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Lauder, Town Wall
Gateway(S) (Period Unassigned), Town Wall (Period Unassigned)
Site Name Lauder, Town Wall
Classification Gateway(S) (Period Unassigned), Town Wall (Period Unassigned)
Canmore ID 55878
Site Number NT54NW 5
NGR NT 53 47
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/55878
- Council Scottish Borders, The
- Parish Lauder
- Former Region Borders
- Former District Ettrick And Lauderdale
- Former County Berwickshire
NT54NW 5 53 47.
Walls, strong for their day, surrounded Lauder. Traces of two main gates remain in the names East and West Ports. The east one has left no trace, except that the street still narrows to the place where it once stood. Where the West Port had been, there was till lately a crumbling remnant of the old town wall. When the gates were closed, travellers had to pass round the town by roads which skirted the walls, and are still known as the Back Rows.
W M'Conachie 1913
Romanes gives similar information, adding that there are no records to show when the wall was built, or of any repairs to it. The piece of wall noted by M'Conachie was still extant, "projecting from the W gable of the westernmost house within the old walls, on the S side of the street." (It may thus be seen that the site of the West Port is immediately E of the first turning to the right (S) when entering the town from the W, since this side turning was originally immediately outside the wall. No satisfactory siting is given for the East Port, other than that it was near the Police Station (in 1903) and Free Church manse, centred NT 5311 4750.)
R Romanes 1903
No traces of the walls were seen. The Town Clerk and provost were not available, but the wife of the Provost, who has lived in Lauder for thirty years, has never heard of the Town Wall or the Ports. However, the shape of Lauder and the existence of bounding roads on the NE and SW tend to support the claim that the town was walled.
Visited by OS (CJP) 5 October 1956
No further information was obtained regarding the town walls and gates of Lauder. The position of the West Port was sited to approximately NT 5284 4780 from the information given by Romanes.
Visited by OS (WDJ) 25 September 1962
