Berwickshire

Berwickshire is a traditional county in the south of Scotland. It takes its name from the medieval county town, Berwick upon Tweed, although after changing hands a number of times the town was finally claimed by the English several centuries ago. It is now one of the four counties which are now administered together under Scottish Borders Council.

Geography & Economy

the A6105 passing through Duns

Much of the county is relatively low lying, fertile farmland along the Tweed and its tributaries. The north west of the county is hillier, with upland moors, but fewer forestry plantations than the other Border counties. Following the loss of Berwick, Greenlaw and then Duns became the county towns, but neither prospered and grew as might be expected and all of the county's towns and villages are small. Eyemouth on the coast is perhaps the largest (although it is close in size with Duns), and despite a lengthy, if rugged, coastline, Eyemouth and St Abbs are the only harbour towns on the coast.

The county still has a small, scattered population with a largely rural economy. Tourism along the coast and Tweed Valley plays a part, and there is limited commuting outwith the county to the larger towns across its borders, although it is not really in the commuter belt for either Edinburgh or Newcastle.

Roads

Union Bridge over the Tweed

There is a good network of A and B roads criss-crossing the county between the A68 and A1, except in the north west where the landscape has limited settlement. The A6105 is the main east-west route, supplemented by a number of B roads between it and the Tweed. None of the routes except the trunk roads are particularly high quality, but with low traffic volumes and a sparsely populated landscape, the roads are empty enough to be enjoyed. In the south of the county there are some fine bridges across the Tweed, and also along the A1 in the east.

Most non-trunk roads within the traditional county are maintained by Scottish Borders Council. The Trunk Roads, which are the A1 and A68 are managed by Transport Scotland. Despite the A1 being an important east coast route into Edinburgh, less than half of the route through the county is dualled. The long single carriageway sections can prove slow, with heavy traffic and lots of lorries, but any plans to improve the route are in the long-term future.

Route	From	To	Length
A1	London	Edinburgh	396 miles	View
A7	Edinburgh	Carlisle	94.3 miles	View
A68	Dalkeith	Darlington	128 miles	View
A697	Morpeth	Oxton	67.7 miles	View
A698	Hawick	Tweedmouth	43.8 miles	View
A1107	Cockburnspath (S)	Ayton (E)	13.2 miles	View
A6089	Whiteburn	Kelso	13.6 miles	View
A6105	Earlston	Berwick-upon-Tweed	33.0 miles	View
A6112	Coldstream	Grantshouse	21.1 miles	View
B1343	Burnmouth	Eyemouth	2.5 miles	View
B1344	Reston	St Abbs	4.1 miles	View
B6355	Tranent	Eyemouth	42.0 miles	View
B6356	Earlston	Clintmains	6.5 miles	View
B6356	Kelso	Berwick-upon-Tweed	22.5 miles	View
B6362	Stow	High Cross	7.2 miles	View
B6363	Earlston	Greenlaw	10.2 miles	View
B6364	Kelso	Greenlaw	7.2 miles	View
B6365	Burnhouses	Duns (N)	2.1 miles	View
B6366	Duns (N)	Grantshouse	7.7 miles	View
B6366	Langton Gate	Castle Street	0.2 miles	View
B6368	Haddington	Crookston	17.3 miles	View
B6395	Victoria Road	Coldingham Road	0.7 miles	View
B6397	Earlston	Kelso	8.9 miles	View
B6404	St Boswells	Mainberry	6.0 miles	View
B6437	Lennel	Houndwood	15.3 miles	View
B6438	Preston	St Abbs	10.5 miles	View
B6456	Whiteburn (E)	Choicelee	9.9 miles	View
B6460	Greenlaw	Paxton	14.2 miles	View
B6461	Kelso	New Water Haugh	21.8 miles	View
B6470	Swinton	Norham(E)	5.2 miles	View
B6473	High Cross	Oxton	5.0 miles	View
T1	London	Scrabster		View
T86	Newcastle	Edinburgh		View

Key

Motorway

Primary Route

Non Primary Route

Former Motorway

Defunct Route

E Road

Future Motorway

Future Primary

Future Non Primary

Historical Route

Tourist Route

Roman Road

Unbuilt Motorway

Unbuilt Primary

Unbuilt Non Primary

National Cycle Network

Cycle Route

Eurovelo Cycle Route

Junctions

Main Article: Junctions in Berwickshire

Bridges, Tunnels, and other Crossings

Main Article: Crossings in Berwickshire