OS1/29/41/2
| List of names as written | Various modes of spelling | Authorities for spelling | Situation | Description remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WILTOWN | [Continued from page 1] Numerous rills and tributary streams run through the interior and contribute their waters to the Teviot and Borthwick. The Turnpike Road from Hawick to Edinburgh traverses the En. [Eastern] district also the North British Railway (Hawick Branch) to the Town of Hawick. Limestone and marl are wrought which are chiefly used in the improvement of land in the district. Woollen Manufactories are carried on to a considerable extent There is no marKet town, but Wilton at the SEn. [South Eastern] extremity many be called the suburbs of the town of Hawick and is Scarcely disjoined from it. It Consists principally of a long street. It Contains about one half of the Parish's population. It is the Site of the grammar school of Hawick (See N. [Name] Book for the Town of Hawick) There are two villages Langlands-Dean and Appletreehall, the former Situate on the face of a declivity 1/4 mile South-west of Wilton consists of a considerable sprinkling of houses and a woollen Factory in which many of the inhabitants are employed. The village of Appletreehall consists of a row of Cottages and some detached houses 2 1/2 miles N.E. [North East] of Hawick. There is a Parish Church and School. Population of the Parish at the last Census 2,557. A Roman Road is supposed by Genl [General] Roy to have traversed this County from South to North via Hawick and to have joined the well known line called Watling Street at the Eildon Hills. The route pursued would consequently be by the East side of Wilton Ph. [Parish], but due search and enquiry on the ground, not the least indications of such a way can be ascertained. The conclusion suggested by the above antiquarian is that the Romans projected such a line but either not having sufficient time to complete it, or considering the Annandale line to be a more direct communication between Carlisle and the Firth of Forth, they abandoned the undertaking. A large rough unhewn Whinstone measuring at the base from 18 to 24 inches, at the top about 12 inches and 6 feet high is variously characterised in district as a Roman Mile-stone and Standing Stone. In the absence of all indications of a Roman Road in the vicinity and moreover if General Roy's suggestion be taken - that the Road was left unfinished - it seems improbable that mile-stones could have been placed on it. The Town of Hawick it may be surmised would have been an important Roman Station where facilities would have offered for executing the symbols by which such stones have hitherto characterised as of Roman origin, there being a socket or cavity at the top in which a pillar or Cross was fixed with a smoothed or polished surface to the pedestal which is occasionally scrolled at the base. From the proximity of this stone to a large Tumulus, the character assigned is Standing Stone and in all probability commemorates the scene of an engagement between the Saxons and Picts this district having suffered greatly from the inroads of these parties. Lines of entrenchments forming a square are considered or supposed to be of Roman construction It is in the line of route of the supposed Roman Road. The vestiges of entrenchments believed in the district to have formed part of an ancient British Fort are still distinctly visible in the S.Wn. [South Western] district. The border towers or Peels are in good preservation respectively at Burnhead and Stirches in the En. [Eastern] district. The site of a Cross which marked the spot where Sir George Fairneylaw the Abbot of Melrose was slain in 1494 has been shewn 1/58 |
Continued entries/extra info
[Page] 2Parish of Wilton -- County of Roxburghshire.
Transcribers who have contributed to this page.
Trondragirl- Moderator, Brenda Pollock
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