Preston, Scottish Borders
Encyclopedia
Preston is a small village in the pre-1975 ancient county of Berwickshire
, now an administrative area of the Scottish Borders
region of Scotland
.
The united Parishes of Bunkle and Preston, situated at the foot of the Lammermuir Hills, are bordered on the north by the Parishes of Abbey St Bathans and Coldingham
, on the east by the Parishes of Coldingham and Chirnside
, on the south by the Parishes of Edrom
and Duns
and on the east by the Parishes of Duns and Abbey St. Bathans.
.
Places nearby include Bonkyl Kirk
, Chirnside
, Cranshaws
, the Crosshall cross
, Eccles
, Edin's Hall Broch
, Edrom
, Greenlaw
, Greenlaw County Hall, Gordon, Hume Castle
, the Jim Clark Room, Manderston House
, Polwarth Parish Church
.
, and a possession of its bishop in 1275. It was abandoned in 1718 in favour of Bunkle, and is now an overgrown ruin.
A Market Cross sits opposite Preston Farm, thought to be early 17th Century. It consists of a square plan shaft, and a broken cross.
Nel Logan's Bridge, 1793, is a single segmental-arch over Preston Burn. The arch was later enclosed to form a cell below the bridge, used as a jail. Local tradition claims Napoleonic prisoners of war were held here while in transit to larger sites. According to a local story it is named after Nel Logan, the last person to be imprisoned there, for the crime of stealing sheep. There is a hole in the floor directly above the Preston Burn, this was the 'toilet'. The heavy wooden arch-shaped door fell apart some forty years ago. The bridge is now a Category B Listed Building.
Preston Bridge, 1770, consists of three segmental arches which span the Whiteadder Water
. Red sandstone, and notable for round recesses on the spandrels, with carved floral decorations in the south ones.
Bonkyl Lodge lies east of the village. A classical house built by the twelfth Earl of Home
circa 1890, with some later additions.
Preston Farm Cottages are a late 19th century U-plan range of nine cottages. Notable are blind armorial shields in the gable heads and casements with diamond-paned glazing.
The Bastie Monument, early 19th century, consists of a square plinth and pedestal embossed with crosses and classical cornice, topped by a stylised urn. Erected by General James Home in honour of Antoine d'Arces, Seigneur de la Bastie
, a warden of the Marches murdered by Clan Home near Langton in 1517.
to Grantshouse
road at White Gate, is said to be the site where William Wallace
camped during his pursuit of Patrick Earl of Dunbar from Spott Wood to Norham
.
Traditional:
Bunkle, Billie and Blanerne
Three castles strong as airn
Built when Davy was a bairn;
They'll a' gang doon
Wi' Scotland's croon,
And ilke ane sall be a cairn.
All three castles are in this parish, and all three were destroyed during Hertford's
Raid of 1544
, part of The Rough Wooing
of Scotland.
The old moat of Bunkle castle can still be traced, 2.5 km to the north of Preston, but no sign remains of the village.
Berwickshire
Berwickshire or the County of Berwick is a registration county, a committee area of the Scottish Borders Council, and a lieutenancy area of Scotland, on the border with England. The town after which it is named—Berwick-upon-Tweed—was lost by Scotland to England in 1482...
, now an administrative area of 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...
region 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...
.
The united Parishes of Bunkle and Preston, situated at the foot of the Lammermuir Hills, are bordered on the north by the Parishes of Abbey St Bathans and Coldingham
Coldingham
Coldingham is a historic village in Berwickshire, Scottish Borders, on Scotland's southeast coastline, north of Eyemouth.As early as AD 660, Coldingham was the site of a religious establishment of high order, when it is recorded that Etheldreda, the queen of Egfrid, became a nun at the Abbey of...
, on the east by the Parishes of Coldingham and Chirnside
Chirnside
Chirnside is a hillside village in Berwickshire in Scotland, west of Berwick-upon-Tweed and east of Duns.-Notables:David Hume, the Scottish Enlightenment philosopher, lived in Ninewells House, just south of the village...
, on the south by the Parishes of Edrom
Edrom
Edrom is a small village in the pre-1975 ancient county of Berwickshire, now an administrative area of the Scottish Borders region of Scotland....
and Duns
Duns
Duns is the county town of the historic county of Berwickshire, within the Scottish Borders.-Early history:Duns law, the original site of the town of Duns, has the remains of an Iron Age hillfort at its summit...
and on the east by the Parishes of Duns and Abbey St. Bathans.
Locality
Preston is on the A6112 and the B6355, near DunsDuns
Duns is the county town of the historic county of Berwickshire, within the Scottish Borders.-Early history:Duns law, the original site of the town of Duns, has the remains of an Iron Age hillfort at its summit...
.
Places nearby include Bonkyl Kirk
Bonkyl Kirk
Bonkyl Church is a Church of Scotland kirk situated at five miles north-east of Duns in the old county of Berwickshire. The nearest hamlet is Preston just over two miles to the south-west.- History :...
, Chirnside
Chirnside
Chirnside is a hillside village in Berwickshire in Scotland, west of Berwick-upon-Tweed and east of Duns.-Notables:David Hume, the Scottish Enlightenment philosopher, lived in Ninewells House, just south of the village...
, Cranshaws
Cranshaws
Cranshaws is a village on the B6355, near Duns, in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland, in the former Berwickshire.Of Cranshaws Castle only the tower remains, at Cranshaws Farm on Cranshaws Hill....
, the Crosshall cross
Crosshall cross
The Crosshall Cross is a cross at Crosshall Farm, Eccles in the Scottish Borders areea of Scotland, in the former Berwickshire.The cross is situated near Crosshall farmhouse and is said to date from the 12th century, after the Second Crusade. It is ca. 3 metres high and is thought to be a memorial...
, Eccles
Eccles, Scottish Borders
thumbEccles is a village and agricultural parish near Kelso in Berwickshire in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland. The village is conjoined with Birgham and Leitholm...
, Edin's Hall Broch
Edin's Hall Broch
Edin's Hall Broch is a 2nd century broch near Duns in the Borders of Scotland. It is one of very few brochs found in southern Scotland. It is roughly 27m in diameter.-External links:...
, Edrom
Edrom
Edrom is a small village in the pre-1975 ancient county of Berwickshire, now an administrative area of the Scottish Borders region of Scotland....
, Greenlaw
Greenlaw
Greenlaw is a small town situated in the foothills of the Lammermuir Hills on Blackadder Water at the junction of the A697 and the A6105 in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland. Greenlaw was first made the county town of Berwickshire in 1596, and was the first town to take on this role since the...
, Greenlaw County Hall, Gordon, Hume Castle
Hume Castle
Hume Castle is the heavily modified remnants of a late 12th or early 13th century "Castle of enceinte".The village of Hume is located between Greenlaw and Kelso, two miles north of the village of Stichill, in Berwickshire, Scotland....
, the Jim Clark Room, Manderston House
Manderston
Manderston House, Duns, Berwickshire, Scotland, is the home of Adrian Bailie Nottage Palmer, 4th Baron Palmer. It was completely rebuilt between 1901 and 1903 and has sumptuous interiors with a silver plated staircase...
, Polwarth Parish Church
Polwarth Parish Church
Polwarth Parish Church was a member church of the Church of Scotland before closing in 2004.It is situated atopa mound off a minor road leading from the A6105, Greenlaw to Duns road in the old county of Berwickshire, now part of the Scottish Borders Council...
.
The Village
The Old Parish Church was an outlying enclave of the diocese of DunkeldDunkeld
Dunkeld is a small town in Strathtay, Perth and Kinross, Scotland. It is about 15 miles north of Perth on the eastern side of the A9 road into the Scottish Highlands and on the opposite side of the Tay from the Victorian village of Birnam. Dunkeld and Birnam share a railway station, on the...
, and a possession of its bishop in 1275. It was abandoned in 1718 in favour of Bunkle, and is now an overgrown ruin.
A Market Cross sits opposite Preston Farm, thought to be early 17th Century. It consists of a square plan shaft, and a broken cross.
Nel Logan's Bridge, 1793, is a single segmental-arch over Preston Burn. The arch was later enclosed to form a cell below the bridge, used as a jail. Local tradition claims Napoleonic prisoners of war were held here while in transit to larger sites. According to a local story it is named after Nel Logan, the last person to be imprisoned there, for the crime of stealing sheep. There is a hole in the floor directly above the Preston Burn, this was the 'toilet'. The heavy wooden arch-shaped door fell apart some forty years ago. The bridge is now a Category B Listed Building.
Preston Bridge, 1770, consists of three segmental arches which span the Whiteadder Water
Whiteadder Water
Whiteadder Water is a river in East Lothian and Berwickshire, Scotland. It also flows for a very short distance through Northumberland before joining the River Tweed...
. Red sandstone, and notable for round recesses on the spandrels, with carved floral decorations in the south ones.
Bonkyl Lodge lies east of the village. A classical house built by the twelfth Earl of Home
Charles Douglas-Home, 12th Earl of Home
Charles Alexander Douglas-Home, 12th Earl of Home KT was a Scottish peer.He was born 1834 at the family home of The Hirsel near Coldstream, the son of the Cospatrick Douglas-Home, 11th Earl of Home, and known as Lord Dunglass until his father's death.He was Lord Lieutenant of Berwickshire 1879-80,...
circa 1890, with some later additions.
Preston Farm Cottages are a late 19th century U-plan range of nine cottages. Notable are blind armorial shields in the gable heads and casements with diamond-paned glazing.
The Bastie Monument, early 19th century, consists of a square plinth and pedestal embossed with crosses and classical cornice, topped by a stylised urn. Erected by General James Home in honour of Antoine d'Arces, Seigneur de la Bastie
Antoine d'Arces
Antoine d'Arcy, sieur de la Bastie-sur-Meylan and of Lissieu, was a French nobleman involved in the government of Scotland.-The White Knight:...
, a warden of the Marches murdered by Clan Home near Langton in 1517.
History
Bunkle Wood, the remains of which can still be seen on the DunsDuns
Duns is the county town of the historic county of Berwickshire, within the Scottish Borders.-Early history:Duns law, the original site of the town of Duns, has the remains of an Iron Age hillfort at its summit...
to Grantshouse
Grantshouse
Grantshouse is a small village in Berwickshire in the Scottish Borders of Scotland. It lies on the A1, and its nearest railway stations are Dunbar to the north and Berwick-upon-Tweed to the south.- External links :**]**...
road at White Gate, is said to be the site where William Wallace
William Wallace
Sir William Wallace was a Scottish knight and landowner who became one of the main leaders during the Wars of Scottish Independence....
camped during his pursuit of Patrick Earl of Dunbar from Spott Wood to Norham
Norham
Norham is a village in Northumberland, England, just south of the River Tweed and the border with Scotland.It is the site of the 12th century Norham Castle, and was for many years the centre for the Norhamshire exclave of County Durham...
.
Traditional:
Bunkle, Billie and Blanerne
Three castles strong as airn
Built when Davy was a bairn;
They'll a' gang doon
Wi' Scotland's croon,
And ilke ane sall be a cairn.
All three castles are in this parish, and all three were destroyed during Hertford's
Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset
Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset, 1st Earl of Hertford, 1st Viscount Beauchamp of Hache, KG, Earl Marshal was Lord Protector of England in the period between the death of Henry VIII in 1547 and his own indictment in 1549....
Raid of 1544
Burning of Edinburgh (1544)
The Burning of Edinburgh in 1544 by an English sea-borne army was the first major action of the war of the Rough Wooing. A Scottish army observed the landing on 3 May 1544 but did not engage with the English force. The Provost of Edinburgh was compelled to allow the English to sack Leith and...
, part of The Rough Wooing
The Rough Wooing
The War of the Rough Wooing was fought between Scotland and England. War was declared by Henry VIII of England, in an attempt to force the Scots to agree to a marriage between his son Edward and Mary, Queen of Scots. Scotland benefited from French military aid. Edward VI continued the war until...
of Scotland.
The old moat of Bunkle castle can still be traced, 2.5 km to the north of Preston, but no sign remains of the village.
Reference
- Brooke, C J (2000) 'Safe sanctuaries: security and defence in Anglo-Scottish border churches 1290-1690', Edinburgh, pages 27-8, 363
- Cowan, I B (1967), 'The parishes of medieval Scotland, scot Rec Soc, vol.93, Edinburgh, page 167
External links
- RCAHMS/Canmore: Site record of Preston, Old Parish Church and Graveyard
- Scottish Borders Council: Abbey St Bathans, Bonkyl & Preston Community Council
- Scottish Borders Council: Finalised Local Plan - Preston
- Borders Family History Society: Bunkle and Preston
- Scottish Borders Heritage: Preston Bridge