Denholm

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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Denholm, a village in Cavers parish, Roxburghshire, on a low plateau above the right bank of the Teviot, 2 miles E of Hassendean station, and 5 NE of Hawick. With a deep wooded dell to the W, called DenholmDean, it forms a square round a neatly-fenced public green, and chiefly consists of well-built houses with gardens attached, having been greatly improved by the late James Douglas, Esq. of Cavers. Yet, modern as it looks, the place is old, since we read of its burning by Hertford in 1545. The low, thatched, whitewashed cottage still stands on the N side of the village, in which was born the scholar-poet John Leyden (1775-1811), and in the middle of the village green an obelisk was erected to his memory in 1861. Inhabited mainly by stocking weavers, quarrymen, and farm labourers, Denholm has a post office under Hawick, with money order, savings' bank, insurance, and telegraph departments, 3 inns, a stone bridge over the Teviot (1864), a Free church (1844; 364 sittings), a public school, an excellent subscription library, a horticultural society (1849), and public waterworks, which, formed in 1874 at a cost of more than £700, draw their supply from a spring nearly 2 miles Distant, and afford 50 gallons per day for each inhabitant. Pop. (1861) 766, (1871) 659, (1881) 645. See Cavers.

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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