Moorfoot Hills

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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Moorfoot, a double range of moorish hills, chiefly on the eastern part of the southern border of Edinburghshire, and partly on the mutual border of Edinburgh and Peebles shires. Commencing on the W side of the head of the vale of Gala Water, and hindered only by that vale from being continuous with the Lammermuirs, it extends south-westward in two mutually divergent lines to the E flank of the vale of Eddleston. With a roughly triangular outline, about 10 miles in length and 6 in mean breadth, it comprises masses and summits, generally rounded, sometimes isolated, and nowhere linked into continuous ridge; culminates in Blackhope Scar (2136 feet); consists of Lower Silurian rocks; and has mostly a bleak and pastoral character.—Ord. Sur., shs. 32, 24, 1857-64.

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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