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Channelkirk, Berwickshire

Historical Description

CHANNELKIRK, a parish, in the county of BERWICK, 6 miles (N. N. W.) from Lander, and on the road between Edinburgh and Kelso; containing 780 inhabitants. The name is said to have been originally Childerkirk, signifying "the children's kirk", some supposing the place to have been so called from the dedication of its church to the Innocents. It has also been written Childin-kirk, meaning, according to others, "the church at the fort", on account of the church and village standing within the area of a Roman camp. The numerous Pictish encampments, traces of which yet remain in the parish, shew it to have been in ancient times the scene of military commotion, of the particulars of which no information is recorded. The monks of Melrose Abbey were accustomed to pass along a road running through this district, in their way to and from Edinburgh, and rested and refreshed themselves at a house a few miles west from the church, called the "Resh Law" or "Restlaw Haw", which was about half way between Melrose and Edinburgh, and the ruins of which still remain.

The PARISH is of circular figure, measuring about six miles in diameter, and containing upwards of 17,000 acres. Its surface is marked by hills and valleys, having but a small portion of level ground. Towards the north and west, the lofty hills, which all form part of the Lammermoor range, separate the counties of East and Mid Lothian from the shire of Berwick, and are for the most part bleak, and covered with heath: the highest is Soutra, which attains an elevation of 1000 feet above the sea. The vale of the Leader commences here, stretching out to the east, and having the Lammermoor hills for its northern boundary; on the south is a moory ridge which separates it from the valley of Gala. There are numerous springs of good water, descending from the hills: and the Leader, after receiving several mountain streamlets in the principal valley through which it glides, flows onwards for about seventeen miles, and falls into the Tweed below Melrose.

The soil, near the banks of the river, is a light dry earth, resting upon a deep subsoil of sandy gravel: a deep layer of peat is found on the hills wherever the surface is level to any extent, and frequently there are, under this, considerable quantities of fine sand and gravel. About one-half of the land is under a regular rotation of crops; the other half is permanent hill pasture. There is no natural wood; but about 100 acres are occupied by plantations, consisting principally of larch and Scotch fir, with some elm and ash, which are for the most part in a thriving condition. A very small quantity only of wheat is produced, the soil and climate being uncongenial to its growth; the system of husbandry is the five years' rotation, which is usually applied to light soils suited to the growth of turnips. On the hills the sheep are generally of the old Scotch blackfaced breed; but in the lower grounds, the Cheviots, and sometimes the Leicesters, are preferred. The annual value of the parish is £6053. The rocks on the hills are all of the trap formation, and in the bottom of the river Leader are beds of red sandstone, which is used for building; some whinstone quarries in the parish supply materials of the best quality, and in great abundance, for building and road-making. Ecclesiastically the parish is within the bounds of the presbytery of Lander, synod of Merse and Teviotdale, patron, Sir Hugh Campbell, Bart. The minister's stipend is £190, with a manse, and a glebe valued at £15 per annum. The church is situated in the hamlet of Channelkirk, nearly in the middle of the parish, but somewhat inconveniently, being too distant for the bulk of the population, and seated on a hill about 800 feet above the level of the sea. It was built in 1817, in the Elizabethan style, and accommodates 300 persons. There is a parochial school, the master of which has a salary of £30, about £40 fees, and a house and garden. There is also a good parochial library, established about fifty or sixty years since.

Transcribed from A Topographical Dictionary of Scotland, 1851 by Samuel Lewis

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