Newtown St Boswells (; ) is a village 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 ...

council area {{Unreferenced, date=May 2019, bot=noref (GreenC bot) A council area is one of the areas defined in Schedule 1 of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 and is under the control of one of the local authorities in Scotland created by that Ac ...

, in south-east Scotland. The village lies south of the Eildon Hills on the Sprouston and Newtown

burns Burns may refer to: Astronomy * 2708 Burns, an asteroid * Burns (crater), on Mercury People * Burns (surname), list of people and characters named Burns ** Burns (musician), Scottish record producer Places in the United States * Burns, ...

, approximately south-east of

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

. It is the

administrative centre An administrative centre is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune, is located. In countries with French as the administrative language, such as Belgi ...

of the Scottish Borders, and was

historically History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some theorists categ ...

in the county of

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 ...

History

Newtown St Boswells is an old settlement, well-established by the 16th century. The town has been known at various times as Newtoune, Newtown of Eildon, Neuton and Newtown of Dryburgh. It lies split between the

civil parishes In England, a civil parish is a type of Parish (administrative division), administrative parish used for Local government in England, local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishe ...

of Melrose and St Boswells. Historically, Newtown St Boswells was a centre for milling

grain A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached husk, hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and ...

, with

watermill A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as mill (grinding), milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in ...

s on its burns. It became a regional centre of communication and an exporter of

livestock Livestock are the Domestication, domesticated animals that are raised in an Agriculture, agricultural setting to provide labour and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, Egg as food, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The t ...

after the opening of its

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

. This importance has declined since the closure of the station in 1969.

County Council established offices at Newtown St Boswells in 1896, and subsequently moved its meeting place there from

Jedburgh Jedburgh ( ; ; or ) is a town and former royal burgh in the Scottish Borders and the traditional county town of the Shires of Scotland, historic county of Roxburghshire. History Jedburgh began as ''Jedworð'', the "worth" or enclosed settlem ...

in 1930. A large new building was added to the site in 1968. From 1975 to 1996, the offices served as the administrative centre for Borders Regional Council. Since the 1996 the offices have been the headquarters of

Scottish Borders Council 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 ...

and known as the Council Headquarters.

Education

The village is served by Newtown Primary School, which is a feeder school to Earlston High School, about away in

Earlston Earlston () is a civil parish and market town in the county of Berwickshire, within the Scottish Borders. It is on the River Leader in Lauderdale, Scotland. Early history Earlston was historically called ''Arcioldun'' or ''Prospect Fort'', ...

. The primary school also has nursery provision for preschool-aged children. A Borders College campus at the southeastern tip of the village specialises in

agricultural education Agricultural education is the systematic and organized teaching, instruction and training (theoretical as well as hands-on, real-world fieldwork-based) available to students, farmers or individuals interested in the science, business and technol ...

References

External links

RCAHMS/Canmore: Newtown St Boswells, St Boswells Station and Granary
Villages in the Scottish Borders Eildon St Boswells {{Borders-geo-stub