Coldstream

History

Coldstream is the location where Edward I of England invaded Scotland in 1296. In February 1316 during the Wars of Scottish Independence, Sir James Douglas defeated a numerically superior force of Gascon soldiery led by Edmond de Caillou at the Skaithmuir to the north of the town. In 1650 General George Monck founded the Coldstream Guards regiment (one of the Foot Guards regiments of the British Army). It is one of two regiments of the Household Division that can trace its lineage to the New Model Army. Monck led the regiment to London, helping to enable the Restoration of King Charles II. In the 18th and 19th centuries, Coldstream was a popular centre for runaway marriages, much like Gretna Green, as it lay on a major road (now the A697). A monument to Charles Marjoribanks (1794–1833), MP for Berwickshire, whose ancestral home was in nearby Lees, stands at the east end of the town, near the Coldstream Bridge. Alec Douglas-Home (1903–95), who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from October 1963 to October 1964, is buried in the churchyard of the ruined Lennel parish church, just outside the village. Notable buildings in the town include the marriage house, where weddings were conducted, The Hirsel, which is the family seat of the Earls of Home, and Coldstream Town Hall, which is used as a library and registration office. Each year, during the first week of August, Coldstream hosts a traditional "Civic Week" where it includes historical aspects of the town's history such as the Torchlight procession and horse-rides to the Battle of Flodden battlefield. The Priory of St Mary was founded before 1166 by Gospatric III, Earl of Lothian. Never wealthy or powerful, the monastery nevertheless occurs frequently in the history of the border lands, being targeted…