Melrose

The original settlers in this area occupied the hillfort on one of the Eildon Hills nearby. There is a waymarked path to the ruins (and the view). Next came the Romans who settled at Trimontium a couple of miles to the East. It was not until King David I founded the Abbey in 1136 that the village took the name from the abbey.

For much of its history the town has been associated with wool and linen production. Sights include the 16th cent mercat cross in the town centre. A corn mill built in 1640 on the site of a medieval flour mill that serviced the Abbey, which is now a woollen shop in Abbey Street. The railway serviced Melrose from 1850 till the late 1960s, the station is still there and houses a restaurant and small businesses. The chain bridge crossing the Tweed to the north was buit in 1826 as a toll Bridge. The former toll house still stands.

Darnick Tower first built c.1425. Present version dates from 16 th cent. This tower has in its grounds the remains of Fisher's Tower. (A third was nearby but nothing now remains.) It is one of the most perfectly preserved specimens of Peel Tower in the Borders, built and still owned by the Heitons and used as a residence today.

Round Darnick Tower the last clan battle of the Borders took place in 1526 between the followers of Angus and Buccleuch and it is said James V watched the progress of the fight from the battlements of the tower.