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The Yarrow Stone, a grey slab spotted with lichen, inside its wooden enclosure beside a farm track, with an information board in front and green hills behind.
Scottish Borders

Yarrow Stone

A Latin memorial of the 400s or 500s to two British princes, in the Yarrow valley in the Scottish Borders.

Welcome

The Yarrow Stone is a highly unusual thing to come across in Scotland, and it makes a lovely quiet stop.

When it was carved, this valley belonged to the Britons of the kingdom of Strathclyde. Its lettering runs sideways down the face in six lines, so tilt your head to follow it. Wind and rain have worn the letters badly, but as far as they can be read they name the men buried here, Nudoss and Dumnogenus, the sons of Liberalis. That is why you may hear it called the Liberalis Stone. The plough turned it up in the early 1800s, when the moor here was first broken in. It lay flat, over human bones. It went to Bowhill, the Duke of Buccleuch's house, for safe keeping, then came back to stand again near the spot where it was found.

A short drive awayThree Hills CoffeeA speciality coffee roastery and cafe on the High Street in Selkirk, roasting its own beans and teaching barista courses.16 min by roadSee itMotorcycle parked outside Three Hills Coffee Co, with a red Coffee Roastery door
Before you go

The stone stands in a wooden enclosure beside the track to Whitefield.

Parking
Park by the A708, clear of the traffic, then go through the gate onto the track.
The stone
Nearly 1.5 metres tall, 82 cm across and 35 cm deep.

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Where it is

Off the A708 about half a mile west of Yarrow, TD7 5LA.

Close byThe places nearest the stone, by road.
  1. The Gordon Arms in the Yarrow Valley, a long whitewashed coaching inn with dormer windows and tall chimneys under a blue summer sky, green hills rising behind.The Gordon ArmsA family-run restaurant with rooms in an old coaching inn in the Yarrow Valley, with seasonal Borders cooking and just seven tables.4 miles 6 min by road
  2. White harled tower house with turrets overlooking a lawn and flowerbedTraquair HouseScotland's oldest inhabited house, near Innerleithen, home of the Stuarts since 1491, visited by 27 monarchs, with its own brewery and maze.11 miles 20 min by road
  3. Abbotsford, Home of Sir Walter ScottAbbotsford, Home of Sir Walter ScottSir Walter Scott's romantic house by the Tweed near Melrose, which he built and filled with his library and collections, and where he died in 1832.14 miles 24 min by road
  4. Stone tower with sash window above a white-framed door and lanternOld Gala HouseThe 16th-century home of the Lairds of Galashiels, now a free museum and gallery with a painted ceiling of 1635 and gardens.15 miles 27 min by road
  5. The Great Tapestry of Scotland's modern pale stone gallery with a zigzag roofline on a sunny street corner in Galashiels.The Great Tapestry of ScotlandA purpose-built gallery in Galashiels for 160 stitched panels made by more than 1,000 people, telling Scotland's story from 8500 BC to today.15 miles 28 min by road
  6. Kailzie GardensKailzie GardensGardens near Peebles, with a walled garden, restored glasshouses, woodland walks by the Kailzie Burn and a laburnum arch.16 miles 29 min by road
Directions
A grey stone farmhouse with several chimneys stands against rolling hills, a wildflower meadow in the foreground.YarrowThe ScullerySleeps 2 · 1.2 miles
Dryhope Tower in sunshine, a roofless stone tower house with a railed platform on top, bicycles at its foot and St Mary's Loch and Dryhope farm beyond.AttractionsDryhope Tower6.5 miles
A power loom weaves dark tartan cloth on its bed, mechanical arms and bobbins visible above the woven fabric in a mill workshop.ShoppingLochcarron of Scotland9.6 miles
Motorcycle parked outside Three Hills Coffee Co, with a red Coffee Roastery doorCafeThree Hills Coffee9.6 miles
Modern entrance with vertical "Lochcarron" lettering beside a stone church buildingAttractionsLochcarron Visitor Centre9.7 miles

Recommend to a friend

The Daily for 23 October, from Scotland with love. Aerial view of a concrete road bridge with angled supports spanning a sea loch, twin cloud-wrapped mountain peaks rising behind autumn-coloured hills.

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Stay nearby

Places to stay near the stone, and when each is next free.

A grey stone farmhouse with several chimneys stands against rolling hills, a wildflower meadow in the foreground.The Scullery
  • Sleeps 2
  • In Yarrow
  • Under a mile from the Yarrow Stone
Free 13–15 NovPlaces to stayEvery stay in the Scottish BordersAll our places to stay nearby, to search by date and by who is coming.See them all
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