History of Roxburgh

Wallace's Tower

Name - A new site for an old name! Probably Old English - 'Hroc's burgh', whoever Hroc was!! 'Rokesburg' was the recorded name of the town of Roxburgh which was a favourite castle and residence of the Kings of Scotland in the Middle Ages.
With the demise of the castle, the town which lay outside its walls disappeared, the people moving into the growing town of Kelso.
The coming of the railways brought a viaduct and junction at the village of Roxburgh, upstream of the old town.

Graveyard Record - Graveyard recorded by the Borders Family History Society in volume IX of their Roxburghshire Monumental Inscriptions.
A revised second edition is now available from McGregor's Scottish Borders Books, Kelso (01573 225309)

Roxburgh Viaduct

Places of Interest

• Wallace's Tower (Ruins of)
• Walk from Kelso along the Teviot riverside.
• The grave of Andrew Gemmels, a blue-coat 'gaberlunzie', who died at the age of 106, and upon whom Sir Walter Scott based Edie Ochiltree in 'The Antiquary'.
• Roxburgh Viaduct

Further Reading - 'Auld Roxburgh' by Brian Wain

Articles about Roxburgh's History