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Chirnside is a hillside village in
Berwickshire Berwickshire ( gd, Siorrachd Bhearaig) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area in south-eastern Scotland, on the English border. Berwickshire County Council existed from 1890 until 1975, when the area became part of t ...
, Scotland, west of Berwick-upon-Tweed and east of Duns.


Church

The parish church at Chirnside dates from the 12th century. It was substantially rebuilt in 1878 and extensively restored and altered in 1907. The rebuildings now incorporate all of the original church(es), however the original chevron-patterned Norman doorway at the west end remains.


Dovecot aviaries

The ''Ninewells Doocot'', in a garden adjacent to the church, is a 16th-century circular beehive type
doocot A dovecote or dovecot , doocot ( Scots) or columbarium is a structure intended to house pigeons or doves. Dovecotes may be free-standing structures in a variety of shapes, or built into the end of a house or barn. They generally contain pige ...
(dovecot).   Not far from the manor, stands the ''Whitehall Doocot'', rectangular-planned, and two-chamber, with stone skews defining its mono-pitched roof.


Whitehall

Below Chirnside stands the estate of Whitehall, with a Georgian manor house containing
Palladian Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetry, perspective and ...
windows, which is a
Listed Building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
. It contains a first floor music room richly decorated in Italian plasterwork. Once owned by the Hall of
Dunglass Dunglass is a hamlet in East Lothian, Scotland, lying east of the Lammermuir Hills on the North Sea coast, within the parish of Oldhamstocks. It has a 15th-century collegiate church, now in the care of Historic Scotland. Dunglass is the birthplac ...
family, William Hall of Whitehall (died circa 1749) was one of the Principal Clerks of the
Court of Session The Court of Session is the supreme civil court of Scotland and constitutes part of the College of Justice; the supreme criminal court of Scotland is the High Court of Justiciary. The Court of Session sits in Parliament House in Edinburgh ...
. It passed early in the 19th century to Mitchell-Innes of Ayton Castle family who held it until the 1980s. Since then the house and its park have passed through the hands of developers, and since 2007 the manor has been derelict and seriously at risk. The partial demolition of the back quarters of the house have left Whitehall completely open and dangerous to the public. The Georgian manor was demolished in 2015


Ninewells House

Ninewells, named for the springs that flow from the hillside into the
Whiteadder Water Whiteadder Water is a river in East Lothian and Berwickshire, Scotland. It also flows for a very short distance through Northumberland before joining the River Tweed. In common with the headwaters of the Biel Water it rises on the low hillside ...
. It was home to several generations of
Homes A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or many humans, and sometimes various companion animals. It is a fully or semi sheltered space and can have both interior and exterior aspects to it. ...
(later Humes) and was the childhood home, and later the summer home, of
David Hume David Hume (; born David Home; 7 May 1711 NS (26 April 1711 OS) – 25 August 1776) Cranston, Maurice, and Thomas Edmund Jessop. 2020 999br>David Hume" ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Retrieved 18 May 2020. was a Scottish Enlightenment philo ...
(1711–1776) philosopher, economist and writer. The original Ninewells house was entirely rebuilt by William Burn in 1839–1841 for Elizabeth Hume in a Tudor style, but was demolished in 1954. In the 19th Century it was described as 'a handsome Tudor edifice of 1840–41, successor to an older mansion, which was the boyish home, though not the birthplace, of the historian and philosopher, David Hume (1711–76), and his occasional residence after his fame was won. It was the seat, too, of his nephew and namesake, Baron Hume (1756–1838), the eminent writer on criminal jurisprudence. The present proprietor, James Alexander Ross-Hume, Esq. (b. 1851; suc. 1864), holds in the shire, valued at £2162 per annum' During World War Two it was designated as a hostel for Polish and Eastern European displaced persons. Some Polish army personnel were billeted there and some also lodged with Chirnside families. Around 1942–1943 it was designated as prisoner of war camp (236). The Ninewells Walled Garden stands on the A6437 south of the village (early 19th century).


Billie Castle

Sited north of Chirnside on the Billie Burn, is the remains of Billie Castle. A castle of the Rentons, it was attacked several times in the 16th century. It was destroyed, along with
Bonkle Bonkle is a village 3 miles (4.8 km) north-east of Wishaw in North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is sited on the east bank of the South Calder Water. Murdostoun Castle is located nearby. See also * Murdostoun * South Calder Water * North Lanar ...
and
Blanerne Castle Blanerne Castle is the remains of a 16th-century fortified house, located in the grounds of Blanerne House, an 18th-century country house between Chirnside and Preston in the Scottish Borders. The house and castle sit on the north bank of the Whi ...
during Hereford's Raid of 1544, part of
The Rough Wooing The Rough Wooing (December 1543 – March 1551), also known as the Eight Years' War, was part of the Anglo-Scottish Wars of the 16th century. Following its break with the Roman Catholic Church, England attacked Scotland, partly to break the ...
of Scotland. It was restored prior to being abandoned in the 18th Century. It was a ruin by 1834. It appears to have consisted of an oblong tower house, with walls and a moat. There are also the remains of
lime kiln A lime kiln is a kiln used for the calcination of limestone ( calcium carbonate) to produce the form of lime called quicklime ( calcium oxide). The chemical equation for this reaction is : CaCO3 + heat → CaO + CO2 This reaction can take ...
s.


School

Chirnside Primary School, 1937, by architects Messrs Reid & Forbes, is set into a hillside, and being white, can be seen for miles around.


Paper Mill

The Chirnside Bridge Paper Mill, now a large manufacturer, is a survivor from an earlier era. Originally constructed in 1842 and 1857 by David Cousin (also responsible for
Dean Cemetery The Dean Cemetery is a historically important Victorian cemetery north of the Dean Village, west of Edinburgh city centre, in Scotland. It lies between Queensferry Road and the Water of Leith, bounded on its east side by Dean Path and on ...
), with additions in 1897, and reductions in 1971–1973. The
Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian ...
administrative block was built as a house for the owner of the mill. There was an earlier mill and house on the site, and the porter's lodge, now a store, is a Gothic octagonal single–storey–and–basement building which probably dates from this period.


Berwickshire Railway

Chirnside had a railway station on the North British Railway's
Berwickshire Railway The Duns Branch and the Berwickshire Railway together formed a through railway route from Reston, near Berwick-upon-Tweed, to St Boswells in the Scottish Borders. The line was promoted in two stages. The first was from Reston on the Edinburgh ...
(opened 1863), in the hamlet of Chirnsidebridge. The railway line ran from Reston to
Earlston Earlston ( sco, Yerlston; gd, Dùn Airchill) is a civil parish and market town in the county of Berwickshire, within the Scottish Borders. It is on the River Leader in Lauderdale, Scotland. Early history Earlston was originally called ''Arc ...
, joining the
East Coast Main Line The East Coast Main Line (ECML) is a electrified railway between London and Edinburgh via Peterborough, Doncaster, York, Darlington, Durham and Newcastle. The line is a key transport artery on the eastern side of Great Britain running broad ...
to the
Waverley Line The Waverley Route was a railway line that ran south from Edinburgh, through Midlothian and the Scottish Borders, to Carlisle. The line was built by the North British Railway; the stretch from Edinburgh to Hawick opened in 1849 and the remain ...
. A five span rounded arch railway bridge was built over the
Whiteadder Water Whiteadder Water is a river in East Lothian and Berwickshire, Scotland. It also flows for a very short distance through Northumberland before joining the River Tweed. In common with the headwaters of the Biel Water it rises on the low hillside ...
in 1863 to carry the railway. Chirnside Railway Station was closed to passenger traffic 10 September 1951. Freight continued until 19 July 1965. The station building still stands, currently used for storing agricultural supplies.


Dialect of Chirnside

The distinctive traditional dialect of the Scots language that is spoken in Chirnside was the subject of a study by Swiss dialectologist Paul Wettstein, published in 1942. In the dialect Chirnside is pronounced "Churn-side".


Sport

The local
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ca ...
team, Chirnside F.C., plays in the Border Amateur league and appeared nine times in the
Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,David Hume David Hume (; born David Home; 7 May 1711 NS (26 April 1711 OS) – 25 August 1776) Cranston, Maurice, and Thomas Edmund Jessop. 2020 999br>David Hume" ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Retrieved 18 May 2020. was a Scottish Enlightenment philo ...
, the
Scottish Enlightenment The Scottish Enlightenment ( sco, Scots Enlichtenment, gd, Soillseachadh na h-Alba) was the period in 18th- and early-19th-century Scotland characterised by an outpouring of intellectual and scientific accomplishments. By the eighteenth century ...
philosopher A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...
, lived in Ninewells House, just south of the village (see below). His nephew, the noted Scottish jurist David, later Baron Hume, was baptised at Chirnside in 1757.John W. Cairns, "Hume, David (bap. 1757, d. 1838)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004; online edition, May 2007, accessed 22 Oct 2011. Chirnside is also the final resting place of
Jim Clark James Clark Jr. OBE (4 March 1936 – 7 April 1968) was a British Formula One racing driver from Scotland, who won two World Championships, in 1963 and 1965. A versatile driver, he competed in sports cars, touring cars and in the Indiana ...
, former world champion
Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...
racing-car driver. Close to the churchyard in which Clark is buried, there is a memorial plaque and clock at the side of the main road through the village. The Jim Clark Motorsport Museum can be found in Duns. Joelle Murray, Scottish internationalist and Hibs footballer, is from the village.
Liam Craig Liam Craig (born 27 December 1986) is a Scottish former professional footballer. He is an attack-minded creative midfield player who operates on the left side of midfield or in a central position. He has played for Falkirk, St Johnstone and H ...
, the former footballer, is from the village. Near the
kirk Kirk is a Scottish and former Northern English word meaning "church". It is often used specifically of the Church of Scotland. Many place names and personal names are also derived from it. Basic meaning and etymology As a common noun, ''kirk'' ...
once stood a
tower house A tower house is a particular type of stone structure, built for defensive purposes as well as habitation. Tower houses began to appear in the Middle Ages, especially in mountainous or limited access areas, in order to command and defend strateg ...
(demolished in the 18th century), built by the
Earl of Dunbar The title Earl of Dunbar, also called Earl of Lothian or Earl of March, was the head of a comital lordship in south-eastern Scotland between the early 12th century and the early 15th century. The first man to use the title of Earl in this earldom ...
, once the superior here.


See also

*
List of places in the Scottish Borders ''Map of places in the Scottish Borders compiled from this list'':See the list of places in Scotland for places in other counties. This list of places in the Scottish Borders includes towns, villages, hamlets, castles, golf courses, historic hous ...
*
List of places in East Lothian ''Map of places in East Lothian compiled from this list'' The List of places in East Lothian is a list for any town, village, hamlet, castle, golf course, historic house, hill fort, lighthouse, nature reserve, reservoir, river, and other place of ...
* List of places in Edinburgh *
List of places in Midlothian ''Map of places in Midlothian compiled from this list'':See the list of places in Scotland for places in other counties. This List of places in Midlothian is a list of links for any town, village, hamlet, castle, golf course, historic house, hill ...
* List of places in West Lothian *
List of places in Scotland This list of places in Scotland is a complete collection of lists of places in Scotland. *List of burghs in Scotland * List of census localities in Scotland *List of islands of Scotland ** List of Shetland islands **List of Orkney islands **List ...
*
History of Scotland The recorded begins with the arrival of the Roman Empire in the 1st century, when the province of Britannia reached as far north as the Antonine Wall. North of this was Caledonia, inhabited by the ''Picti'', whose uprisings forced Rome' ...
* Timeline of Scottish history *
Scotland in the Early Middle Ages Scotland was divided into a series of kingdoms in the early Middle Ages, i.e. between the end of Roman authority in southern and central Britain from around 400 CE and the rise of the kingdom of Alba in 900 CE. Of these, the four most important ...
*
Scotland in the High Middle Ages The High Middle Ages of Scotland encompass Scotland in the era between the death of Domnall II in 900 AD and the death of King Alexander III in 1286, which was an indirect cause of the Wars of Scottish Independence. At the close of the ninth ...
*
Scotland in the Late Middle Ages Scotland in the Late Middle Ages, between the deaths of Alexander III in 1286 and James IV in 1513, established its independence from England under figures including William Wallace in the late 13th century and Robert Bruce in the 14th centur ...
*
Economic history of Scotland The economic history of Scotland charts economic development in the history of Scotland from earliest times, through seven centuries as an independent state and following Union with England, three centuries as a country of the United Kingdom. ...
*
Scottish Marches Scottish Marches was the term used for the Anglo-Scottish border during the late medieval and early modern eras, characterised by violence and cross-border raids. The Scottish Marches era came to an end during the first decade of the 17th century ...
*
Scottish Borders The Scottish Borders ( sco, the Mairches, 'the Marches'; gd, Crìochan na h-Alba) is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Dumfries and Galloway, East Lothian, Midlothian, South Lanarkshire, West Lothian an ...
*
Anglo-Scottish border The Anglo-Scottish border () is a border separating Scotland and England which runs for between Marshall Meadows Bay on the east coast and the Solway Firth in the west. The surrounding area is sometimes referred to as "the Borderlands". Th ...
*
Debatable Lands The Debatable Lands, also known as debatable ground, batable ground or threip lands,. lay between Scotland and England. It was formerly in question as to which it belonged when they were distinct kingdoms. The name either signifies litigious or ...
*
Border Reivers Border reivers were raiders along the Anglo-Scottish border from the late 13th century to the beginning of the 17th century. They included both Scottish and English people, and they raided the entire border country without regard to their v ...
*
List of castles in Scotland This is a list of Scottish castles, castles in Scotland. A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built primarily during the Middle Ages. Scholars debate the scope of the word "castle", but usually consider it to be the private ...
* Borders Family History Society *
Clan Home Clan Home (pronounced and sometimes spelt Hume) is a Scottish clan.Way, George and Squire, Romily. ''Collins Scottish Clan & Family Encyclopedia''. (Foreword by The Rt Hon. The Earl of Elgin KT, Convenor, The Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs). ...
* Climate of Scotland *
Geography of Scotland The geography of Scotland is varied, from rural lowlands to unspoilt uplands, and from large cities to sparsely inhabited islands. Located in Northern Europe, Scotland comprises the northern third of the island of Great Britain as well as 790 ...
*
Geology of Scotland The geology of Scotland is unusually varied for a country of its size, with a large number of differing geological features.Keay & Keay (1994) page 415. There are three main geographical sub-divisions: the Highlands and Islands is a diverse area w ...


References

1 ''The Buildings of Scotland - Borders'', by Kitty Cruft, John Dunbar and Richard Fawcett, Yale University Press, 2006, 2 ''Lost Houses of Scotland'', by M.Binney, J.Harris, and E.Winnington, for
SAVE Britain's Heritage Save Britain's Heritage (styled as ''SAVE Britain's Heritage'') is a British charity, created in 1975 by a group of journalists, historians, architects, and planners to campaign publicly for endangered historic buildings. It is also active on the ...
, London, July 1980, 3 Refer: ''Borders and Berwick'' by Charles A Strang, Rutland Press, 1994, 4 F.H. Groome, Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland (1882-4)


External links


RCAHMS: ChirnsideSCRAN: Chirnside BridgeChirnside Community Council website
{{authority control Berwickshire Villages in the Scottish Borders Lime kilns in Scotland