Our easy-to-use website contains details and locations of places to visit around this area. Please select from:

	Places to Stay: Bed and Breakfast Hotels and Guest Houses Pubs with Accommodation Self Catering
	Places to Eat and Drink: Cafes, Coffee & Tea Shops Pubs serving Food Restaurants and Bistros
	Places of Interest: Places to Visit
	Gardens Centres: Garden Centres/Nurseries
	Specialist Shops: Antiques & Restoration Arts and Crafts Fashions Gifts Home and Garden Jewellery Food and Drink Shops

Duns

Berwickshire is an unusual county, in that the town from which it takes its name has been part of England since 1482. Therefore Greenlaw, and then in 1853 Duns, was chosen as the county town. It is a quiet, restful place with a wide and gracious market square.

On its outskirts is the 713 feet high Duns Law from whose summit there are magnificent views of the surrounding countryside. The Cheviot Hills to the south and the Lammermuir Hills to the north can be seen on a clear day, as can the North Sea, 12 miles away. In 1639 a Covenanting army of 12,000 men, which opposed the imposition of bishops on the Scottish church by Charles I, set up camp here under General Leslie, and a Covenanter’s Stone commemorates this event. There are also the remains of an Iron Age fort, plus some defensive works built by the Covenanting army.

General Leslie was quartered in Duns Castle, built round the core of a 14th century pele tower owned by the Earl of Moray, who had been given the surrounding lands by Robert the Bruce. In 1696 it was bought by the Hay family, who enlarged it between 1818 and 1822, creating the Gothic Revival building we see today. The family has lived here ever since. Though not open to the public, it is a venue for weddings and corporate hospitality.

On the western edge of Duns Law is a cairn, which marks the original site of the town, now called The Bruntons, or “burnt towns”. It was here that John Duns Scotus, known as “Doctor Subtilis”, or the “subtle doctor”, was supposed to have been born in about 1266 (though some people put his place of birth as Duns in Ireland). He was a Franciscan monk who became one of the greatest theologians and philosophers of his time. His followers were known as Scotists, and his influence is still felt within the Catholic Church to this day. However, his opponents had another, less flattering, name for them - “Dunses” - from which we get the word “dunce”. He died at Cologne on November 8th 1308, and on his tomb are the words “Scotland bore me, England adopted me, Cologne holds”. In 1991 Pope John Paul II pronounced him “Blessed”, the first step on the ladder to sainthood (see also North Uist). In Duns Public Park there is a bronze statue of him and in the grounds of Duns Castle the modern Franciscan Order erected a cairn to his memory in 1966.

Also in the grounds of Duns Castle is the quaintly named Hen Poo, a lake which is the centrepiece of the Duns Castle Nature Reserve, owned and run by the Scottish Wildlife Trust. There is a bird hide on the northern shore, and from here you can see mallard ducks, tufted ducks, swans, and coots. Close by, the Mill Dam is also home to many bird species.

In the town itself there is a memorial to a famous man who lived in more recent times. Jim Clark, the racing driver, was born in Fife in 1936, but from the age of six lived on Eddington Mains, a farm near Duns. He won 25 of his 72 Grand Prix races, and his win at the 1965 Indianapolis Grand Prix astonished the Americans, who considered that no one but an American could cross the finishing line first. He was world champion in 1963 and 1965. Jim Clark was killed at Hockenheim in Germany in 1968 aged 32, when a rear tyre burst during a Formula 2 race. He is buried in Chirnside Parish Church cemetery, about five miles east of Duns. In Duns itself, the Jim Clark Memorial Trophy Room in Newtown Street is dedicated to his memory and attracts motor racing enthusiasts from all over the world who make the pilgrimage to view the trophies (including the two world championship trophies he won) and other mementoes on display.

On the west side of Market Square is the 19th century Tolbooth House. The local council have recently laid out a town trail, guiding visitors to places of interest. A leaflet is available, linked to plaques at many places within the town.

Manderston House lies a mile-and-a-half east of the town in 56 acres of formal gardens and is open to the public. It was built between 1903 and 1905, and was the last great stately home built in Scotland. Designed by architect John Kinross, its opulence is quite astonishing incorporating features such as a silver staircase that is said to be the only one in the world. Manderston was built for Sir James Miller and his wife, the Hon. Eveline Curzon, a member of one of the oldest families in the country. Nowadays Manderston is the home of the Palmer family, of the famous Huntly and Palmer biscuit empire, which explains why its contents include a large collection of biscuit tins.