Border Castles

Point of Interest

Jedburg Castle, A church had been at Jedburgh since the 9th century, founded by Bishop Ecgred of Lindisfarne, and king David I of Scotland made it a priory between 1118 and 1138, housing Augustinian monks from Beauvais in France. The abbey itself was founded in 1147. Border wars with England in the 16th century left the abbey a magnificent ruin, still worth a visit today. The deeply religious Scottish king Malcolm IV died at Jedburgh in 1165, aged 24. His death was thought to be brought on by excessive fasting. David I had also erected a castle at Jedburgh, and in 1174, it was one of five fortresses ceded to England. It was an occasional royal residence for the Scots but captured by the English so often that it was eventually demolished in 1409, when it was the last English stronghold in Scotland.