Berwickshire

Scotland > South of Scotland > Berwickshire

The fact that the County town of Berwickshire is Duns, in Scotland and not Berwick, in England, might give an insight into the turbulent history of this County and the Borders in general! These boundaries were not made by gentlemen's agreement!

Why? Well Berwickshire was once known as the "Merse" a richly agricultural land lying just to the north of the River Tweed. It was, not surprisingly, fought for and luckily for the Scots, it is still part of Scotland. However, we lost Berwick-upon-Tweed to Northumbria and the easternmost part of the River itself. The Tweed is the artery of the Borders and most of the industry of the area has been closely associated with it especially agriculture and the woollen and cashmere industry. In fact, the River forms part of the south eastern border with England, from Paxton in the east to Birgham (near Coldstream) in the west. For the rest of its length going west, the Tweed remains in Scotland.

The main towns in Berwickshire include Duns, Coldstream, Ayton, Lauder (north western boundary), Earlston and Greenlaw. On the coast, Eyemouth is still a major fishing port with Burnmouth, St Abbs, Coldingham and Cockburnspath all important tourism destinations. Sea angling and diving in these clear waters are very popular.

Most of the northern part of the county is made up by the Lammermuir Hills with the aforesaid Merse forming the rich agricultural area fed by the Tweed.

There are some very fine country houses here - in fact there are more of Scotland's country houses here in the Borders than in any other part of Scotland including Edinburgh. Examples include Paxton House, Manderston, Mellerstain, Thirlestane Castle and Ayton Castle.

Access to Berwickshire is by either by rail, road or air. By road via the A1 from London and Newcastle en route to Edinburgh or the A697 from Newcastle via Wooler. Rail links are by way of the main east coast route stopping at either Dunbar or Berwick-upon Tweed. The nearest airports are at Edinburgh (45/50 miles) or Newcastle (60 miles). There are also ferries to Kristiansand, Bergen, Haugesund, Stavanger and Gothenburg from Newcastle.