Place:Jedburgh (town), Roxburghshire, Scotland

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NameJedburgh (town)
TypeTown
Coordinates55.483°N 2.567°W
Located inRoxburghshire, Scotland     ( - 1975)
See alsoJedburgh, Roxburghshire, Scotlandparish in which the town of Jedburgh was located until 1975
Borders, Scotlandregional authority 1975-1996
Scottish Borders, Scotlandunitary council area since 1996
the text in this section is based on an article in Wikipedia

The Town of Jedburgh is a town and former royal burgh formerly in the County of Roxburghshire and now in the Scottish Borders Council Area. The town's population was 4,090 in 2001 (last census available).

Jedburgh is located on the Jed Water, a tributary of the River Teviot. The town is only ten miles from the border with England and is dominated by the substantial ruins of Jedburgh Abbey. Other notable buildings in the town include Mary, Queen of Scots' House and the Jedburgh Castle Jail, now a museum.

History

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Jedburgh began as Jedworð, the "worth" or enclosed settlement on the Jed. Later the more familiar word "burgh" was substituted for this, though the original name survives as Jeddart/Jethart.

Bishop Ecgred of Lindisfarne founded a church at Jedburgh in the 9th century, and King David I of Scotland made it a priory between 1118 and 1138, housing Augustinian monks from Beauvais in France. The abbey was founded in 1147, but border wars with England in the 16th century left it a ruin.

The deeply religious Scottish king Malcolm IV died at Jedburgh in 1165, aged 24. His death is thought to have been caused by Paget's disease of bone.

David I built a castle at Jedburgh, and in 1174 it was one of five fortresses ceded to England. It was an occasional royal residence for the Scots. It was demolished in 1409.


In 1258, Jedburgh was a focus of royal attention, with negotiations between Scotland's Alexander III and England's Henry III over the succession to the Scottish throne, leaving the Comyn faction dominant. Alexander III was married to Yolande in the abbey in 1285.

In 1307, James Douglas, fighting for King Robert Bruce, took Jedburgh from the English with little effort.

Its proximity to England made it subject to raids and skirmishes by both Scottish and English forces but its strategic position also brought the town valuable trade. At various times and at various locations the town supported a horse market, a cattle market, a corn market and a butcher market. Farm workers and servants also attended hiring fairs seeking employment.

Mary, Queen of Scots, stayed at a certain house in the town in 1566 and that house is now a museum – Mary Queen of Scots House.

The title "Lord of Jedburgh Forest" was granted to George Douglas, 1st Earl of Angus on his marriage to the Princess Mary, daughter of Robert III in 1397. It is a subsidiary title of the present Earl of Angus, the Duke of Hamilton. The Duke of Douglas was raised to the position of Viscount Jedburgh Forest, but he died without an heir in 1761.

In 1745, the Jacobite army led by Prince Charles Edward Stuart passed through the town on its way to England, and the Prince also stayed there. The Castle Prison opened in 1823.[1]

In 1787, the geologist James Hutton noted what is now known as the Hutton Unconformity[2] at Inchbonny, near Jedburgh. Layers of sedimentary rock which are tilted almost vertically are covered by newer horizontal layers of red sandstone. This was one of the findings that led him to develop his concept of an immensely long geologic time scale with "no vestige of a beginning, no prospect of an end."


The Scots name for the town is part of the expression "Jeddart justice" or "Jethart Justice", in which a man was hanged first, and tried afterwards.

Research Tips

Refer to the Parish of Jedburgh

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