Peeblesshire (), the County of Peebles or Tweeddale is a historic county 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 ...

. Its county town is

Peebles Peebles () is a town in the Scottish Borders, Scotland. It was historically a royal burgh and the county town of Peeblesshire. According to the United Kingdom census, 2011, 2011 census, the population was 8,376 and the estimated population in ...

, and it borders

Midlothian Midlothian (; ) is registration county, lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area and one of 32 council areas of Scotland used for local government. Midlothian lies in the east-central Lowlands, bordering the City of Edinburgh council ar ...

to the north,

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 ...

to the east,

Dumfriesshire Dumfriesshire or the County of Dumfries or Shire of Dumfries () is a Counties of Scotland, historic county and registration county in southern Scotland. The Dumfries lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area covers a similar area to the hi ...

to the south, and

Lanarkshire Lanarkshire, also called the County of Lanark (; ), is a Counties of Scotland, historic county, Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area and registration county in the Central Lowlands and Southern Uplands of Scotland. The county is no l ...

to the west.

History

The origins of Peeblesshire are obscure, but it became a shire sometime around the twelfth century, covering part of the historic district or

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

of Tweeddale. The southern part of Tweeddale became the sheriffdom of

, also known as Ettrick Forest, whilst the northern part of Tweeddale was initially divided into two sheriffdoms, based at

and

Traquair Traquair () is a small village and civil parishes in Scotland, civil parish in the Scottish Borders; Counties of Scotland, until 1975 it was in the county of Peeblesshire. The village is situated on the B709 road south of Innerleithen at . H ...

, before those two were united as the single shire of Peebles, or Peeblesshire, around 1304. From then on the shires gradually became the more important areas for administration; the old provinces were not abolished as such, but their importance diminished. Peeblesshire County Council was created in 1890 under the

Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889 The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889 ( 52 & 53 Vict. c. 50) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which was passed on 26 August 1889. The main effect of the act was to establish elected county councils in Scotland. In this it fol ...

, which established elected county councils across Scotland. The council held its first meeting on 22 May 1890 at the courthouse on High Street in Peebles, also known as County Hall, which had been built in 1844–1848 as a

sheriff court A sheriff court () is the principal local civil and criminal court in Scotland, with exclusive jurisdiction over all civil cases with a monetary value up to , and with the jurisdiction to hear any criminal case except treason, murder, and ra ...

and meeting place for the

Commissioners of Supply Commissioners of Supply were local administrative bodies in Scotland from 1667 to 1930. Originally established in each sheriffdom to collect tax, they later took on much of the responsibility for the local government of the counties of Scotland. ...

, the main administrative body for the county prior to the creation of the county council. Tweeddale District Council Offices - geograph

The county council continued to be based at the courthouse until 1935 when it moved to County Buildings on Rosetta Road in Peebles. Peeblesshire County Council was abolished in 1975 under the

Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 (c. 65) is an Act of Parliament (UK), act of Parliament of the United Kingdom that altered local government of Scotland, local government in Scotland on 16 May 1975. The act followed and largely impleme ...

, which reorganised local government in Scotland into upper-tier regions and lower-tier districts. Peeblesshire became part of the Borders region and Tweeddale district, the latter having the same boundaries as the pre-1975 county of Peeblesshire. The last

lord-lieutenant A lord-lieutenant ( ) is the British monarch's personal representative in each lieutenancy area of the United Kingdom. Historically, each lieutenant was responsible for organising the county's militia. In 1871, the lieutenant's responsibility o ...

for the county of Peeblesshire became the first Lord Lieutenant of Tweeddale. The Borders region and its four districts, including Tweeddale, were abolished in 1996, merging to form the present

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. The area of the pre-1996 Tweeddale district (and therefore the same area as pre-1975 Peeblesshire) continues to be used as a

lieutenancy area Lieutenancy areas (), officially counties and areas for the purposes of the lieutenancies, are the separate areas of the United Kingdom that are appointed to a lord-lieutenant – a representative of the British monarch. In many cases they have s ...

under the name of Tweeddale.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms of the county, which was matriculated by the Lord Lyon in 1931, ia as follows: ''Quarterly, 1st sable five fraises (strawberry leaves) argent; 2nd azure, a horse's head couped argent; 3rd vert, a fleece or; 4th or, fretty gules, on a chief embattled of the last, two thunderbolts of the first.'' The arms are supported by two salmon proper, and the crest is a Border cavalryman. The motto is ''ONWARD TWEEDDALE''. The first quarter is the arms of

Fraser Fraser may refer to: Places Antarctica * Fraser Point, South Orkney Islands Australia * Fraser, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb in the Canberra district of Belconnen * Division of Fraser (Australian Capital Territory), a former federal ...

Oliver Castle Oliver Castle was a medieval tower house, located in upper River Tweed, Tweedsdale in the Scottish Borders. The site of the hillfort known as Oliver Castle is to the north of the village of Tweedsmuir, although the site of the tower house is l ...

, a prominent local laird; the second, that of Horsburgh, another prominent local laird; the third, a reference to the area's wool industry; and the fourth, that of M. G. (later Sir Michael) Thorburn of Glenormiston, who was sheriff of Peebles at the time of the arms' matriculation.

Geography

The county is landlocked and forms part of the

Southern Uplands The Southern Uplands () are the southernmost and least populous of mainland Scotland's three major geographic areas (the others being the Central Lowlands and the Highlands). The term is used both to describe the geographical region and to col ...

geographic region of Scotland. There are few settlements and the county consists mostly of low hill country, including parts of the Pentland Hills and Moorfoot Hills, with the highest point being Broad Law at 840 m (2,760 ft). 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 ...

is the chief river, flowing in a crescent shape through the county. Bodies of water in Peeblesshire include the Baddinsgill Reservoir, West Water Reservoir and Portmore Loch in the north and the Megget Reservoir, Talla Reservoir and Fruid Reservoir in the south.

Transport

The county was formerly served by the Peebles Railway and the Symington, Biggar and Broughton Railway, however these lines closed in the 1950s-60s and there are now no active railways in the county.

Settlements

* Blyth Bridge * Broughton * Cardrona * Carlops * Drumelzier * Eddleston *

Innerleithen Innerleithen () is a civil parish and a small town in the committee area of Tweeddale, in the Scottish Borders. It was formerly in the historic county of Peeblesshire or Tweeddale. Etymology The name "Innerleithen" comes from the Scottish G ...

* Kilbucho * Kingledoors * Kirkbryde * Lyne * Mossfennan *

Polmood Polmood is a small settlement in southern Scotland near Tweedsmuir in the Scottish Borders, in the valley of the River Tweed. Polmood was for many centuries the centre of the Hunter family in the lowlands and the earliest record was a charter ...

* Romannobridge * Skirling * Stanhope *

Tweedsmuir Tweedsmuir () is a village and civil parishes in Scotland, civil parish in Tweeddale, the Scottish Borders Council district, southeastern Scotland. Geography The village is set in a valley, with the rolling hills and burns on both sides, cover ...

* Walkerburn * West Linton

Civil parishes

# Broughton, Glenholm and Kilbucho (union of Broughton, Glenholm and Kilbucho in 1794) # Drumelzier # Eddleston #

# Kirkurd # Linton or West Linton # Lyne (formerly Lyne and Megget; Megget, an ancient parish which was united to Lyne in 1621, was transferred to the Selkirkshire parish of Yarrow in 1891) # Manor #

Newlands Newlands may refer to: Places Australia * Newlands, Queensland, a locality in the Whitsunday Region * Newlands, Western Australia, a town in the Shire of Donnybrook–Balingup Ireland * Newlands Cross, Dublin, named after the former Newlands ...

# Skirling # Stobo #

(separated from Drumelzier in 1643) The parish of Kailzie existed until 1674, when it was suppressed, parts going to Innerleithen and parts going to Traquair.

Community councils

Community councils:Scottish Borders Council: Scheme for the Establishment of Community Councils (under Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994) www.scotborders.gov.uk/info/20015/your_council/643/community_councils retrieved June 2016 # Carlops # Eddleston #

and District # Lamancha, Newlands and Kirkurd # Manor, Stobo and Lyne # Royal Burgh of

and District # Skirling #

# Upper Tweed # Walkerburn # West Linton

Gallery

File:Stobo Castle, Scottish Borders.JPG, Stobo Castle File:Innerleithenfromafar.jpg, Innerleithen File:Blyth Bridge.jpg, Blyth Bridge File:Kilbucho Church.jpg, Ruins of Kilbucho Church File:Barony Castle Hotel, Eddleston near Peebles, Scotland.JPG, Barony Castle in Eddleston, which contains the Great Polish Map of Scotland File:Tweed Bridge, Peebles.jpg, Bridge over the Tweed at Peebles, the county town File:Entrance to Neidpath Castle - geograph.org.uk - 778154.jpg, Neidpath Castle in Peebles

References

External links

{{Authority control Former counties of Scotland Clan Fraser *

Peebleshire Peeblesshire (), the County of Peebles or Tweeddale is a historic county of Scotland. Its county town is Peebles, and it borders Midlothian to the north, Selkirkshire to the east, Dumfriesshire to the south, and Lanarkshire to the west. Histo ...

Counties of the United Kingdom (1801–1922)