Minto is a village and parish in the

Scottish Borders The Scottish Borders is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It is bordered by West Lothian, Edinburgh, Midlothian, and East Lothian to the north, the North Sea to the east, Dumfries and Galloway to the south-west, South Lanarkshire to the we ...

area of

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

Roxburghshire Roxburghshire or the County of Roxburgh () is a historic county and registration county in the Southern Uplands of Scotland. It borders Dumfriesshire to the west, Selkirkshire and Midlothian to the northwest, and Berwickshire to the north. T ...

county. It is located north-east of

Hawick Hawick ( ; ; ) is a town in the Scottish Borders council areas of Scotland, council area and counties of Scotland, historic county of Roxburghshire in the east Southern Uplands of Scotland. It is south-west of Jedburgh and south-south-east o ...

, north of the

River Teviot The River Teviot (; ), 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 Atlantic salmon, but ...

.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, on the east by Ancrum and on the south by the parish of Cavers, 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. Denho ...

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, which became derelict over the decades, was demolished in 1992. The demolition occurred under very dubious circumstances with the owner being chair of the planning committee. 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, north-east of Hawick, in the historic county of Roxburghshire. Nearby are Branxholme, Broadhaugh, Roberton, Scottish Borders, Roberton, Wilton, Scottish Borders, Wilton and W ...

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 .

Demographics

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

History

Minto first appears in 1383 as a barony 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 ...

. It was burned in a raid about 1490, then again in 1545 along with most of the surrounding area. It was in possession of the Turnbull family. It was later sold to Sir Gilbert Elliot (c. 1650–1718), the ancestor of the Earls of Minto, who was made a Baronet by King William in 1700. Hassendean, the valley of Hassendean Burn, lies in the western part of the parish and was its own parish until shortly after the

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

. 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. The old village 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 village 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 used to produce linen, 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. Between 1827 and 1831, the village was moved in its entirety at the behest of

Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 2nd Earl of Minto Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 2nd Earl of Minto, (; 16 November 178231 July 1859), styled as Viscount Melgund between 1813 and 1814, was a British diplomat and Whig politician. Background and education Minto was the eldest son of the Gilbe ...

, who did not wish to see the village from his mansion, the 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, which is high. Ruberslaw_Parish_Kirk

Minto Church, designed in 1831 by

William Henry Playfair William Henry Playfair Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, FRSE (15 July 1790 – 19 March 1857) was a prominent Scottish architect in the 19th century who designed the Eastern, or Third, New Town, Edinburgh, New Town and many of Edinb ...

, 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 remains largely unchanged. Minto War Memorial is a

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

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

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. The Minto House was the Earl of Minto's mansion. Garden terraces were added by

Robert Lorimer Sir Robert Stodart Lorimer, Order of the British Empire, KBE (4 November 1864 – 13 September 1929) was a prolific Scotland, Scottish architect and furniture designer noted for his sensitive restorations of historic houses and castles, f ...

in 1904. In 1992, Minto House was listed as Category A, but was promptly demolished within weeks of the listing after it was found that the structure, which had been left abandoned since 1966, had since become too dangerous to remain standing.

References

External links

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

Geography

Demographics

History

See also

References

External links