Kelso – A Cobbled Square, an Abbey and a Bridge over the Tweed
About 2.2 miles on foot.
Kelso is a market town laid out the old Scottish way, with its streets running off one big cobbled Square.
The Town Trail starts there, under the Town Hall clock, and goes round by the abbey, the bridge over the Tweed and the old market streets, with a plaque at each stop. It's a little over two miles and nearly all on pavement.
- Time
- An hour and a half to two hours: a little over two miles.
- The path
- Pavements and cobbles, with a stretch of riverside that has no made path.
- Where to start
- The Knowes car park, behind Kelso Abbey: large and free, and on the trail. The walk starts in the Square, a few minutes away on foot.
- When to go
- All year. From November the light goes by late afternoon.
- Children
- Plaques to find and a bull ring in the cobbles. The trail runs beside the Tweed for a stretch.
- Toilets
- Public toilets at the Horsemarket, with a charge.
- Before you set out
- The abbey keeps its own hours.
The walk
Start in the Square, Kelso's wide cobbled market place, under the Town Hall and its domed clock tower. At its centre is the Bull Ring, where bulls were tethered on market days for farmers to look over. Bridge Street leads down to Kelso Abbey, founded by King David in the 12th century and destroyed in 1545. What is left is a great tower of pale stone, pierced with round arches.
Just beyond is Rennie's Bridge over the Tweed, opened in 1803 and the model for his later London Bridge. Its lamps came from Waterloo Bridge when that was pulled down. Upstream, the view runs past the Junction Pool to Floors Castle. From the river the trail comes back to the Square through the old market streets: Woodmarket, Coalmarket and Horsemarket.
Plaques mark the stops, and the council's leaflet maps a shorter round for anyone with less time. It's a little over two miles in all.
If it rains
Nearly all of it is pavement, so rain only makes it wet. The stretch by the river turns muddy.
Before you go
Book accommodation nearby
If you are staying over: here are ours nearest where the day starts and ends.
The nearest of ours is The House in the Hill, 10 miles away. Sleeps 4; next free Thu 29 Oct to Sat 31 Oct.
For further reading, before you go.