Kelso, Scotland
Encyclopedia
Kelso is a market town and civil parish
in the Scottish Borders
area of Scotland
. It lies where the rivers Tweed
and Teviot
have their confluence. The parish has a population of 6,385; it is regarded as one of the most charming and quaint towns in the area with its cobbled streets, elegant Georgian buildings and French style cobbled market square.
Kelso's other main tourist draws are the ruined Kelso Abbey
and Floors Castle
, a William Adam designed house completed in 1726. The bridge at Kelso was designed by John Rennie who later built London Bridge
.
Standing on the opposite bank of the river Tweed from the now-vanished royal burgh of Roxburgh
, Kelso and its sister hamlet of Wester Kelso were linked to the burgh by a ferry at Wester Kelso. A small hamlet existed before the completion of the Abbey in 1128 but the settlement started to flourish with the arrival of the monks. Many were skilled craftsmen, and they helped the local population as the village expanded. The Abbey controlled much of life in Kelso-area burgh of barony, called Holydean
, until the Reformation
in the 16th century. After that, the power and wealth of the Abbey declined. The Kerr family
of Cessford took over the barony and many of the Abbey's properties around the town. By the 17th century, they virtually owned Kelso.
In Roxburgh Street, outside the Haldanes supermarket, is the outline of a horseshoe petrosomatoglyph
where the horse of Charles Edward Stuart
cast a shoe as he was riding it through the town on his way to Carlisle in 1745. He is also said to have planted a white rosebush in his host's garden, descendants of which are still said to flourish in the neighbourhood.
provides secondary education to the town, and primary education is provided by Edenside Primary and Broomlands Primary schools.
The town has much sport and recreation, the River Tweed at Kelso is renowned for its salmon fishing, there are two eighteen-hole golf courses as well as a National Hunt
(jumping) horse racing track, the course is known as "Britain's Friendliest Racecourse", racing first took place in Kelso in 1822.
In 2005 the town hosted the 'World Meeting of 2CV Friends' in the grounds of nearby Floors Castle. Over 7,000 people took over the town and are said to have brought in more than 2 million pounds to the local economy.
According to a letter dated October 17, 1788, 'The workmen now employed in digging the foundations of some religious houses which stood upon St. James' Green, where the great annual fair of that name is now held in the neighbourhood of this town, have dug up two sone [sic] coffins of which the bones were entire, several pieces of painted glass, a silver coin of Robert II, and other antique relics'.
The town's rugby union
team (Kelso RFC
) are highly respected, and their annual rugby sevens
tournament takes place in early August. Famous former players include John Jeffrey
, Roger Baird, Andrew Ker and Adam Roxburgh, all of whom featured in 7's teams that dominated the Borders circuit in the 1980s, including several wins in the blue ribbon event at Melrose
. Kelso RFC also hold an annual rugby fixture; this fixture is the oldest unbroken fixture between a Scottish and Welsh side; the opposition is famous for being the birthplace of the Film Actor Richard Burton and Vocalist Ivor Emannuel is is small village nesttled in the beautiful South Wales Valleys called Pontrhydyfen. The fixture was founded some 47 years ago by Ian Henderson, a local Kelso businessman and Tom Owen fixture Secretary of Pontrhydyfen RFC. The two teams currently play for the DT Owen Cup; the two clubs alternate the fixture, one year they play in Kelso (the first fixture venue) and the following year in Pontrhydyfen. This fixture has nurtured generations of friendships and the 50th anniversary of this fixture will be held in 2013; this is unique, some claim to have the longest fixture between a Scottish and Welsh side, however this is the longest unbroken fixture.
Every year in July, the town celebrates the border tradition of Common Riding, known as Kelso Civic Week. The festival lasts a full week and is headed by the Kelsae Laddie with his Right and Left Hand Men. The Laddie and his followers visit neighbouring villages on horseback with the climax being the Yetholm Ride on the Saturday. There are many competitions and social events every day. There have been many songs written about Kelso (or Kelsae), (most notably "Kelsae Bonnie Kelsae") but the most recent one is "Yetholm Day", composed by Gary Cleghorn, a young follower of Civic Week for many years. The song tells the story of the Kelsae Laddie and his followers on the Saturday ride-out to Kirk Yetholm
and Town Yetholm
. Every September, Kelso hosts its annual fair every first weekend of September, the weekend includes Drinking, dancing, Street Entertainers, Live Music, Stalls , Free Music concert.The Fair attracts around over the whole weekend around 10,000 people to the town.
As a fund-raiser for Kelso Civic Week, Gary Cleghorn has involved Ex Laddies and locals to sing some of the old Kelso songs, plus some new songs by local artists, on a CD, "Songs of Kelso", which is sold in the town by local shops and public houses.
attended Kelso Grammar School in 1783 and he said of the town, "it is the most beautiful if not the most romantic village in Scotland". Another attraction is the Cobby Riverside Walk which goes from the town centre to Floors Castle
along the banks of the Tweed passing the point where it is joined by the River Teviot. Kelso has two bridges that span the River Tweed, "Rennie's Bridge" was completed in 1803 to replace an earlier one washed away in the floods of 1797, it was built by John Rennie of Haddington, who later went on to build Waterloo Bridge
in London, his bridge in Kelso is a smaller and earlier version of Waterloo Bridge. The bridge was the cause of local rioting in 1854 when the Kelso population objected to paying tolls even when the cost of construction had been covered, the Riot Act
was read, three years later tolls were abolished. Hunter's Bridge, a kilometre downstream, is a modern construction built to take much of the heavy traffic that has damaged Rennie's bridge by diverting vehicles around the town.
Famous people from Kelso have included civil engineer Sir James Brunlees
(1816–1892) who constructed many railways in the United Kingdom as well as designing the docks at Avonmouth and Whitehaven. Sir William Fairbairn
(1789–1874) was another engineer who built the first iron hulled steamship the Lord Dundas and constructed over 1000 bridges using the tubular steel method which he pioneered. Thomas Pringle
the writer, poet and abolitionist, was born at nearby Blakelaw, a 500 acres (2 km²) farmstead four miles (6 km) to the south of the town where his father was the tenant.
. Adjacent to the house there is a fabulous walled garden with a cafe, a small garden centre and the Star Plantation.
with two cities abroad: - Kelso, Washington
, United States - Orchies
, France.
Civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and, where they are found, the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties...
in the Scottish Borders
Scottish Borders
The Scottish Borders is one of 32 local government council areas of Scotland. It is bordered by Dumfries and Galloway in the west, South Lanarkshire and West Lothian in the north west, City of Edinburgh, East Lothian, Midlothian to the north; and the non-metropolitan counties of Northumberland...
area of Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. It lies where the rivers Tweed
River Tweed
The River Tweed, or Tweed Water, is long and flows primarily through the Borders region of Great Britain. It rises on Tweedsmuir at Tweed's Well near where the Clyde, draining northwest, and the Annan draining south also rise. "Annan, Tweed and Clyde rise oot the ae hillside" as the Border saying...
and Teviot
River Teviot
The River Teviot, or Teviot Water, is a river of the Scottish Borders area of Scotland, and a tributary of the River Tweed.It rises in the western foothills of Comb Hill on the border of Dumfries and Galloway...
have their confluence. The parish has a population of 6,385; it is regarded as one of the most charming and quaint towns in the area with its cobbled streets, elegant Georgian buildings and French style cobbled market square.
Kelso's other main tourist draws are the ruined Kelso Abbey
Kelso Abbey
Kelso Abbey is what remains of a Scottish abbey founded in the 12th century by a community of Tironensian monks first brought to Scotland in the reign of Alexander I. It occupies ground overlooking the confluence of the Tweed and Teviot waters, the site of what was once the Royal Burgh of Roxburgh...
and Floors Castle
Floors Castle
Floors Castle, on the western outskirts of Kelso, south-east Scotland, is the seat of the Duke of Roxburghe. Despite its name it is a country house, rather than a fortress. It was built in the 1720s by the architect William Adam for the 1st Duke, possibly incorporating an earlier tower house...
, a William Adam designed house completed in 1726. The bridge at Kelso was designed by John Rennie who later built London Bridge
London Bridge
London Bridge is a bridge over the River Thames, connecting the City of London and Southwark, in central London. Situated between Cannon Street Railway Bridge and Tower Bridge, it forms the western end of the Pool of London...
.
History
The town of Kelso came into being as a direct result of the creation of Kelso Abbey in 1128. The town's name stems from the fact that the earliest settlement stood on a chalky outcrop, and the town was known as Calkou (or perhaps Calchfynydd) in those early days.Roxburgh
Roxburgh , also known as Rosbroch, is a village, civil parish and now-destroyed royal burgh. It was an important trading burgh in High Medieval to early modern Scotland...
, Kelso and its sister hamlet of Wester Kelso were linked to the burgh by a ferry at Wester Kelso. A small hamlet existed before the completion of the Abbey in 1128 but the settlement started to flourish with the arrival of the monks. Many were skilled craftsmen, and they helped the local population as the village expanded. The Abbey controlled much of life in Kelso-area burgh of barony, called Holydean
Holydean
Holydean is a Scottish feudal Crown Barony and Lordship which lies in Roxburghshire in the neighbourhood of Kelso, in the Borderlands of Scotland, along the River Tweed...
, until the Reformation
Scottish Reformation
The Scottish Reformation was Scotland's formal break with the Papacy in 1560, and the events surrounding this. It was part of the wider European Protestant Reformation; and in Scotland's case culminated ecclesiastically in the re-establishment of the church along Reformed lines, and politically in...
in the 16th century. After that, the power and wealth of the Abbey declined. The Kerr family
Clan Kerr
Clan Kerr is a Scottish clan that played an important role in the history of the Border country of Scotland.-Origins:The origins of the name Kerr are disputed as being either:*Caer *Ciar...
of Cessford took over the barony and many of the Abbey's properties around the town. By the 17th century, they virtually owned Kelso.
In Roxburgh Street, outside the Haldanes supermarket, is the outline of a horseshoe petrosomatoglyph
Petrosomatoglyph
A petrosomatoglyph is an image of parts of a human or animal body incised in rock. Many were created by Celtic peoples, such as the Picts, Scots, Irish, Cornish, Cumbrians, Bretons and Welsh. These representations date from the Early Middle Ages; others of uncertain purpose date back to megalithic...
where the horse of Charles Edward Stuart
Charles Edward Stuart
Prince Charles Edward Louis John Casimir Sylvester Severino Maria Stuart commonly known as Bonnie Prince Charlie or The Young Pretender was the second Jacobite pretender to the thrones of Great Britain , and Ireland...
cast a shoe as he was riding it through the town on his way to Carlisle in 1745. He is also said to have planted a white rosebush in his host's garden, descendants of which are still said to flourish in the neighbourhood.
Community
Kelso High SchoolKelso High School (Scotland)
Kelso High School is a secondary school in Kelso, Scotland, under the control of the Scottish Borders Council. It is one of nine secondary schools in the Scottish Borders and the only one in Kelso. Pupils come to Kelso High School from the town of Kelso, the villages of Ednam, Eckford, Heiton,...
provides secondary education to the town, and primary education is provided by Edenside Primary and Broomlands Primary schools.
The town has much sport and recreation, the River Tweed at Kelso is renowned for its salmon fishing, there are two eighteen-hole golf courses as well as a National Hunt
National Hunt racing
National Hunt racing is the official name given to the sport of horse racing in the United Kingdom, France and Ireland in which the horses are required to jump over obstacles called hurdles or fences...
(jumping) horse racing track, the course is known as "Britain's Friendliest Racecourse", racing first took place in Kelso in 1822.
In 2005 the town hosted the 'World Meeting of 2CV Friends' in the grounds of nearby Floors Castle. Over 7,000 people took over the town and are said to have brought in more than 2 million pounds to the local economy.
According to a letter dated October 17, 1788, 'The workmen now employed in digging the foundations of some religious houses which stood upon St. James' Green, where the great annual fair of that name is now held in the neighbourhood of this town, have dug up two sone [sic] coffins of which the bones were entire, several pieces of painted glass, a silver coin of Robert II, and other antique relics'.
The town's rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
team (Kelso RFC
Kelso RFC
Kelso Rugby Football Club are a rugby union team founded in 1876. They play their home games at Poynder Park, Kelso in the Scottish Borders.Team team currently play in Premiership Division Two and Border League .Kelso's Sevens Tournament takes place annually in August and the competition is part of...
) are highly respected, and their annual rugby sevens
Rugby sevens
Rugby sevens, also known as seven-a-side or VIIs, is a variant of rugby union in which teams are made up of seven players, instead of the usual 15, with shorter matches. Rugby sevens is administered by the International Rugby Board , the body responsible for rugby union worldwide...
tournament takes place in early August. Famous former players include John Jeffrey
John Jeffrey
John Jeffrey is a Scottish former internationalistrugby union player. His nicknames are "The Great White Shark" and "JJ", the former because of his blond "thatch of hair"....
, Roger Baird, Andrew Ker and Adam Roxburgh, all of whom featured in 7's teams that dominated the Borders circuit in the 1980s, including several wins in the blue ribbon event at Melrose
Melrose RFC
Melrose Rugby Football Club, located in the town of Melrose in the Scottish Borders, is one of the oldest rugby clubs in the world.-History:The club was formed in 1877 and was elected to full membership of the Scottish Rugby Union in 1880...
. Kelso RFC also hold an annual rugby fixture; this fixture is the oldest unbroken fixture between a Scottish and Welsh side; the opposition is famous for being the birthplace of the Film Actor Richard Burton and Vocalist Ivor Emannuel is is small village nesttled in the beautiful South Wales Valleys called Pontrhydyfen. The fixture was founded some 47 years ago by Ian Henderson, a local Kelso businessman and Tom Owen fixture Secretary of Pontrhydyfen RFC. The two teams currently play for the DT Owen Cup; the two clubs alternate the fixture, one year they play in Kelso (the first fixture venue) and the following year in Pontrhydyfen. This fixture has nurtured generations of friendships and the 50th anniversary of this fixture will be held in 2013; this is unique, some claim to have the longest fixture between a Scottish and Welsh side, however this is the longest unbroken fixture.
Every year in July, the town celebrates the border tradition of Common Riding, known as Kelso Civic Week. The festival lasts a full week and is headed by the Kelsae Laddie with his Right and Left Hand Men. The Laddie and his followers visit neighbouring villages on horseback with the climax being the Yetholm Ride on the Saturday. There are many competitions and social events every day. There have been many songs written about Kelso (or Kelsae), (most notably "Kelsae Bonnie Kelsae") but the most recent one is "Yetholm Day", composed by Gary Cleghorn, a young follower of Civic Week for many years. The song tells the story of the Kelsae Laddie and his followers on the Saturday ride-out to Kirk Yetholm
Kirk Yetholm
Kirk Yetholm is a village in the Scottish Borders region of Scotland, south east of Kelso and less than west of the border. The first mention is of its church in the 13th century. Its sister town is Town Yetholm which lies half a mile across the Bowmont Water...
and Town Yetholm
Town Yetholm
Town Yetholm is a small village in the Scottish Borders in the valley of the Bowmont Water opposite Kirk Yetholm. The centre of the small village is made up of the village green surrounded by the village shop, the Plough Hotel Public House a few houses to the south and a row of terraced dwellings...
. Every September, Kelso hosts its annual fair every first weekend of September, the weekend includes Drinking, dancing, Street Entertainers, Live Music, Stalls , Free Music concert.The Fair attracts around over the whole weekend around 10,000 people to the town.
As a fund-raiser for Kelso Civic Week, Gary Cleghorn has involved Ex Laddies and locals to sing some of the old Kelso songs, plus some new songs by local artists, on a CD, "Songs of Kelso", which is sold in the town by local shops and public houses.
People
Sir Walter ScottWalter Scott
Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet was a Scottish historical novelist, playwright, and poet, popular throughout much of the world during his time....
attended Kelso Grammar School in 1783 and he said of the town, "it is the most beautiful if not the most romantic village in Scotland". Another attraction is the Cobby Riverside Walk which goes from the town centre to Floors Castle
Floors Castle
Floors Castle, on the western outskirts of Kelso, south-east Scotland, is the seat of the Duke of Roxburghe. Despite its name it is a country house, rather than a fortress. It was built in the 1720s by the architect William Adam for the 1st Duke, possibly incorporating an earlier tower house...
along the banks of the Tweed passing the point where it is joined by the River Teviot. Kelso has two bridges that span the River Tweed, "Rennie's Bridge" was completed in 1803 to replace an earlier one washed away in the floods of 1797, it was built by John Rennie of Haddington, who later went on to build Waterloo Bridge
Waterloo Bridge
Waterloo Bridge is a road and foot traffic bridge crossing the River Thames in London, England between Blackfriars Bridge and Hungerford Bridge. The name of the bridge is in memory of the British victory at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815...
in London, his bridge in Kelso is a smaller and earlier version of Waterloo Bridge. The bridge was the cause of local rioting in 1854 when the Kelso population objected to paying tolls even when the cost of construction had been covered, the Riot Act
Riot Act
The Riot Act was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain that authorised local authorities to declare any group of twelve or more people to be unlawfully assembled, and thus have to disperse or face punitive action...
was read, three years later tolls were abolished. Hunter's Bridge, a kilometre downstream, is a modern construction built to take much of the heavy traffic that has damaged Rennie's bridge by diverting vehicles around the town.
Famous people from Kelso have included civil engineer Sir James Brunlees
James Brunlees
Sir James Brunlees was a Scottish civil engineer. He was born in Kelso in the Scottish Borders in 1816.In 1850, Brunlees worked on the Londonderry and Coleraine Railway...
(1816–1892) who constructed many railways in the United Kingdom as well as designing the docks at Avonmouth and Whitehaven. Sir William Fairbairn
William Fairbairn
Sir William Fairbairn, 1st Baronet was a Scottish civil engineer, structural engineer and shipbuilder.-Early career:...
(1789–1874) was another engineer who built the first iron hulled steamship the Lord Dundas and constructed over 1000 bridges using the tubular steel method which he pioneered. Thomas Pringle
Thomas Pringle
Thomas Pringle was a Scottish writer, poet and abolitionist, known as the father of South African Poetry, the first successful English language poet and author to describe South Africa's scenery, native peoples, and living conditions.Born at Blaiklaw , four miles south of Kelso in Roxburghshire he...
the writer, poet and abolitionist, was born at nearby Blakelaw, a 500 acres (2 km²) farmstead four miles (6 km) to the south of the town where his father was the tenant.
Floors Castle
Floors castle is a large stately home just outside Kelso. It is a popular visitor attraction in the Scottish BordersScottish Borders
The Scottish Borders is one of 32 local government council areas of Scotland. It is bordered by Dumfries and Galloway in the west, South Lanarkshire and West Lothian in the north west, City of Edinburgh, East Lothian, Midlothian to the north; and the non-metropolitan counties of Northumberland...
. Adjacent to the house there is a fabulous walled garden with a cafe, a small garden centre and the Star Plantation.
Twins
Kelso is twinnedTown twinning
Twin towns and sister cities are two of many terms used to describe the cooperative agreements between towns, cities, and even counties in geographically and politically distinct areas to promote cultural and commercial ties.- Terminology :...
with two cities abroad: - Kelso, Washington
Kelso, Washington
Kelso is a city in southwest Washington State, United States, and is the county seat of Cowlitz County. At the 2010 census, the population was 11,925. Kelso is part of the Longview, Washington Metropolitan Statistical Area, which has a population of 102,410. Kelso shares its long western border...
, United States - Orchies
Orchies
-References:* -External links:*...
, France.
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