Jedburgh

Jedburgh is the first sizeable town you reach having passed into Scotland at Carter Bar and so was at the heart of the border strife.

The 12th century Castle was pivotal in the years of strife and changed hands many times. In 1409 the Scottish parliament thought it was giving the English more strategic advantage than the Scots and so ordered its destruction. Over four hundred years later a Howard reform prison was built on the site, today there is a museum detailing life in the 19th century penal system.

Prince David built Jedburgh Abbey Church in 1138 on the left bank of Jed Water, as the most southerly of the border abbeys it was a perennial target of the English. In 1523 the Earl of Surrey ordered it to be burnt but even today nearly 500 years after his attempt at sabotage, it is still a beautiful sight with its roofless tower rising over 80 feet above the nave.