Jedburgh – An Abbey, a Jail on the Hill and a Queen's House
About 1.5 miles on foot.
Jedburgh sits close to the Border, and for centuries that made it a town armies came through.
The Town Trail is a loop of its old streets, with plaques that tell what happened at each place. It passes the great roofless abbey, climbs to a jail built where the royal castle stood, and comes back by the house where Mary Queen of Scots stayed in 1566. It's about a mile and a half, on pavements.
- Time
- About two hours with the plaques: about a mile and a half.
- The path
- Pavements throughout, with a steady climb up Castlegate to the jail. The Ramparts are reached by stairs or by the pavement.
- Where to start
- The Canongate car park, beside the A68: free, and a couple of minutes on foot from Abbey Place, where the trail starts. Murray's Green car park is beside the Public Hall at the start.
- When to go
- All year. It's a street walk, good in any season; from November the light goes by late afternoon, and the plaques want daylight.
- Children
- Plaques to find, old cells under Newgate and a jail at the top of the hill.
- Toilets
- Public toilets at the Lothian Park car park, 7am to 6pm, with a small charge.
- Before you set out
- The abbey and the two museums keep their own hours and seasons.
The walk
Start in Abbey Place, with the roofless sandstone bulk of Jedburgh Abbey beside you. Plaques along the trail tell the story of each place as you come to it. The first stretch is the Ramparts, a raised walk named for the gun platforms French troops built here in 1548 to guard the abbey.
Then comes Newgate, an archway under a spire with old prison cells either side, and the Market Place beyond it, where the town's Handba' game, played through the streets with a ball, still begins. Castlegate climbs from there to the Castle Jail, a battlemented prison built on the site of the royal castle. This is the one real hill of the walk.
Back down in the town, the trail reaches Mary Queen of Scots' House, the tower house where by tradition she lodged in 1566, with pear trees in its garden. The old Canongate Bridge over the Jed Water, now for walkers only, comes near the end. It's about a mile and a half in all.
If it rains
On pavements all the way, so rain only makes it wet. The council's leaflet maps a shorter round for a poor day.
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, 5 miles away. Sleeps 4; next free Thu 29 Oct to Sat 31 Oct.
For further reading, before you go.