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Smailholm

Parishes in RoxburghshireVillages in the Scottish Borders
Cottages at Smailholm
Cottages at Smailholm

Smailholm (Scots: Smailhowm) is a small village in the historic county of Roxburghshire in south-east Scotland. It is at grid reference NT648364 and straddles the B6397 Gordon to Kelso road. The village is almost equidistant from both, standing 6 miles (10 km) northwest of the abbey town of Kelso. Since local government reorganisation in Scotland in the early 1970s, Smailholm has been part of the Scottish Borders Council.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Smailholm (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 55.616666666667 ° E -2.5666666666667 °
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Address


TD5 7PJ
Scotland, United Kingdom
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Cottages at Smailholm
Cottages at Smailholm
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Makerstoun
Makerstoun

Makerstoun is a parish in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland, as well as the historic county of Roxburghshire, 4 miles (6 km) south-west of Kelso. The parish is bordered to the south by the river Tweed. It is bounded on the west by the parish of Mertoun in Berwickshire, on the north by the parish of Smailholm, on the east by the parish of Kelso and on the south by the parish of Roxburgh, across the River Tweed. The name of the parish reputedly means the town of Machar. For many centuries most of the land in the parish has been owned by the proprietor of Makerstoun estate, thus in the 19th century most of the land belonged to Sir Thomas Makdougall Brisbane of Makerstoun House (former Governor of New South Wales). Formerly, the greater part of the population was extremely fluctuating. All the families, except a few (nine in 1845), being the families either of farm servants or of tradesmen employed by the farmers, were liable to be removed every year. However, as the small farmers were dispensed with by the landlords, the population reduced from over 1,000 at the end of 18th century to 132 in 1981. The area of the parish is 2,865 acres (1,160 ha). The original medieval church was sited in the grounds of Makerstoun House (thus in the south of the parish near the Tweed), where some remains still exist. The first recorded minister of the church dates from 1567. In 1807 it was decided by the Makerstoun estate that the church, and the manse with its offices and garden should be moved to a more central site in the parish. A new church was thus built in 1808, which stands to the present day. The Community Council for Makerston is the Floors, Makerstoun, Nenthorn and Smailholm Community Council, which covers the parishes of Makerstoun and Smailholm in Roxburghshire, the parish of Nenthorn in Berwickshire and Floors Castle. It has 12 members, two of whom (as of 2015) were the Laird of Makerstoun and his wife.

Mertoun
Mertoun

Mertoun is a parish in the south-west of the historic county of Berwickshire in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland. Together with the parish of Maxton, Roxburghshire it forms the Maxton and Mertoun Community Council area. It was included in the former Ettrick and Lauderdale District of Borders Region, by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, from 1975 to 1996. The parish is bounded by the Berwickshire parish of Earlston to the north and by the Roxburghshire parishes of Smailholm and Makerstoun to the east, Maxton and St Boswells on the south and Melrose in the west. Maxton, St. Boswell's and Melrose lie on the other side of the River Tweed, which forms the southern and western border of the parish.The parish includes the hamlets of Dryburgh and Clintmains, the historically important sites of Dryburgh Abbey, Mertoun House, Mertoun Bridge and Bemersyde House. Also the statue of William Wallace at Bemersyde. Mertoun Church was erected in 1658 and restored in 1820 and 1898. It stands in a wood near Mertoun House ½ mile south-east of Clintmains. The date 1658 is carved in stone above one of the doors. For church purposes the parish is united with Maxton and linked with St Boswells and Newtown St Boswells.The original church of 1241, not on the same site, was dedicated to St Ninian. Robert Haig of Bemersyde built himself a stall or "laird's loft" in the old church in 1594. His neighbours, the Kers of Shaws and Dalcowie, took offence and dismantled it. A Parochial Board was established under the Poor Law (Scotland) Act 1845. With the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1894 the Parish Council was established. Civil parishes in Scotland, as units of local government, were abolished in 1929 but have been used later for census and other purposes. The civil parish has an area of 6377 acres and a population of 309 (in 2011).