Cessford Castle and a walk to the Border from Kirk Yetholm

A walk · Kirk Yetholm

Kirk Yetholm – Cessford Castle and a Walk to the Border

4 miles½ hour

dogs on a lead

Cessford Castle is the great red tower the Kers built in the fields below the Cheviots.

A few miles east, Kirk Yetholm sits a mile inside Scotland at the very end of the Pennine Way, and the old path out of the village climbs to the border with England on the hills above. Lunch is back on the village green at the Border Hotel.

Where it starts

Very limited, by the road at the hamlet of Cessford.

Directions to the start

Is it for me?

Tap who is coming, or the day you have, for the answer on this walk.

Before you go

On the path

About half an hour, round the outside. Rough grass round a ruin in a field. The stonework inside is unsafe: keep children outside the walls and close by.

Good to know

All year, in daylight. About 9.45am. Dogs on a lead in farmland. The interior is unsafe: information boards outside warn against going in.

The walk

Cessford Castle stands in open farmland by the hamlet of Cessford, two miles west of Morebattle, with very limited parking. The Ker family, forebears of the Dukes of Roxburghe, built most of what stands today from about 1450 onwards: an L-shaped keep and wing with walls up to thirteen and a half feet thick.

In 1523 it withstood the Earl of Surrey's guns until its defenders agreed terms and a safe way out. The inside is unsafe, so walk round the outside only, read the boards there, and keep children close.

Allow about half an hour.

If it rains

On a wet or wild day, look at Cessford Castle from the roadside, keep the walk for a clearer day, and go on to Kirk Yetholm for a slow lunch by the fire at the Border Hotel.

Afterwards

16 min by car
The walk to the Border from Kirk Yetholm
It's 16 minutes' drive through Morebattle and Town Yetholm to Kirk Yetholm, where there's ample parking round the village green. The Pennine Way ends here, and for its last miles it shares the path with St Cuthbert's Way, on its way from Melrose to Holy Island. Take the lane signed for Halterburn, then the waymarked path up past the old hill fort on Green Humbleton to the border with England, marked by a signpost at a wall. A short detour to Eccles Cairn gives a last long view back over the Borders to the Eildon Hills. It's about two miles each way, with about 280 metres of climbing on the way out. There's little shelter up there, so wear boots and bring a warm layer, and keep a dog on a lead near the sheep.
The Border Hotel
Lunch
Lunch is across the green at the Border Hotel, an inn dating from 1750 at the end of the Pennine Way, where walkers who finish it are still given a free half pint. Eat by the open fire in the bar or in the conservatory, from a menu of home cooking with Borders produce. Ring 01573 420237 to book a table.

Before you go

Book lunch at The Border Hotel
Book a table for lunch at the Border Hotel: it asks diners to book where possible.

After the walk

Something to do with the rest of the day, and dinner, nearest the end of the walk first.

With the rest of the day

Sandstone chapel with arched cloister and pointed doorway beside a lawn

14 min by roadThings to doKelso AbbeyThe towering remains of what was one of Scotland's largest and richest abbeys, free to visit in the middle of Kelso.

Green-fronted Dor shop at number 38, selling lifestyle goods and coffee

15 min by roadA shopDōrAn independent lifestyle and coffee shop on the Woodmarket in Kelso, with well-made homeware, clothes, skincare and pantry things, and good coffee.

For dinner

The Border Hotel in Kirk Yetholm, a minute by road. Kirk Yetholm's village inn, at the head of the green below the Cheviot Hills, a mile inside Scotland.

Wilson's Farm and Kitchen in Morebattle, 11 minutes by road. A family farm near Morebattle in the Cheviot foothills, cooking set-menu meals on chosen dates from its own beef, lamb and garden.

Ednam House in Kelso, 14 minutes by road. A Georgian mansion on the banks of the Tweed in Kelso, now a hotel with a restaurant, a bar and three acres of riverside gardens.

Places to stay near the walk

Our places to stay nearest the start, by road.

An advert · Jedburgh

The House in the Hill

An off-grid house for four built into an old stone quarry on a working family farm near Jedburgh, with a wildflower roof, a roof terrace and a wood-fired hot tub.

Sleeps 4 · 20 minutes by road

See The House in the Hill

The House in the Hill at dusk, its turf roof over walls of local stone and glass, a bedroom lit inside and the hot tub at the corner.

More walks near here

Within a short drive of the start.

14 min by roadA walkKelso2¼ miles, an hour and a half to two hours

15 min by roadA long dayKelso to Roxburgh6 miles, about three hours

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Find out more

For further reading, before you go.

Photographs by GARY DAWSON, Ewen JM Campbell and The Border Hotel via Google