Innerleithen
Scottish Borders

Innerleithen War Memorial
©2011 Gazetteer for Scotland

Innerleithen is a large village located 7 miles (11 km) east of Peebles and 11 miles (18 km) west of Galashiels, in the old county of Peeblesshire at the confluence of the River Tweed and Leithen Water. Innerleithen was an important woollen, spinning and knitwear centre and is most famous for its medicinal spring, made famous in Sir Walter Scott's novel, St. Ronan's Well (1823), and refurbished in 1826 to cope with visitors. Malcolm IV is thought to have given the church to the monks of Kelso in 1159 and to have included the right to sanctuary, allegedly in honour of a son who drowned in the river.

Robert Smail's Printing Works in Innerleithen (founded 1837) are also on display to the public. Innerleithen holds the annual Border Games which began in 1827 and include the 'Cleikum Ceremony' in which St Ronan drives out the devil.

Nearby stands Traquair House (11th Century), Scotland's oldest inhabited house, while the Scottish Museum of Wool Textiles is located at nearby Walkerburn.

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