Roxburghshire

Roxburghshire is a traditional county in the south of Scotland. It is the largest of the four counties which were brought together under Scottish Borders Council. The county takes its name from the historic town of Roxburgh near Kelso, whose importance dwindled until only a small village was left. There are, however, a number of other sizeable towns in the county.

Geography & Economy

The A6091 Melrose Bypass

Much of the county lies in the fertile farmland to the south of the River Tweed, which runs through Kelso and Melrose in the north of the county. The far south of the county, along the English and Dumfriesshire borders is upland moors and forestry plantations - similar terrain to Kielder Forest and the Northumberland National Park which lie just across the border. Three of the four famous Borders Abbeys lie in the county, the forth just across the River Tweed at Dryburgh. They help bring tourism to the area, and along with the salmon fishing in the Tweed sustain a number of good hotels and other destinations.

The four towns of Kelso, Jedburgh, Hawick and Melrose, as well as Galashiels, which lies astride the Selkirkshire border are all relatively busy places, the old mills closed but new businesses replacing them. The arrival of the Borders Railway at Galashiels has brought the north of the county closer in to the commuter belt for Edinburgh

Roads

Carter Bar in 1960

The comparatively flat lanscape of the county enables a good network of roads to criss cross between the towns and villages except in the south, where only the A7, a couple of B roads and a handful of unclassified routes serve the sparsely populated area. The two main north-south routes across the county are the A68 and A7, which are linked at Melrose by the A6091 bypass. This is one of the few bypasses in the county. The A68 is perhaps best known as an alternative to the A1 between the North East of England and Edinburgh, crossing the border at Carter Bar.

The Tweed has a number of interesting bridges across it, as do some of the tributaries. All non-trunk roads within the traditional county are maintained by Scottish Borders Council. The Trunk roads, which include the A7, A68 and A6091 are managed by Transport Scotland.

Route	From	To	Length
A7	Edinburgh	Carlisle	94.3 miles	View
A68	Dalkeith	Darlington	128 miles	View
A7a	Hawick	Edinburgh		View
A698	Hawick	Tweedmouth	43.8 miles	View
A699	Selkirk	Kelso	18 miles	View
A6088	Carter Bar	Hawick	13.6 miles	View
A6089	Whiteburn	Kelso	13.6 miles	View
A6090	A68	A698	0.16 miles	View
A6091	Galashiels	Newton St Boswells (N)	4.9 miles	View
B711	Hawick	Tushielaw Inn	14.1 miles	View
B6340	Newtown St Boswells bypass (N)	Newtown St Boswells village centre	0.46 miles	View
B6350	Maxwellheugh	Cornhill on Tweed	9.5 miles	View
B6352	Kelso	Flodden	17.3 miles	View
B6356	Kelso	Berwick-upon-Tweed	22.5 miles	View
B6357	Annan	Lintalee	49.5 miles	View
B6358	Denholm	Jedburgh	4.2 miles	View
B6359		Melrose	14.7 miles	View
B6360	Lindean	Leaderfoot	7.0 miles	View
B6361	Melrose	Newstead	1.6 miles	View
B6364	Kelso	Greenlaw	7.2 miles	View
B6374	Galashiels	Melrose	4.5 miles	View
B6394	Darnick	Melrose	0.84 miles	View
B6396	Kelso (SE)	Mindrum	7.3 miles	View
B6397	Earlston	Kelso	8.9 miles	View
B6398	Bowden	Newtown St Boswells	2.6 miles	View
B6399	Hawick	Sandholm	19.0 miles	View
B6400	Ashkirk(N)	near Crailing	15.4 miles	View
B6401	Kalemouth	Town Yetholm	8.6 miles	View
B6404	St Boswells	Mainberry	6.0 miles	View
B6405	Denholm	Hassendean	2.0 miles	View
B6436	Kelso	Morebattle	5.8 miles	View
B6453	Clarilawmoor	Lilliesleaf	6.8 miles	View
B6461	Kelso	New Water Haugh	21.8 miles	View
C73	Coldstream Road	Edenside Road	0.2 miles	View
T26	Carlisle	Edinburgh		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 Roxburghshire

Bridges, Tunnels, and other Crossings

Main Article: Crossings in Roxburghshire