Kelso, Scottish Borders

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Kelso is unique in Scotland for having a cobbled square fed by four cobbled streets - 360 degree panorama by David Kilpatrick

Kelso (Cealsach in Gaelic) is a market town in the Borders area of Scotland, located where the rivers Tweed and Teviot have their confluence. The town has a population of just over 6,000; it is regarded as one of the most charming and quaint towns in the area with its cobbled streets, elegant Georgian buildings and French style cobbled market square. Kelso's other main tourist attractions are the ruined Kelso Abbey and Floors Castle, a William Adam designed house completed in 1726. The bridge at Kelso was designed by John Rennie who later built London Bridge.

Kelso Square.

The town of Kelso came into being as a direct result of the creation of Kelso Abbey in 1128. The town's name stems from the fact that the earliest settlement stood on a chalky outcrop, and the town was known as Calkou in those early days.

Standing on the opposite bank of the river Tweed from the now-vanished royal burgh of Roxburgh, Kelso and its sister hamlet of Wester Kelso were linked to the burgh by a ferry at Wester Kelso. A small hamlet existed before the completion of the Abbey in 1128 but the settlement started to flourish with the arrival of the monks. Many were skilled craftsmen, and they helped the local population as the village expanded. The Abbey controlled much of life in Kelso until the Reformation in the sixteenth century. After that, the power and wealth of the Abbey declined. The Ker family of Cessford took over many of the Abbey’s properties around the town. By the 1600s, they virtually owned Kelso.

Sir Walter Scott attended Kelso Grammar School in 1783 and he said of the town, "it is the most beautiful if not the most romantic village in Scotland". Another attraction is the Cobby Riverside Walk which goes from the town centre to Floors Castle along the banks of the Tweed passing the point where it is joined by the River Teviot. Kelso has two bridges that span the River Tweed, “Rennie’s Bridge” was completed in 1803 to replace an earlier one washed away in the floods of 1797, it was built by John Rennie of Haddington, who later went on to build Waterloo Bridge in London, his bridge in Kelso is a smaller and earlier version of Waterloo Bridge. The bridge was the cause of local rioting in 1854 when the Kelso population objected to paying tolls even when the cost of construction had been covered, the Riot Act was read, three years later tolls were abolished. Hunter’s Bridge, a kilometre downstream, is a modern construction built to take much of the heavy traffic that has damaged Rennie’s bridge by diverting vehicles around the town.

Famous people from Kelso have included civil engineer Sir James Brunlees (1816-1892) who constructed many railways in the United Kingdom as well as designing the docks at Avonmouth and Whitehaven. Sir William Fairbairn (1789-1874) was another engineer who built the first iron hulled steamship the Lord Dundas and constructed over 1000 bridges using the tubular steel method which he pioneered.

The town has much sport and recreation, the River Tweed at Kelso is renowned for its salmon fishing, there are two eighteen hole golf courses as well as a National Hunt (jumping) horse racing track, the course is known as "Britain's Friendliest Racecourse", racing first took place in Kelso in 1822.

Kelso seen from the Cobby Tweedside meadow

The town's rugby union team are highly respected, and their annual rugby sevens tournament takes place in early August.

Kelso is twinned with Orchies in France.

Coordinates: 55°35′N 2°26′W Kelso has over 9,000 people and there are many things to do like swimming cinema,bowling and is soon going to be home to tesco extra. which is going to open in July 2007