Parish of Kirkhope

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: Yarrow 1834-45: Yarrow

Kirkhope, a parish of NE Selkirkshire, containing Ettrick-Bridge village, on the left bank of Ettrick Water, 7 miles WSW of Selkirk, under which it has a post office. 1t is bounded NE by Selkirk, E by Ashkirk in Roxburghshire, SE by Selkirk (detached) and Roberton, SW and W by Ettrick, and NW by Yarrow. Its utmost length, from NE to SW, is 8¾ miles; its utmost breadth, from NW to SE, is 5½ miles; and its area is 22,972½ acres, of which 248½ are water. Ettrick Water has here a north-easterly course of 11 miles, partly along the boundaries with Ettrick and Selkirk, but mainly across the interior; and during this course it is joined by seventeen little tributary burns. Six lakes, however, send off their effluence to Ale WaterClearburn Loch (2¼ x 1 furl.), Crooked Loch (2 x 1 furl.), and Hellmuir Loch (3½ x 2¼ furl.), on the southern and south.eastern boundary; and Shaws Upper Loch (1²/₃ x 1¼ furl.), Shaws Under Loch (3¹/₃ x 1½ furl.), and Akermoor Loch (2¾ x 1 furl.), near the south-eastern boundary. The surface declines along Ettrick Water to 480 feet above sea-level; and chief elevations to the right or SE of the river are Hutlerburn (1178 feet), Howford Hill (1012), Cavers Hill (1209), Shaws Hill (1292), Mossbrae Height (1528), and Wedder Lairs (1539); to the left or NW, *Fauldshope Hill (1532), *Crook Hill (1580), Long Knowe (1175), *Sundhope Height (1684), and *Black Knowe Head (1808), where asterisks mark those summits that culminate on the confines of the parish. Along the banks of Ettrick Water and in the mouth of some of the little glens are patches of low arable land; but the rest of the parish consists almost wholly of hill or table-land, the eastern district being chiefly a bleak, dark, heathy plateau, which, lying 1000 feet above sea-level, is much of it occupied by swamp or morass, and presents scarce one feature to relieve the eye except the above-named lakes. The rocks are Silurian; and the soils of the hill pastures resemble those of Ettrick and of Yarrow. Sheep-farming is the principal occupation. In the W of the parish are traces of the Catrail or Picts' Work Ditch, running near the right bank of Ettrick Water. The Duke of Buccleuch is the largest proprietor, 3 others holding an annual value of more, and 2 of less, than £500. Conjoined with St Mary's and Deuchar in 1640 to form the parish of Yarrow, and disjoined from Yarrow in 1851 at the instance of the Duke of Buccleuch, Kirkhope is in the presbytery of Selkirk and synod of Merse and Teviotdale; the living is worth £310. The church, at Ettrick-Bridge, was built in 1841, and contains 300 sittings. Kirkhope public and the Duke of Buccleuch's school, with respective accommodation for 107 and 30 children, had (1881) an average attendance of 74 and 22, and grants of £82, 15s. and £34, 3s. Valuation (1864) £6148, (1881) £9106. Pop. (1861) 555, (1871) 565, (1881) 547.—Ord. Sur., shs. 17, 16, 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