uneven and may not be suitable probably cast t for all visitors. about 1830; pupils of FORT POINT Eyemouth A right turn at the top of the path leads to High the site of the Old Fort where earthworks School clearly show the size of the former structure. restored Keep well clear of the dangerous cliff the gun edge. carriages in 1966. They The Fort was built in 1547 on the orders were possibly of the Duke of Somerset, protector of the set in their present boy king, Edward VI of England. Throughout position in the 1850s as the following years it was fought over by the a coastal defence during a ‘French Invasion Scots, the French and the English and was Scare’ when a voluntary battery was

eyemouth town trail 9 established near the tip of the peninsula. Forth Estuary which is their nearest breeding During the Second World War, an anti- site. aircraft battery was set up here. On a clear day, there are stunning views across the bay From Fort Point it is possible to follow and the town as well as north to The Coast Path to Coldingham, a Head, which is maintained by the National distance of some 8km/ 5 miles. If you Trust for Scotland and open to the public. wish to continue around the Town Trail you should return along the cliff path The cliffs at Fort Point are also home to and past the new Coastguard Station nesting fulmars and herring (on your right) to Fort Road. gulls. Thrift (sea pink), bird’s foot trefoil, On the right as you head down Fort Road sea campion and is Barefoots Estate, which is named after a purple milk vetch battle which is reputed to have been fought all grow on the here in 1557 between the Scots and the windswept English, when the French were working on cliff tops. the fort. The Scots are said to have been Common blue awoken in the early morning by the sea birds. and grayling This alerted them to the approach of the butterflies can English, and they successfully defended their be seen here position, although they had to fight in their

S on warm summer bare feet. m o days, as well as ke H o migrant butterflies such SMOKE HOUSE us e as painted lady and red Turn left at the foot of Fort Road into High admiral. Out to sea in summer you Street and you will see a small smoke house may see long lines of gannets flying to or on the left, located to the rear of the Fish from the Bass Rock at the entrance to the Merchant. Where the car park now stands 10 eyemouth town trail used to be a warren of vennels and wynds incorporate many tombstones. This replaced and later on, the town’s gas works. Their an earlier watch-house on the other side demolition has greatly changed the face and of the entrance which was removed when character of the town. the cemetery was re-layered. These watch- houses were used by guards on the lookout Continue along the High Street into for ‘body-snatchers’ who were known to be town. at work in the area.

OLD CEMETERY THE MEMORIAL T Opposite the car park is the Old Cemetery, The Memorial in he M e which can be accessed via a set of steps from the centre of m o r either High Street or Albert Road. This is the cemetery, ia an extraordinary place which became full of depicting a l cholera epidemic victims in 1849 when more broken mast, than 100 people died in only six weeks. As is dedicated a result the cemetery had to be relevelled. to the The level was raised by about two metres memory and a new cemetery was made on top of the of the old one, the vertical gravestones being used fishermen to build up the retaining wall of the elevated lost in the section and the horizontal stones simply Great Disaster. buried. Some of the inscriptions on the vertical stones are still legible. The cemetery Above the cemetery has since been cleared of tombstones. is Albert Road. The houses here date from the To the right on entering the cemetery 19th century and were built by the more from High Street, is an old Watch-House, affluent members of the community. partially concealed by bushes, whose walls eyemouth town trail 11 Fort Road

North Street Swimming Pool Albert Road Church Street P

Harbour Road Fort Point High Street Market Bantry Museum Place

Manse Road

Visitor Information Centre/Museum (Start of the Town Trail) Gunsgreen House 12 eyemouth town trail Fishmarket & Town Trail Visitor Centre Crown Copyright all rights reserved. Scottish Borders Council, LA09049L, 2006. Fort Road

North Street Swimming Pool Albert Road Church Street

P Harbour Road Fort Point High Street Market Bantry Museum Place

Manse Road

Town Trail Gunsgreen House P eyemouth town trail 13 Fishmarket & Town Trail Visitor Centre Crown Copyright all rights reserved. Scottish Borders Council, LA09049L, 2006. Continue along High Street past Spiers the town is. In the front of the building is Place and Armatage Street to the Old a statue of Willie Spears who led the local Parish School and Schoolhouse. fishermen’s protests of ars pe 1855-1864 called S ie OLD PARISH SCHOOL AND ill the Great Tithes SCHOOLHOUSE W Dispute. These There are several examples of fine protests old buildings in High Street, including were against the Old Parish School and tithes, a Schoolhouse on form of tax the corner of (equal to Armatage one tenth Street. of the value Built in of the boat’s 1819, catch) levied they were by the Kirk. designed Eventually, the by Alexander disputes were settled O

l d Gilkie who also when the tithes were abolished

P a r built the Auld by an Act of Parliament. is h S Kirk. c h o o High Street leads into Market Place. Notice l an At the end of High the marriage lintel which is dated 1735 d Sch Street and the start of above the door of Number 4. Above one oolh ouse Market Place is a splendid of the windows of Number 2 is a plaque example of art deco architecture which commemorating the fact that, on 19th May shows just how diverse the architecture of 1787, Robert Burns was made a Royal Arch

14 eyemouth town trail Mason in this building. The entrance to Lodge High on the wall above the entrance is a St Ebbe is in relief carving of a fishing boat that was added se Masons Wynd. ou in 1880. The ‘Supreme’ was chosen because H ke it was the most successful Eyemouth boat o m SMOKE S in that year. The conical roof of the two HOUSE storey tower is interesting, with its Also in fish-scale slates and a large gargoyle Masons ornamenting the junction Wynd is of the tower and C another eaves of the ou nc il example main block. O ffi ic of an e s Eyemouth At the smoke house. back of this Almost every building is evening, fish is Eyemouth’s old smoked in this building, Town Hall. Now which has been used by the same family for unused, this was a over a century. popular venue for dances and concerts COUNCIL OFFICES in the middle of the Market Place continues into Church Street. 20th century, and well On the corner opposite the Auld Kirk known acts of the ‘50s and stands an imposing building erected in 1874, ‘60s, such as Tommy Steel, Joe Brown now housing the local Council Offices but and Lulu played there. formerly the Commercial Bank of Scotland. Continue along Church Street.

eyemouth town trail 15 CHESTER HOUSE Opposite is the Coastal Marine Boat Number 11 Church Street is also known as Builders Ltd. A boatyard has been operating Chester House. A mid-18th century building, in Eyemouth since at this was a town house for the owners of least 1800, when Chesterbank Farm which is located it was located above the nearby village of . above the The stables stood at the harbour side rise of the and the house had a walled garden beach. which stretched from When it the house to the outgrew stables. Later that site, buildings it was now cover moved to

the site of D its present u the garden. n location, at de e Brownsbank, Ho DUNDEE use over the . HOUSE In 1867 the firm became On Harbour Road known as “James Weatherhead” and was is an 18th century very highly esteemed: C h pantile roofed house e s te called Dundee House. “The local boatyard became famous for the r Ho good work produced; indeed, the fishermen use This was the home of the Willis family who built the tea used to say with regard to their boats, so great clipper “Cutty Sark” in 1869. Their son, John, was their confidence in Mr Weatherhead’s became the ship’s Captain, although he did workmanship: ‘Wun’cudna’blaw, nor sea rin tae not live in the house. dae them harm’”.

16 eyemouth town trail Time has seen a great change in the size of NEW QUAY fishing boats, from the 7m/ 22ft long cobles Walk along New Quay which was built in and 7.5m/ 25ft yawls 1843 and separates the Main Harbour from used in the 1840s the Eye Water. This forms a channel to the 21-24m/ which leads to the boatyard. Boats 70-80ft motor using the boatyard slipway are fishing vessels moved along this narrow channel, of today. The known as ‘The Cut’. At the Boatyard still seaward end of the Middle Pier manufactures is a footbridge L and repairs across ife bo a boats, the t S ta including t io maintaining n RNLI Lifeboats. When the doors Cut of the workshop are to the open it is possible to see New Quay opposite boats being worked on inside. side of the harbour. Outside the boatyard sits “Bertha” the first Cross the steam driven water craft in the country. This bridge to the boat was built in the 1840s at Isambard Lifeboat Station. Kingdom Brunel’s works at Bristol for use in the Bridgewater Canal. There are plans to LIFEBOAT STATION restore Bertha to her former glory as part There has been a Lifeboat Station at of a collection of vessels that is now kept in Eyemouth since 1876, the first lifeboat Eyemouth. being the rowing lifeboat “James and Rachel eyemouth town trail 17 Grindlay”. Tragically, the lifeboat could not be GUNSGREEN HOUSE launched on Black Friday, 14th October 1881, Continue along this side of the harbour to as its crew were fishermen and so were reach Gunsgreen House and Nisbet’s Tower already at sea. next to it. The Tower, named after John Nisbet, the first owner of Gunsgreen House A lifeboat house and slipway were (and reputedly a smuggler) is believed to constructed in 1876 but were replaced by have been a carriage house and also appears a new station in 1908. These on early maps as a doocot (dovecote). became obsolete with the harbour Below the House’s imposing buttressed wall, improvements in which retains the green, there is a pathway the 1960s and leading to the Smuggler’s Passage, an entry were removed to a system of tunnels and cellars under as part of the Gunsgreen and beyond, though these are most recent now blocked. Steps from Smuggler’s Passage harbour lead to Gunsgreen which was a meeting upgrading. place where the annual Herring Queen Since 1964, a crowning ceremony took place before the modern lifeboat new harbour extension was built.

G has been moored u n s in the harbour ready Gunsgreen House itself is the most prominent gr ee to sail at a moment’s building in Eyemouth, and was designed by n Ho use notice, the crew being James Adam in about 1755. The house has summoned by one, two or the reputation of being the one time home three rockets, depending on the seriousness and haunt of smugglers and the house might of the situation facing them. The new Station almost have been designed with this in mind. was completed in 1992.

18 eyemouth town trail There are reputed to be secret passages and FISHMARKET recesses between the walls of the rooms By the entrance to the harbour is the place like a gate, revealing a secret passage quay which were completed in 2000. Built and ladder to an apartment below. Recent renovation works have revealed an illicit store, which could have been used to hide Eyemouth, an ice plant from which boats load tea when it was heavily taxed in the mid-18th up with ice to preserve their catch, a century. small visitor centre, and a viewing deck with Fis hm The Gunsgreen Estate belonged at one an excellent a rk e time to Robert Logan of Restalrig, who outlook over t a n was connected with the infamous Gowrie the harbour d

V

i and the town. s conspiracy - a plot to kill King James VI in i t

o

r

revenge for the execution of William, Earl of C e

Gowrie. Also located n t r

within the e The Museum at Gunsgreen House, built by fi shma r k e t Merchant and Smuggler John Nisbet, is open building is to the public from April to October please The Harbour check their website for details. https://www.gunsgreenhouse.org/ The Harbour Master is responsible Continue on past Gunsgreen House to to the Harbour Trust, reach the new Fishmarket. which has owned and managed the whole harbour area since 1882, when it was established by an Act of Parliament.

eyemouth town trail 19 For those interested in longer walks, it is possible to continue on past the Turn back up Manse Road to the Auld Fishmarket along The Coastal Path Kirk - you have reached the end of the south to Berwick. Otherwise return Eyemouth Town Trail. to the opposite side of the harbour and Harbour Road. We hope that you have enjoyed your walk around Eyemouth and this brief insight into There are many buildings associated with the its architecture and heritage. fishing industry here, including that of the ’s Further walks to help you explore this area of Mutual Association, the Borders can be found in a booklet entitled a co-operative of “Walks around East Berwickshire” which is local fishermen available along with other publications on the that assists with area from the Museum Shop. the catching and marketing of fish, which was founded

F in 1946. There is h in are also beating g b o sheds (used for a t in repairing nets) t he h and lobster ponds. arb our Number 34 is an early 19th century pantiled building, an example of a traditionally detailed harbour- side building.

20 eyemouth town trail The production of this publication cost 24p per unit.

Designed by Scottish Borders Council Graphic Design Section. Printed in the Scottish Borders by Kelso Graphics, Kelso.