10 Wonders of The Borders
The 7 Wonders of the ancient world have lived rent free in my head since I got an Usbourne book about them 35 years ago. I can still picture the exotic and intriguing drawing of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon! Monuments to ambition, mystery and marvel which were collected together to catalogue the awe inspiring creations of the Classical world. Inspired by this grand ideal, but with necessary humility and good humour, I thought “what would my 7 Wonders of The Scottish Borders be”? A great content idea, hooray! However this proved to be far trickier than it had any right to be, as I set myself rules and guidelines for my entirely subjective, made up list. Seriously, you realise you are overthinking things a bit when you wonder if you’ll offend the other bridges. So, to make things easier on myself my 7 became 10. If you have any complaints about that change, then I do, respectfully, suggest you need to get out more.
There are no colossal temples or lost gardens here - though there are a couple of pyramids…. This isn’t a ranking or tour, more my way of celebrating the landscape and ingenuity of The Borders, a way of saying this is what I treasure in The Borders, this is what makes it an extraordinary place and ending with some of my hopes for the future. I hope these inspire you to think about what your own wonders are, and you enjoy this fun, sideways look at the region…
The River Tweed is the lifeblood of the Borders, defining the region geographically and culturally. Born in the boggy moorlands of the Southern Uplands, it travels east for 97 miles through a landscape scoured by ancient ice sheets and glacial melt. Along its catchment, you’ll find evidence of a once mighty, now small and highly skilled industry as well as our cultural identity. From salmon leaping upstream to the looms of Hawick weaving Tweed cloth, a fabric that owes its name to the river itself in a bit of brilliant, inadvertent marketing. Horses splash by and across it in the common ridings of the 21st century, reliving the Reivers of old, and it has marked part of the English border since the Battle of Carham in 1018.
The Tweed is geology, ecology, economy and identity. It doesn’t just define the Borders - it is the Borders!
In those final few miles that flow through Berwick-upon-Tweed (English for 500+ years, after generations of strife), is where I think its real power is on show. Nations will shift and lines on maps are redrawn, but the river flows on, unbothered by politics, faithful only to it's nature. What a way to live eh?
The Borders Abbeys are a marvel. Four grand medieval foundations clustered in a landscape that’s barely a day’s walk across. Together, they draw around 120,000 visitors a year, a testament to their enduring pull. Each has its own story, its own atmosphere. So why choose Jedburgh Abbey?
Because when you stand inside Jedburgh’s great church, you feel something, even today. The sheer verticality of the space, the elegant blend of chunky Romanesque and Gothic grace and that rose window combine to create a moment of awe. It really is something special.
Jedburgh’s layered history adds depth to the experience. Melrose, Dryburgh and Kelso also have this in spades - they are all magnificent. But Jedburgh has a hard to define majesty that’s hard to beat. It’s a must-visit for anyone exploring the soul of the Borders.
Siccar Point is a world-renowned geological site where James Hutton confirmed his revolutionary theory of deep time. The dramatic unconformity exposed here (where vertical layers of ancient rock meet horizontal layers above) was the smoking gun that shattered the prevailing belief that Earth was just 6,000 years old. Hutton saw in these rocks the evidence of vast, cyclical processes stretching back hundreds of millions of years - ‘the abyss of time’.
You don’t need to be a geologist to feel the significance of this place, or to enjoy the optional, quite sketchy scramble down to the point itself. Perched on the Berwickshire Coast, Siccar Point is both a scientific landmark and a natural wonder, well deserving its place on any list celebrating the region’s treasures.
Next year marks James Hutton’s tercentenary, and plans are underway to celebrate his legacy with improved access, new interpretation panels and spring events that will bring his story to life. ‘The Deep Time Trail’, refreshed signage and digital storytelling will help visitors connect with the awe-inspiring scale of geological time, and with the Borders’ role in shaping how we understand our planet.
Something unexpected? Absolutely. The Gala Fairydean Rovers stand isn’t more Medieval Borders tradition, it shouts 20th century boldness. Designed by Peter Womersley and unveiled in 1964, its four concrete piers and cantilevered roof seem to defy gravity, a geometric puzzle that floats above the pitch. Yes, this is left field and it won’t feature in the usual tourist literature. But that’s exactly why it matters! If the Borders were only stone ruins and folklore, it could risk becoming a quaint museum.
Heritage isn’t just what we inherit, it’s what we dare to design and build, and Womersely dared big in The Borders.
The stand enriches the landscape and I’m sure offers inspiration to the next generation of designers at the nearby University, showing that modernism has a place in the Borders too.
PS. If you read the opening blurb and wondered where the pyramids were, they are here! Inverted above the turnstiles, a cheeky flourish by the great Womersley.
Internationally important and quietly magnificent, the Union Chain Bridge is the oldest suspension bridge in the world still carrying traffic - a feat of engineering and elegance that’s spanned the Tweed since 1820. Thoroughly restored in 2022, and soon to be carrying the River Tweed Trail, it gleams with fresh purpose while retaining its original charm.
For me, it’s the most thrilling and graceful way to cross between Scotland and England - a gentle bounce underfoot, the sweep of river below and the sense of stepping through history. The honey farm on the English side is brilliant and combined they make for a super destination for a day out.
Whether you’re walking, cycling or driving across, it’s a bit of a moment on any journey in The Borders.
The Three Brethren cairns. Built over 500 years ago to mark the meeting point of three great estates: Yair, Philiphaugh and Selkirk Burgh. Rising 3 metres tall, they’re boundary markers, waypoints and symbols of neighbourly respect. But once a year on the second Friday after the second Monday in June, they take on greater significance. During Selkirk’s Common Riding, riders led by the Royal Burgh Standard Bearer checking the boundaries of Selkirk crest the hill in a moment that’s arguably the most iconic of the entire common riding tradition (don't shoot me if you disagree - just my opinion ;)). A nearby display even records the names of each year’s Standard Bearer, etched into local legend.
They also sit on the Southern Upland Way, Scotland’s coast to coast footpath. Walkers and riders alike pass by, drawn by the panoramic views and the deep sense of place here in the hills high above Selkirk.
How can you not include The Eildons?? Rising above Melrose like a triple crowned sentinel (though there are four peaks!), Eildon Hill is the Borders seemingly omnipresent companion. It's seen from miles around, felt in local folklore and has been climbed by generations. It’s a walker’s paradise, with trails that wind through heather, shale and grass giving many options for a superb half day hike.
The Eildons are also a place of mystery and legend. Bronze Age kindred built a vast hill fort on Eildon Hill North, before invading Romans raised a signal station. Storytellers (and the odd Tour Guide...) whisper of Thomas the Rhymer, spirited away by the Queen of Elfland beneath its hollow slopes. I have also heard that King Arthur sleeps under here and that Michael Scot the Wizard cleaved the hills in three with his magical arts. You pay your money, you take your choice but these tales have been passed down for generations and continue to endure.
Planted in the aftermath of World War I, Glentress Forest has been a source of timber for the nation for over a century, with the Lumberjills of World War 2 adding to the early story of this large conifer forest. But long before Scotland had ‘trail centres’ or mountain biking on the national agenda, Glentress was also quietly welcoming riders. They carved out a culture that would help shape the modern Borders and ripple far beyond.
Glentress helped birth a sporting movement in The Borders that’s gone on to produce world champions and international stars from our region - proof that talent grows here, if you give it space and opportunities.
With over 300,000 visitors a year, it’s the Borders’ biggest draw by far. A worthy wonder then - not just of imported nature, but of grit, community and homegrown talent.
I am on home ground with Traquair, just over the water from me and with a special place in my heart. Traquair is Scotland’s oldest inhabited house, lived in continuously since 1491 by the Stewart (later Stuart) family of Traquair. Before that it was a royal hunting lodge and has hosted a whopping 27 Scottish kings and queens, including (of course) Mary Queen of Scots and her son James VI. What raises it above the other large houses of The Borders and into my list of wonders is not its opulence, but in its defiant nature.
While other great houses and families of the Borders modernised and flourished, Traquair chose a different path. The Stuarts of Traquair remained loyal to the old faith, even as tides well and truly turned. Their Catholicism and Jacobite sympathies pushed them to the margins of power in Scotland, but gave the house a sort of rebellious spirit that you still feel today.
The Bear Gates, reputedly closed after Bonnie Prince Charlie’s visit in 1745, remain shut to this day, waiting for the day that will never come and a Stuart king returning to the throne of Britain. That vow, like the house itself, gives an uncanny, out of time feeling that nowhere else in The Borders replicates. So, not the grandest 'big hoose' in The Borders but the most human and haunting - that's why it's in my wonders.
My final wonder is not a great house or battle ravaged tower, but a modern factory on the edge of Jedburgh, where innovation is growing quite literally from the ground up. IndiNature produces carbon-neutral hemp insulation, blending climate action with rural industrial resurgence and smart business sense. Their materials are made from crops grown nearby, their factory jobs are based in the Borders and their mission is one of environmental repair rather than resource extraction. A surprising wonder for this list? Maybe, but I feel it’s one worth sharing - quiet Borders innovative brilliance, thinking ahead and putting roots down for a better future. A region where sustainability and jobs stand side by side feels like the best wonder of them all, and for me is like the Borders going full circle to when our industry started with locally sourced wool, water and manpower 900 years ago.
Image Credit: IndiNature
As someone who champions active travel and slower living, I see IndiNature’s work as part of a bigger shift towards walking a different path, quite literally. My hope is that the journey ahead looks greener, more local and more connected to the land we move through.
Thank you to IndiNature for sharing these great images - find out more at their website:
