Parish of Bunkle and Preston

A historical perspective, drawn from the Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland: A Survey of Scottish Topography, Statistical, Biographical and Historical, edited by Francis H. Groome and originally published in parts by Thomas C. Jack, Grange Publishing Works, Edinburgh between 1882 and 1885.

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1791-99: Bunkle and Preston
1834-45: Bunkle and Preston

Bunkle and Preston, a parish of NE central Berwickshire, formed early in last century by the union of two separate parishes. Extending northward to within 1¾ mile of Grant's House station on the main North British, it is traversed in the extreme E by 2 furlongs of the Dunse branch, whose station of Chirnside lies just outside the south-eastern angle; and Bunkle church, standing towards the middle of the parish, is 4½ miles WNW of that station, 3 NW of the post-village of Edrom, and 5 NNE of the town of Dunse. It is bounded NE by Coldingham, E by Chirnside, S by Edrom and Dunse, W too by Dunse, and NW by detached portions of Longformacus and Abbey St Bathans. With a rudely triangular outline, it has an extreme length from N to S of 4¼, and a width from E to W of 5¼ miles; its area is 9256½ acres, of which 67½ are water. The Whitadder, a beautiful trout stream, roughly traces all the boundary with Dunse and Edrom, and near Chirnside station is joined by Billymire Burn, which, marking the eastern border, itself receives from the interior the south-eastward flowing Fosterland, Draden, Lintlaw, and lesser burns. The drainage of the north-western corner of the parish is carried northward to Eye Water, being parted from the basin of the Whitadder by Bunkle Edge. Starting from Stoneshiel Hill (723 feet) on the left bank of the Whitadder in the extreme W, this southern range of the Lammermuirs strikes across Bunkle in a north-easterly direction, cutting it into two unequal portions (by much the larger that to the SE), and culminating 7 furlongs NW of the church at 879 feet. The surface falls away on either side-S and south-eastward to Preston churchyard (343 feet), Preston (326), Marden (298), Lintlaw (335) Blanerne (200), and Billy Mains (225); north-westward to points upon Drake Mire 530,708, and 660 feet above the level of the sea. The rocks include some trap, but are mainly Silurian in the N, Devonian in the S; and in the W, on Hoardweel farm, a copper mine has twice been worked. The soil of the uplands, naturally poor, has been greatly improved with lime and marl; that of the southern undulating plain is fertile and well cultivated, and on his farm here of Slighshouses, Dr James Hutton introduced the Norfolk system of drillhusbandry to Scotland (1754-68). At least three-fourths of the whole area are arable, and some 500 acres are under wood. Antiquities are 8 round camps on Bunkle Edge, and remains of Bunkle Castle near the church, of Blanerne Castle in the SE, and of Billy Castle in the NW. The last, belonging to the Earls of Angus, stood in the middle of a great morass, now drained and tilled, and was demolished in Hertford's raid of 1544. Sir John Stewart, son of Alexander Lord High Steward of Scotland, by marriage with the heiress of Sir Alexander de Bonkil (1288) obtained the barony of Bunkle; and through his descendants, the Stewart Earls of Angus (1329-77) and the Douglas Earls of Angus (13891633), it ultimately came to the Hon. Lucy Montagu (1805-77), whose husband, the Earl of Home, is owner now of more than half the parish. Two other proprietors hold each an annual value of £500 and upwards, 4 of between £100 and £500, and 2 of from £20 to £100. The principal estates with mansions, Cruicksfield, Easter Cruicksfield, and Blanerne, are all three situated in the S of the parish; and the last, on the Whitadder, has been held by the Lumsdaines since 1320. John Brown, M. D. (1735-88), founder of the Brunonian system of medicine, was a native of Bunkle. It is in the presbytery of Dunse and synod of Merse and Teviotdale; the minister's income is £400. The church, containing 400 sittings, was rebuilt in 1820, all but a semicircular Norman apse, described in Muir's Church Architecture (1861) as ` evidently a very early building, which may date from even before the beginning of the 12th century. The interior roof is a plain half-concave similar to the vaulting in the apse of the chapel in Edinburgh Castle. The arch that communicated with the chancel is semicircular, and of one deep square-edged order, from plain imposts bevelled on the lower edge.' Two schools, at Lintlaw and Preston, with respective accommodation for 100 and 49 children, had (1879) an average attendance of 48 and 43, and grants of £40,3s. and £33,3s. Valuation (1881) £12,131,9s. Pop. (1801) 674, (1821) 787, (1871) 764, (1881) 726.—Ord. Sur., sh. 34,1864.

An accompanying 19th C. Ordnance Survey map is available, or use the map tab to the right of this page.

Note: This text has been made available using a process of scanning and optical character recognition. Despite manual checking, some typographical errors may remain. Please remember this description dates from the 1880s; names may have changed, administrative divisions will certainly be different and there are known to be occasional errors of fact in the original text, which we have not corrected because we wish to maintain its integrity. This information is provided subject to our standard disclaimer

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