Kelso High School is a state-funded comprehensive

secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

in Kelso, Scotland, under the control of the

Scottish Borders Council Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

. It is one of nine secondary schools in the Scottish Borders and the only one in Kelso. Pupils come to Kelso High School from the town of Kelso, the villages of

Ednam Ednam is a small village near Kelso in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland. Places nearby include Stichill, Sprouston, Nenthorn, Eccles, Gordon, Greenlaw as well as Floors Castle. The village was formerly in Roxburghshire. Its name is a co ...

, Eckford,

Stichill Stichill is a village and civil parish in the historic county of Roxburghshire, a division of the Scottish Borders. Situated north of the Burgh of Kelso, Stichill lies north of the Eden Water and from the English Border at Coldstream. Stich ...

Smailholm Smailholm ( sco, Smailhowm) is a small village in the historic county of Roxburghshire in south-east Scotland. It is at and straddles the B6397 Gordon to Kelso road. The village is almost equidistant from both, standing northwest of the abbe ...

Morebattle Morebattle is a village in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland, on the B6401, seven miles south of Kelso, Scottish Borders, beside the Kale Water, a tributary of the River Teviot. The St. Cuthbert's Way long distance footpath passes through the ...

Roxburgh Roxburgh () is a civil parish and formerly a royal burgh, in the historic county of Roxburghshire in the Scottish Borders, Scotland. It was an important trading burgh in High Medieval to early modern Scotland. In the Middle Ages it had at leas ...

, Yetholm and other hamlets in the surrounding area. The current building was opened to students in November 2017.

History

The first documentation of a

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...

in Roxburgh is in 1152. When Roxburgh was abandoned, the school became part of the

Kelso Abbey Kelso Abbey is a ruined Scottish abbey in Kelso, Scotland. It was founded in the 12th century by a community of Tironensian monks first brought to Scotland in the reign of Alexander I. It occupies ground overlooking the confluence of the Twe ...

and after the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

, it became known as Kelso Grammar School. It was a boys only, fee-paying school run by monks from the Kelso Abbey and was overseen by the

Duke of Roxburghe The Duke of Roxburghe () is a title in the peerage of Scotland created in 1707 along with the titles ''Marquess of Bowmont and Cessford'', ''Earl of Kelso'' and ''Viscount Broxmouth''. John Ker, 5th Earl of Roxburghe became the first holder ...

, the

Kirk Session A session (from the Latin word ''sessio'', which means "to sit", as in sitting to deliberate or talk about something; sometimes called ''consistory'' or ''church board'') is a body of elected elders governing each local church within presbyterian ...

and the

Heritor A heritor was a privileged person in a parish in Scots law. In its original acceptation, it signified the proprietor of a heritable subject, but, in the law relating to parish government, the term was confined to such proprietors of lands or house ...

. Fees were based on the number and type of courses taken. In 1156, it was mentioned as one of the four principal schools in Scotland. A new school was built in 1670 and was added to in 1780. The Kelso Grammar School was considered in very poor condition and closed its doors in February 1873. On a site near the Abbey a new Kelso Public School was built and opened in 1879 with 523 pupils. In 1919, following the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

the school came under control of the Education Authorities and the numbers attending the school exceeded 200. The school remained open until 1939 when the Army took possession. The school was opened in 1939 on Bowmont Street with 693 pupils. It was designed by

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

architects George Reid and John Smith Forbes and today is

Category B listed This is a list of Category A listed buildings in Scotland, which are among the listed buildings of the United Kingdom. For a fuller list, see the pages linked on List of listed buildings in Scotland. Key The organization of the lists in th ...

Historic Scotland Historic Scotland ( gd, Alba Aosmhor) was an executive agency of the Scottish Office and later the Scottish Government from 1991 to 2015, responsible for safeguarding Scotland's built heritage, and promoting its understanding and enjoyment ...

as a building of outstanding architectural interest. On 14 November 2017, the current building opened on Angraflat Road. In 2021, approval was sought for plans to demolish much of the old premises, retaining the listed facade.

School badge

The Kelso High School badge was adopted when the school was opened and is based on the

Coat of Arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...

of Douglas of Springwood, an estate just across the

River Tweed The River Tweed, or Tweed Water ( gd, Abhainn Thuaidh, sco, Watter o Tweid, cy, Tuedd), is a river long that flows east across the Border region in Scotland and northern England. Tweed cloth derives its name from its association with the R ...

from Kelso. Its design commemorates an event that took place during the

Scottish Wars of Independence The Wars of Scottish Independence were a series of military campaigns fought between the Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England in the late 13th and early 14th centuries. The First War (1296–1328) began with the English invasion of ...

. Following Scottish King Robert the Bruce's successful fight for Scottish independence from England, he felt the need to join the

Holy Land The Holy Land; Arabic: or is an area roughly located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Eastern Bank of the Jordan River, traditionally synonymous both with the biblical Land of Israel and with the region of Palestine. The term "Holy ...

crusades The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were ...

. His desire was not fulfilled due to poor health that led to his death in 1329.

Sir James Douglas James Douglas may refer to: Scottish noblemen Lords of Angus * James Douglas, 3rd Earl of Angus (1426–1446), Scottish nobleman * James Douglas, Earl of Angus (1671–1692), son of the 2nd Marquess of Douglas Lords of Douglas * James Douglas, ...

, a close friend, promised to take his heart to the Holy Land after he would die. Following Bruce's death, his heart was wrapped in lead and put into a silver casket. Douglas kept his promise and with some followers, headed off to fight in the crusades. They joined the fighting in

Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Penins ...

, Spain where Douglas was killed on 25 March 1330 in the battle of Zebas de Arcales. His body, along with Bruce's heart were brought back to Scotland and Bruce's heart was buried at

Melrose Abbey St Mary's Abbey, Melrose is a partly ruined monastery of the Cistercian order in Melrose, Roxburghshire, in the Scottish Borders. It was founded in 1136 by Cistercian monks at the request of King David I of Scotland and was the chief house of th ...

. Douglas was awarded the coat of arms with the heart and crown symbolizing Bruce's heart following his actions and carrying out his promise. The motto 'Doe or Die' symbolizes 'let us do or die,' Bruce's rallying cry to his troops before the

Battle of Bannockburn The Battle of Bannockburn ( gd, Blàr Allt nam Bànag or ) fought on June 23–24, 1314, was a victory of the army of King of Scots Robert the Bruce over the army of King Edward II of England in the First War of Scottish Independence. It wa ...

in 1314.

Notable alumni of Kelso High School and the former Kelso Grammar School

* John Baird - Scottish divine * James Ballantyne - Publisher * John Ballantyne - Publisher * J. H. S. Burleigh - Biblical scholar * Archibald Campbell Craig - Biblical scholar *

Sir William Fairbairn Sir William Fairbairn, 1st Baronet of Ardwick (19 February 1789 – 18 August 1874) was a Scottish civil engineer, structural engineer and shipbuilder. In 1854 he succeeded George Stephenson and Robert Stephenson to become the third presiden ...

- Engineer *

Ross Ford Ross William Ford (born 23 April 1984) is a Strength and Conditioning coach for the Scottish Rugby Academy. He was previously a Scotland international rugby union player who played as a hooker. He made 110 test appearances for Scotland, mak ...

- Professional rugby union player *

Christopher Harvie Professor Christopher Harvie (born 21 September 1944, Motherwell) is a Scottish historian and a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician. He was a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Mid Scotland and Fife from 2007 to 2011. Before his e ...

- Politician * Alexander Hewat - Historian *

Frederick Innes Frederick Maitland Innes (11 August 1816 – 11 May 1882)C. M. Sullivan,, ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'', Volume 4, MUP, 1972, pp 458–459. Retrieved 2009-08-15 was Premier of Tasmania from 4 November 1872 to 4 August 1873. The son of ...

- Former premier of

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

Thomas William Hogarth Thomas William Hogarth ( Kelso, 6 April 1901 – 26 January 1999) was a Scottish, later Australian, veterinarian, writer on dogs, dog judge, dog breeder, genetics enthusiast and veterinary surgeon. He was an author of several books published in th ...

- Author and dog judge * John Moffat - Royal Navy officer *

Shona Mooney Shona Mooney (born c. 1984) is a Scottish fiddle player and composer. Career Shona Mooney was the winner of the BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician competition in 2006. She has appeared at international festivals such as the Tønder ...

- Scottish musician *

William Henry Ogilvie Will H. Ogilvie (21 August 1869 – 30 January 1963) was a Scottish-Australian narrative poet and horseman, jackaroo, and drover, and described as a quiet-spoken handsome Scot of medium height, with a fair moustache and red complexion. He ...

- Scottish-born Australian Poet *

Thomas Pringle Thomas Pringle (5 January 1789 – 5 December 1834) was a Scottish writer, poet and abolitionist. Known as the father of South African poetry, he was the first successful English language poet and author to describe South Africa's scenery, nati ...

- Author * Sir William Purves - International banker *

Bryan Redpath Bryan William Redpath (born 2 July 1971 in Galashiels) is a former Scotland international rugby union player and former rugby union coach. He is currently the Director of Rugby at London Scottish. Early life and family Redpath attended Kel ...

- Former rugby union player *

Sir Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels '' Ivanhoe'', '' Rob Roy ...

- Author *

Steven Jack Steven Douglas Jack (born 4 August 1970) is a former South African cricketer who played in two Test matches and two One Day Internationals. He was a fast, aggressive bowler and formed a formidable opening partnership with Richard Snell for Tr ...

- Groundsman of the Border Union Showground, and The Lord of Ladyrig

Notable staff

* James Fairgrieve - Geographer

References

External links

Official website
{{authority control Secondary schools in the Scottish Borders Kelso, Scottish Borders 1878 establishments in Scotland Educational institutions established in 1878 School buildings completed in 2017