Overview of Liddesdale

Running from northeast to southwest, the broad valley of the Liddel Water lies along the English border at the south of the Scottish Borders and Dumfries and Galloway Council Areas. Liddesdale has been one of the main gateways into Scotland for English armies for more than a thousand years, part of a route called the Middle Marches, and was fought over continuously during the Wars of Independence. Hermitage Castle was one of its principal defences and its main settlements are Newcastleton and Canonbie. The villages of Castleton, Cauldside, Dinlabyre and Saughtree also lie within this valley.