Kelso, 13-19 Roxburgh Street

Wester Kelso was a medieval settlement whose exact location remains uncertain. It is thought that it may have stretched from Roxburgh Street in Kelso to the nearby gates of the Floors estate. As part of a wider survey of Borders burghs, an archaeological survey was undertaken to examine the survival of any remains.

Evidence of medieval occupation was found during excavations at Nos 13-19 Roxburgh Street, carried out between 1983 and 1985. The discoveries comprised a silted terrace parallel to the street, a sixteenth-century corn-drying kiln and quarry pits filled with rubbish dating to the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.

Records of Kelso Abbey first mention Wester Kelso in 1323, and describe activities such as brewing and the holding of markets. A fire in 1684 swept through much of the town and largely destroyed Wester Kelso, though its mercat cross remained standing. In 1715, the armies of the Jacobites massed there to hear the Old Pretender proclaimed rightful king and then the reading of a list of grievances against the government.

Text prepared by RCAHMS as part of the Accessing Scotland's Past project