Dryburgh is a village in the

Borders A border is a geographical boundary. Border, borders, The Border or The Borders may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * ''Border'' (1997 film), an Indian Hindi-language war film * ''Border'' (2018 Swedish film), ...

region 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 ...

, within the county of

Berwickshire Berwickshire (; ) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area in south-eastern Scotland, on the English border. The county takes its name from Berwick-upon-Tweed, its original county town, which was part of Scotland at the ...

. It is most famous for the ruined

Dryburgh Abbey Dryburgh Abbey, near Dryburgh on the banks of the River Tweed in the Scottish Borders, was nominally founded on 10 November (Martinmas) 1150 in an agreement between Hugh de Morville, Constable of Scotland, and the Premonstratensian canons reg ...

Dryburgh Abbey Hotel Dryburgh Abbey Hotel is a baronial country house, located on the banks of the River Tweed, in Dryburgh about 5 km south east of Melrose in the Scottish Borders. The modern house was first constructed in 1845 and it was converted into a hotel ...

lies on the edge of the village. The village K6 red telephone box outside the former post office is Category B listed. The Old Corn Mill to the south-east is also Category B listed.

Dryburgh Abbey

Dryburgh Abbey was founded in the 12th century, and burned by English troops in 1322, and again in 1385. It was restored in the 15th century, before being destroyed in 1544. The ruined site is now a

scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage, visu ...

, and its grounds are listed in the

Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland The ''Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland'' is a listing of gardens and designed landscapes of national artistic and/or historical significance, in Scotland. The Inventory was originally compiled in 1987, although it is a cont ...

Orchard Gate

Orchard Gate is a 19th century, Category B listed Gothic arched gateway. It has battlemented parapet and piers with incised crosses.

Dryburgh Abbey House

Dryburgh Abbey House was built in the 18th century. The House was owned by

David Erskine, 11th Earl of Buchan David Stuart Erskine, 11th Earl of Buchan, (1 June 1742 – 19 April 1829), styled Lord Cardross between 1747 and 1767, was a Scottish antiquarian, founder of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, and patron of the arts and sciences. Backg ...

. He commissioned extensive garden and restoration works around the estate incorporating the Abbey as a partial ruin within the house grounds. This also included the erection of the nearby Temple of the Muses and the Statue of William Wallace, Bemersyde. Following a fire, the house was extensively remodelled between 1892 and 1894, under the architect Henry Francis Kerr. The current frontage is in Scottish Rennaisance style. The building is Category B listed, including its sundial, ice house,

stables A stable is a building in which working animals are kept, especially horses or oxen. The building is usually divided into stalls, and may include storage for equipment and feed. Styles There are many different types of stables in use tod ...

and

doocot A dovecote or dovecot , doocot ( Scots) or columbarium is a structure intended to house pigeons or doves. Dovecotes may be free-standing structures in a variety of shapes, or built into the end of a house or barn. They generally contain pig ...

The Temple of the Muses

This circular nine columned

gazebo A gazebo is a pavilion structure, sometimes octagonal or Gun turret, turret-shaped, often built in a park, garden, or spacious public area. Some are used on occasions as bandstands. In British English, the word is also used for a tent-like can ...

stands since 1817 on Bass Hill, a mound overlooking the

River Tweed The River Tweed, or Tweed Water, is a river long that flows east across the Border region in Scotland and northern England. Tweed cloth derives its name from its association with the River Tweed. The Tweed is one of the great salmon rivers ...

at the west end of the village. It is dedicated to the poet James Thomson, the

Ednam Ednam is a small village near Kelso in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland. Places nearby include Stichill, Sprouston, Nenthorn, Eccles, Gordon, Greenlaw as well as Floors Castle. The village was formerly in Roxburghshire. Its name i ...

poet and author of " The Seasons" and the lyrics of

Rule Britannia "Rule, Britannia!" is a British patriotic song, originating from the 1740 poem "Rule, Britannia" by James Thomson and set to music by Thomas Arne in the same year. It is most strongly associated with the Royal Navy, but is also used by the ...

, and his bust can be seen on the top of the structure. The temple originally contained a stone statue of the

Apollo Belvedere The ''Apollo Belvedere'' (also called the ''Belvedere Apollo'', ''Apollo of the Belvedere'', or ''Pythian Apollo'') is a celebrated marble sculpture from classical antiquity. The work has been dated to mid-way through the 2nd century A.D. and is ...

on a circular pedestal showing nine

Muse In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, the Muses (, ) were the Artistic inspiration, inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the poetry, lyric p ...

s with

laurel wreath A laurel wreath is a symbol of triumph, a wreath (attire), wreath made of connected branches and leaves of the bay laurel (), an aromatic broadleaf evergreen. It was also later made from spineless butcher's broom (''Ruscus hypoglossum'') or cher ...

s. Bronze figures of the Four Seasons by Siobhan O'Hehir were installed as a replacement in 2002.

William Wallace statue

Dryburgh was the first town to erect a

monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, historical ...

in honour of

William Wallace Sir William Wallace (, ; Norman French: ; 23 August 1305) was a Scottish knight who became one of the main leaders during the First War of Scottish Independence. Along with Andrew Moray, Wallace defeated an English army at the Battle of St ...

, in 1814. It is said that

Sir Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European literature, European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'' (18 ...

did not like the structure. The current statue is in the grounds of

Bemersyde House Bemersyde House is a historic house in Roxburghshire, Scotland. The nearest towns are Newtown St. Boswells, Melrose, and Dryburgh. The William Wallace Statue, Bemersyde is on the Bemersyde Estate. History Dating back to the 16th century as ...

Chain bridge

Dryburgh Suspension Bridge Dryburgh Suspension Bridge is a suspension bridge erected near Dryburgh Abbey, Scottish Borders. History The footbridge across the River Tweed was erected in 1872 with a gift intended to allow the Dryburgh villagers to worship at the Church ...

is a pedestrian

chain bridge A chain bridge is a historic form of suspension bridge for which chains or eyebars were used instead of wire ropes to carry the bridge deck. A famous example is the Széchenyi Chain Bridge in Budapest. Construction types are, as for other suspensi ...

in Dryburgh over the River Tweed. The current bridge was built in 1872 and replaces an earlier chain

bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...

which was the first chain bridge in Scotland when built in 1872. The bridge footpath forms part of the

Borders Abbeys Way The Borders Abbeys Way is a long-distance footpath in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland. It is a circular walkway and is in length. The theme of the footpath is the ruined Borders abbeys (established by David I of Scotland) along its way: ...

and also is an additional, optional route on

St Cuthbert's Way St Cuthbert's Way is a long-distance trail between the Scottish Borders town of Melrose and Lindisfarne (Holy Island) off the coast of Northumberland, England. The walk is named after Cuthbert, a 7th-century saint, a native of the Borders who ...

to visit Dryburgh Abbey.

References

Sources

SCRAN image: The Dryburgh Wallace StatueRCAHMS record for Bass Hill, Dryburgh

External links

Engraving of Dryburgh in 1693
by

John Slezer John Slezer (before 1650 – 1717) was a German-born military engineer and artist. Life Slezer was born in a German-speaking region of Europe, possibly the upper Rhineland. He may have spent his early years in military service to the Hous ...

at National Library of Scotland Villages in the Scottish Borders {{Borders-geo-stub