Hawick – The Old Town, the Slitrig and the Motte
About a mile on foot.
Hawick is known for its mills, but the town is far older than they are.
This short walk keeps to its first streets, between a tower house at the foot of the High Street and a Norman mound in a park up the hill.
- Time
- About an hour: about a mile (1.5 km) round the old town from Drumlanrig's Tower to the Motte and back.
- The path
- Pavements, uphill along the Loan to Moat Park, with steps on the Motte.
- Where to start
- Start at Drumlanrig's Tower on Tower Knowe, at the foot of the High Street. Hawick's public car parks are on Commercial Road, the High Street and Buccleuch Street.
- When to go
- All year in daylight. From mid October to March the pavements and the steps on the Motte can be icy, and the Slitrig can run high after rain.
- Dogs
- On a lead in the streets.
- Children
- Short, with a mound to climb. There are roads to cross in the town.
- Toilets
- None on the walk.
- Before you set out
- The Hawick Town Trail booklet, free to download from Scottish Borders Council, numbers the stops.
The walk
This is an hour in the part of Hawick that was here long before the mills. The walk begins and ends at Drumlanrig's Tower, at the foot of the High Street, the oldest building in the town. For two hundred years it was an inn and then a hotel, and a plaque by the door recalls the visit of Sir Walter Scott and the Wordsworths in 1803.
The trail takes in Slitrig Crescent, laid out in 1799 and the first street in Hawick to have gas light, and the single-arched sandstone bridge of 1864 over the Slitrig Water. St Mary's Kirk stands on the bank above, on a site first recorded in 1183. The far point is the Motte in Moat Park, a grassy mound about 25 feet high, raised in the 1100s to carry a timber tower.
At the Common Riding, Hawick's summer festival on horseback, the Cornet who leads the riders climbs it to greet the sunrise. It's about a mile on pavements, uphill to the park, with steps on the mound. Scottish Borders Council's Hawick Town Trail booklet numbers every stop.
If it rains
A town walk on pavements, short enough to do between showers. The grass on the Motte is slippery when wet.
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 Scullery in Yarrow, 12 miles away. Sleeps 2; next free Fri 13 Nov to Sun 15 Nov.
Then The House in the Hill, 15 miles away. Sleeps 4; next free Thu 29 Oct to Sat 31 Oct.
For further reading, before you go.
Photograph by Google Curator via Google