Minto is a village and parish in the

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 Lot ...

area of

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

Roxburghshire Roxburghshire or the County of Roxburgh ( gd, Siorrachd Rosbroig) is a historic county and registration county in the Southern Uplands of Scotland. It borders Dumfriesshire to the west, Selkirkshire and Midlothian to the north-west, and Be ...

county. It is located north-east of

Hawick Hawick ( ; sco, Haaick; gd, Hamhaig) is a town in the Scottish Borders council area and historic county of Roxburghshire in the east Southern Uplands of Scotland. It is south-west of Jedburgh and south-south-east of Selkirk. It is one ...

, north of the

River Teviot The River Teviot (; gd, Abhainn Tìbhiot), or Teviot Water, is a river of the Scottish Borders area of Scotland, and is the largest tributary of the River Tweed by catchment area. The Teviot is an important river for wildlife, especially the A ...

.Gazetteer of Scotland, publ, by W & AK Johnston, Edinburgh, 1937. Article on Minto. Places are presented alphabetically.

Geography

The parish is bounded on the west by the former parish of Wilton (united with Hawick in 1895 ), on the north by

Lilliesleaf Lilliesleaf is a small village and civil parish south east of Selkirk in the Roxburghshire area of Scottish Borders of Scotland. Other places nearby include Ancrum, Ashkirk, Belses, Hassendean, Midlem, Minto House, Old Belses, St Boswell ...

, on the east by

Ancrum Ancrum ( gd, Alan Crom) is a village in the Borders area of Scotland, 5 km north west of Jedburgh. The village — which currently has a population of around 300 — is situated just off the A68 trunk road on the B6400 which runs through ...

and on the south by the parish of

Cavers Caving – also known as spelunking in the United States and Canada and potholing in the United Kingdom and Ireland – is the recreational pastime of exploring wild cave systems (as distinguished from show caves). In contrast, speleology is ...

, whose boundary partially follows the River Teviot, and the village of

Denholm Denholm is a small village located between Jedburgh and Hawick in the Scottish Borders region of Scotland, UK. The estimated population of Denholm is 600. There is a village green in the centre. It lies in the valley of the River Teviot. Denhol ...

within that parish.New Statistical Account of Scotland, Vol III Roxburgh, Peebles, Selkirk, publ. William Blackwood, 1845 pp.352-376 Fatlips Castle and Hassendean are within the parish. Minto village is a Conservation Area as designated by Scottish Borders Council.Scottish Borders conservation areas http://www.scotborders.gov.uk/downloads/1220/conservation retrieved March 2016 Minto House, the former seat of the

Earls of Minto Earl of Minto, in the County of Roxburgh, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1813 for Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 1st Baron Minto. The current earl is Gilbert Timothy George Lariston Elliot-Murray-Kynynm ...

, once stood nearby. Minto House near Minto, Scottish Borders; circa 1910 - demolished 1992

Minto comes within the area of Denholm and District Community Council, whose area north of the Teviot is roughly the same area as Minto civil parish, except for the

Appletreehall Appletreehall is a village in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland, 2 miles north-east of Hawick, in the historic county of Roxburghshire. Nearby are Branxholme, Broadhaugh, Roberton, Wilton and Wilton Dean. See also *List of places in t ...

area in the west.Ordnance Survey 1 inch to 1 mile, Sheet 70 – Jedburgh, publ. 1956 Appletreehall is a hamlet of Wilton parish. The civil parish has an area of 5,601 acres

Demographics

The population was 322 in 2011. The population of Minto village was estimated at 58 based on the 2001 Census.

History

The town of Minto first appears in 1383 in a list of rentals paid to

Roxburgh Castle Roxburgh Castle is a ruined royal castle that overlooks the junction of the rivers Tweed and Teviot, in the Borders region of Scotland. The town and castle developed into the royal burgh of Roxburgh, which the Scots destroyed along with th ...

. It was burned in a raid about 1490, then again in 1545 along with most of the surrounding area. It stretched in a staggered line along a north-west axis near the old church. Another cluster of houses stood on the roadside near West Lodge; one was occupied by the village cooper, giving rise to the Cooper’s Brae. The old town had a change house, a public host house, a brew-house (supplied by local barley malted nearby), a school (established in the 17th century) and a shop. Lint fields behind Minto Crags were spun and woven into linen by the villagers, while Minto Moss, Langhope, and Shielswood provided peats for fuel. There was also a mill near South Lodge on the Ancrum road, fed by a cauld above Spittal Ford. In 1827-31, the village was moved in its entirety so the 2nd Earl of Minto wouldn’t be able to see it from his mansion, Minto House! The new village was designed and laid out by William Playfair within the Earl's estate. It occupies an elevated ridge overlooking the River Teviot and lies in a dip below Minto Hill (height 905 ft) Ruberslaw_Parish_Kirk

Minto Church, designed in 1831 by

William Henry Playfair William Henry Playfair FRSE (15 July 1790 – 19 March 1857) was a prominent Scottish architect in the 19th century, who designed the Eastern, or Third, New Town and many of Edinburgh's neoclassical landmarks. Life Playfair was born on 15 ...

, is a Gothic revival church with a large three-stage tower. It was built during the ministry of Rev David Aitken who served as minister from 1829 to 1866 and replaced an earlier church. The interior was renovated in 1934, but the exterior is little changed. Minto War Memorial 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 I ...

situated near the church in the centre of Minto. It was created in 1921 by locally born sculptor Thomas J Clapperton and is a bronze statue of a

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, ...

soldier in helmet and greatcoat, standing on guard with bayonet. In 1992 Minto House was

listed Listed may refer to: * Listed, Bornholm, a fishing village on the Danish island of Bornholm * Listed (MMM program), a television show on MuchMoreMusic * Endangered species in biology * Listed building, in architecture, designation of a historicall ...

as Category A, and largely demolished within weeks. The garden terraces had been added by

Robert Lorimer Sir Robert Stodart Lorimer, KBE (4 November 1864 – 13 September 1929) was a prolific Scottish architect and furniture designer noted for his sensitive restorations of historic houses and castles, for new work in Scots Baronial and Got ...

in 1904.Dictionary of Scottish Architects: Robert Lorimer The parish originally covered the same area as the barony of Minto, which was first mentioned in the 14th century, when it was in possession of the Turnbull family. It was later sold to Sir Gilbert Elliot (c. 1650–1718), the ancestor of the

, who was made a Baronet by King William in 1700.

Hassendean Hassendean is a hamlet in the Scottish Borders south of Edinburgh, Scotland. The stream is the Hassendean Burn which flows down to the River Teviot five miles away. The village's name has been written as Hazeldean and Halstaneden. Hassendean ...

, the valley of Hassendean Burn, lies in the western part of the parish and was a parish until shortly 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 ...

. The use of its church was suppressed in 1690 and the building gradually became dilapidated, lying next to the banks of the Teviot. Its churchyard continued in use until 1796 when it was swept away by a flood.

References

External links

Minto in the Scottish Gazetteer
* * for village website {{authority control Villages in the Scottish Borders Parishes in Roxburghshire