Jedburgh

Jedburgh is a town in the Borders region in southeast Scotland, 48 miles south of Edinburgh.

Jedburgh is popular for its large Abbey, Castle Jail Museum, and Mary Queen of Scots Visitor Centre. Close by are Harestanes Countryside Visitor Centre 4 miles north, Waterloo Monument walk from Harestanes, Monteviot House and Gardens by Harestanes, and a high point at the Border with England named Carter Bar 10 miles south, not to be missed.

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The images top are of Jedburgh Parish Church and Jedburgh Abbey on the south side of the Town centre where there is a large car park and cafe. The Church was built in 1875.

Jedburgh Abbey was built from the 1100s for King David I. The Abbey was damaged and had to be rebuilt a few times during Wars with England from the 1200s to 1500s. The Protestant Reformation of 1560 ended Catholic worship in Scotland, leading to the Abbey being run down with some stone taken for local buildings.

Part of the Abbey was used as a Protestant Church until it became unsafe in the 1870s. The new Parish Church was built just across the road in 1875.

Jedburgh Town Hall is next to the Abbey with a large car park behind. The Hall was built in 1900 with a new Information Centre added in 1975.

A short walk up Abbey Place takes you to Jedburgh Market Square where the Market Cross once stood. This is where the Cattle Market was held for centuries, and where the annual Hand Ba game still takes place today.

The original Market Cross was replaced by the Jubilee Fountain in 1899 with a column topped by the figure of a unicorn holding the Burgh Coat of Arms.

The High Street runs north downhill from the Market Cross with the most notable building being the Spread Eagle Hotel built in the late 1700s, on the site of an earlier Inn that Mary Queen of Scots visited in 1566.

Mary Queen of Scots Visitor Centre is on Queen Street, that runs parallel with the High Street. This House was built in the early 1500s. Mary Queen of Scots lived in the house for a few weeks in 1566 to preside over a Circuit Court in Jedburgh. The House was converted to a Museum in 1930.

The Base of an Old Cross, said to be 1,300 years old, is in the scenic garden of Mary Queen of Scots House. The Stone was the base of a large Christian High Cross at the Bongate area of Jedburgh. The Stone was moved to the Market Square in the 1850s, to Hartage House Gardens some time later, then to the Mary Queen of Scots House Gardens in the 1960s after Hartage House was demolished.

The Newgate Clock Tower and Courthouse overlook the Market Square. The Clock Tower was built in the late 1700s, and Courthouse in 1812 to replace an earlier Court House. The Clock Tower has windowless cells for condemned prisoners, now also a modern Bistro.

Jedburgh Castle is about 400 yards up the steep Castle Gate road from the Market Square. Number 9 House on Castle Gate is where Prince Charlie stayed in 1745 during the Jacobite Risings.

The original Castle was built in the 1100s, demolished in 1409 to prevent the English from using it. The Castle seen today was built from 1820 to serve as a Prison. The Castle was opened to the public as the Jedburgh Castle Jail and Museum in 1968.

Jedburgh Golf Club is 1 mile southeast of the Town centre with good views over the Town, up Castle Gate past the Castle. The Club was founded in 1893.

Jedburgh Interesting History

Jedburgh was destroyed or controlled by the English during many Wars between Scotland and England from the 1200s Wars of Scottish Independence to the 1500s when Henry VIII of England began raiding Scotland in an attempt to have the infant Mary Queen of Scots mary his young son, known as the Rough Wooing.

Jedburgh grew around the Wool Industry and Breweries.

Clans from the area were: Belshes, Kerr, Oliver, Rutherford, and Turnbull.