Ashkirk is a small village on the

Ale Water The Ale Water is a tributary of the River Teviot, in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland. It rises at Henwoodie Hill and flows through Alemoor Loch. It meets the River Teviot, Teviot south of the village of Ancrum, and it runs through Ashkirk ...

, in the

Scottish Borders The Scottish Borders is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It is bordered by West Lothian, Edinburgh, Midlothian, and East Lothian to the north, the North Sea to the east, Dumfries and Galloway to the south-west, South Lanarkshire to the we ...

area of

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. It is located just off the

A7 road A7, A.7, A 7, A07 or A-7 may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * A7, the A dominant seventh chord used in many rock songs, see dominant seventh chord * A (musical note) * ''A7'' (mixtape), by SCH, 2015 * Avenged Sevenfold, a hard rock/meta ...

, approximately each way between Selkirk to the north and

Hawick Hawick ( ; ; ) is a town in the Scottish Borders council areas of Scotland, council area and counties of Scotland, historic county of Roxburghshire in the east Southern Uplands of Scotland. It is south-west of Jedburgh and south-south-east o ...

to the south. Other places nearby include the

Alemoor Loch Alemoor Loch, also known as Alemoor Reservoir, is a small reservoir in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland. It is situated on the Ale Water, west of Hawick. The loch is approximately long, and is divided in two by a causeway which carries the ...

Appletreehall Appletreehall is a village in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland, north-east of Hawick, in the historic county of Roxburghshire. Nearby are Branxholme, Broadhaugh, Roberton, Scottish Borders, Roberton, Wilton, Scottish Borders, Wilton and W ...

Belses Belses is a village on the Ale Water, in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland the former Selkirkshire. It is situated close to Old Belses, and lies south of St Boswells, west of Jedburgh, north of Hawick, and east of Selkirk. Other places near ...

, Essenside Loch, the

Ettrick Water The Ettrick Water is a river in Ettrick, by the village of Ettrickbridge and the historic town of Selkirk, in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland. The water, a tributary of the River Tweed, is known also as the River Ettrick, often locally ...

Ettrickbridge Ettrickbridge () is a village situated in the Scottish Borders region of Scotland, from the nearby town of Selkirk. It sits on the B7009 road, which follows the Ettrick Water south-west from Selkirk, along the Ettrick Valley as far as Tushiela ...

, Philiphaugh, Salenside and

Woll WOLL (105.5 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to Hobe Sound, Florida. The station is owned by iHeartMedia, and airs an adult contemporary radio format. WOLL serves Florida's Treasure Coast and the Palm Beaches. Sunday through Frida ...

. The village is home to th
Woll golf courseAshkirk Village Hall
and th
Smiddy Bar & Restaurant

History

Formerly, two thirds of the parish of Ashkirk lay in

Roxburghshire Roxburghshire or the County of Roxburgh () is a historic county and registration county in the Southern Uplands of Scotland. It borders Dumfriesshire to the west, Selkirkshire and Midlothian to the northwest, and Berwickshire to the north. T ...

and one third in

Selkirkshire Selkirkshire or the County of Selkirk is a Counties of Scotland, historic county and registration county of Scotland. It borders Peeblesshire to the west, Midlothian to the north, Roxburghshire to the east, and Dumfriesshire to the south. It de ...

, including an enclave of Selkirkshire just east of the village around Synton. In 1891 a Boundary Commission moved the whole parish into Selkirkshire and added to Ashkirk a detached portion of the parish of Selkirk just west of the village, which was already in Selkirkshire (Todrig).

Notable persons

Alasdair Allan Alasdair James Allan (born 6 May 1971) is a Scottish politician serving as the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Na h-Eileanan an Iar constituency since 2007. A member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), he served in the Scottis ...

, MSP for Na h-Eileanan an Iar (the Western Isles), grew up in Ashkirk. *

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

James Cran James Douglas Cran (28 January 1944 – 1 June 2023) was a British Conservative Party politician. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Beverley (1987–1997) and for Beverley and Holderness (1997–2005). Early life Cran went to Ruthri ...

spent the latter part of his life in Ashkirk and died there in 2023. * Doug Davies, Scottish rugby player, was born in Ashkirk. * Scottish-Australian poet and bush balladeer Will H. Ogilvie (1869–1963) was born near

Kelso, Scottish Borders Kelso is a market town in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland. Within the boundaries of the Shires of Scotland, historic county of Roxburghshire, it lies where the rivers River Tweed, Tweed and River Teviot, Teviot have their confluence. The ...

, and from 1918 to his death he first leased then bought the

Presbyterian church Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Christianity, Reformed Protestantism, Protestant tradition named for its form of ecclesiastical polity, church government by representative assemblies of Presbyterian polity#Elder, elders, known as ...

manse A manse () is a clergy house inhabited by, or formerly inhabited by, a minister, usually used in the context of Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist and other Christian traditions. Ultimately derived from the Latin ''mansus'', "dwelling", from '' ...

'Kirklea' on the northside of Ashkirk. After returning from Australia (1889–1901), Ogilvie became known as the Border poet, including penning ''Galloping shoes'', ''Over the grass'', ''Handful of leather'', and ''The road to Roberton''. His wife Madge is buried with her parents in nearby

Gallery

File:SCO-Ashkirk-A7 highway 2018.jpg, A7 major road turn-off File:SCO-Ashkirk-area 2018.jpg, Surrounding farming area File:SCO-Ashkirk-west access 2018.jpg, Road west of village with stone wall File:SCO-Ashkirk-west road Ale Water stone bridge 2018.jpg, Stone bridge over the Ale Water, west of village File:SCO-Ashkirk-church corner 2018.jpg, Ashkirk Church yard File:SCO-Ashkirk-church front 2018.jpg, Ashkirk Church front (2018) File:SCO-Ashkirk-church inside 2018.jpg, Inside the church File:SCO-Ashkirk-church Ogilvie area 2018.jpg, Ogilvie family area at church

References

External links

Scotland's Places

Vision of Britain

Ashkirk Website
Villages in the Scottish Borders Parishes in Roxburghshire Parishes in Selkirkshire {{Borders-geo-stub

History

Notable persons

Gallery

See also

References

External links