River Tweed | |
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![]() The River Tweed at Abbotsford | |
![]() River Tweed watershed (Interactive map) | |
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Location | |
Country | United Kingdom |
Part | Scotland, England |
Physical characteristics | |
Source | Tweed's Well |
• location | Tweedsmuir, Scottish Borders, Scotland |
• coordinates | 55°26′42″N3°29′46″W / 55.445°N 3.496°W |
Mouth | North Sea |
• location | Berwick-upon-Tweed, Northumberland, England |
• coordinates | 55°45′55″N1°59′27″W / 55.7652°N 1.9909°W |
Length | 156 km (97 mi) |
The River Tweed, or Tweed Water, Scots : Watter o Tweid, Welsh : Tuedd), is a river 97 miles (156 km) [1] long that flows east across the Border region in Scotland and northern England. Tweed cloth derives its name from its association with the River Tweed. [2] The Tweed is one of the great salmon rivers of Britain and the only river in England where an Environment Agency rod licence is not required for angling. The river generates a large income for the local borders region, attracting anglers from all around the world. [3]
Tweed may represent an Old Brittonic name meaning "border". [4] A doubtful proposal is that the name is derived from a non-Celtic form of the Indo-European root *teuha- meaning "swell, grow powerful". [5]
The River Tweed flows primarily through the scenic Borders region of Scotland. Eastwards from the settlements on opposing banks of Birgham and Carham it forms the historic boundary between Scotland and England.
It rises in the Lowther Hills at Tweed's Well near to where the Clyde, draining northwest (10 kilometres (6.2 mi) from the Tweed's Well), and the Annan draining south (1.9 kilometres (1.2 mi) from the Tweed's Well) also rise. "Annan, Tweed and Clyde rise oot the ae hillside" is a saying from the Border region. [6] East of Kelso, it becomes a section of the eastern part of the border. Entering England, its lower reaches are in Northumberland, where it enters the North Sea at Berwick-upon-Tweed.
The river east of St Boswells runs through a drumlin field. It is the relic of a paleo-ice stream that flowed through the area during the last glaciation. Major towns through which the Tweed flows include Innerleithen, Peebles, Galashiels, Melrose, Kelso, Coldstream and Berwick-upon-Tweed, where it flows into the North Sea. Tweed tributaries include:
The upper parts of the catchment of the Tweed in Scotland form the area known as Tweeddale, part of which is protected as the Upper Tweeddale National Scenic Area, one of 40 such areas in Scotland which are defined so as to identify areas of exceptional scenery and to ensure its protection from inappropriate development. [7]
Tweed Fisheries Act 1771 | |
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Act of Parliament | |
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Long title | An Act for regulating and improving the Fisheries in the River Tweed, and the Rivers and Streams running into the same; and also within the Mouth or Entrance of the said River. |
Citation | 11 Geo. 3. c. 27 |
Dates | |
Royal assent | 12 April 1771 |
Other legislation | |
Repealed by | River Tweed Fisheries Act 1830 |
Status: Repealed |
Tweed Fisheries Act 1775 | |
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Act of Parliament | |
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Long title | An Act for amending and rendering more effectual an Act, passed in the Eleventh Year of His present Majesty's Reign, intituled, "An Act for regulating and improving the Fisheries in the River Tweed, and the Rivers and Streams running into the same, and also within the Mouth or Entrance of the said River." |
Citation | 15 Geo. 3. c. 46 |
Dates | |
Royal assent | 22 May 1775 |
Status: Repealed |
Tweed Fisheries Act 1797 | |
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Act of Parliament | |
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Long title | An act for altering, amending, and rendering more effectual two acts, made in the eleventh and fifteenth years of the reign of his present Majesty, for the regulation and improvement of the fisheries in the river Tweed, and the rivers and streams running into the same, and also within the mouth or entrance of the said river. |
Citation | 37 Geo. 3. c. 48 |
Dates | |
Royal assent | 3 May 1797 |
Other legislation | |
Repealed by | River Tweed Fisheries Act 1830 |
Status: Repealed |
River Tweed Fisheries Act 1807 | |
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Act of Parliament | |
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Citation | 47 Geo. 3 Sess. 1. c. xxix |
Dates | |
Royal assent | 25 April 1807 |
Other legislation | |
Repealed by | River Tweed Fisheries Act 1830 |
Status: Repealed | |
Text of statute as originally enacted |
River Tweed Fisheries Act 1830 | |
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Act of Parliament | |
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Citation | 11 Geo. 4 & 1 Will. 4. c. liv |
Dates | |
Royal assent | 29 May 1830 |
Other legislation | |
Repealed by | Tweed Fisheries Act 1857 |
Status: Repealed | |
Text of statute as originally enacted |
Act of Parliament | |
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Long title | An Act to alter, amend, and enlarge the Powers of an Act paged in the Eleventh Year of the Reign of His late Majesty, intituled "An Act for the more effectual Preservation and Increase of the Breed of Salmon, and for better regulating the Fisheries in the River Tweed, and the Rivers and Streams running into the same, and abo within the Mouth or Entrance of the said River." |
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Citation | 6 & 7 Will. 4. c. lxv |
Dates | |
Royal assent | 21 June 1836 |
Other legislation | |
Amends | River Tweed Fisheries Act 1830 |
Repealed by | Tweed Fisheries Act 1857 |
Status: Repealed | |
Text of statute as originally enacted |
Tweed Fisheries Act 1857 | |
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Act of Parliament | |
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Citation | 20 & 21 Vict. c. cxlviii |
Other legislation | |
Repealed by |
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Status: Repealed |
Tweed Fisheries Amendment Act 1859 | |
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Act of Parliament | |
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Long title | An Act to amend "The Tweed Fisheries Act 1857,"[b] and to alter the Annual Close Times in the River Tweed. |
Citation | 22 & 23 Vict. c. lxx |
Dates | |
Royal assent | 1 August 1859 |
Other legislation | |
Repealed by |
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Status: Repealed |
Tweed Fisheries Act 1969 | |
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Act of Parliament | |
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Long title | An Act to amend the Tweed Fisheries Act 1857] and the Tweed Fisheries Amendment Act 1859; to apply certain provisions of those Acts to freshwater fish; and for other purposes. |
Citation | 1969 c. xxiv |
Dates | |
Royal assent | 25 June 1969 |
Other legislation | |
Repealed by |
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Status: Repealed |
Scotland Act 1998 (River Tweed) Order 2006 | |
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Statutory Instrument | |
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Citation | SI 2006/2913 |
Dates | |
Made | 14 November 2006 |
Commencement | 15 November 2006 |
Other legislation | |
Repeals/revokes |
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Made under | Scotland Act 1998 |
Status: Current legislation | |
Text of statute as originally enacted |
Despite that the catchment straddles the border between Scotland and England, management of it – in terms of water quality, bio-security, and ultimately protection of the salmon of the River Tweed – is overseen by a single body, the River Tweed Commission. [8]
As of 2024 [update] , work is in progress on the development of a 113-mile (182 km) walking and cycling route following the length of the river from Moffat to Berwick-on-Tweed. The work includes new sections of path, upgrades to existing paths, bridge replacement and repairs, pedestrian road crossings, lighting and signage. The path is expected to be completed during 2028. [9]
The Scottish Borders is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It is bordered by West Lothian, Edinburgh, Midlothian, and East Lothian to the north, the North Sea to the east, Dumfries and Galloway to the south-west, South Lanarkshire to the west, and the English ceremonial counties of Cumbria and Northumberland to the south. The largest settlement is Galashiels, and the administrative centre is Newtown St Boswells.
Innerleithen is a civil parish and a small town in the committee area of Tweeddale, in the Scottish Borders. It was formerly in the historic county of Peeblesshire or Tweeddale.
Roxburghshire or the County of Roxburgh is a historic county and registration county in the Southern Uplands of Scotland. It borders Dumfriesshire to the west, Selkirkshire and Midlothian to the northwest, and Berwickshire to the north. To the southwest it borders Cumberland and to the southeast Northumberland, both in England.
Tweeddale is a committee area and lieutenancy area in the Scottish Borders council area in south-eastern Scotland. It had also been a province in the Middle Ages. From 1975 to 1996 it was a local government district. Its boundaries correspond to the historic county of Peeblesshire.
Eildon Hill lies just south of Melrose, Scotland in the Scottish Borders, overlooking the town. The name is usually pluralised into "the Eildons" or "Eildon Hills", because of its triple peak. The 422 metres (1,385 ft) high eminence overlooks Teviotdale to the South. The north hilltop is surrounded by over 5 km (3.1 mi) of ramparts, enclosing an area of about 16 ha (40 acres) in which at least 300 level platforms have been cut into the rock to provide bases for turf or timber-walled houses, forming one of the largest hill forts known in Scotland. A Roman army signalling station was later constructed on the same site as this hill fort.
The River Annan is a river in south-west Scotland. It rises on Annanhead Hill and flows through the Devil's Beef Tub, Moffat and Lockerbie, reaching the sea at Annan, Dumfries and Galloway after about 40 miles.
The River Teviot, or Teviot Water, is a river of the Scottish Borders area of Scotland, and is the largest tributary of the River Tweed by catchment area. The Teviot is an important river for wildlife, especially the Atlantic salmon, but in recent years has witnessed at least four extreme flooding events.
St Cuthbert's Way is a 100-kilometre (62 mi) long-distance trail between the Scottish Borders town of Melrose and Lindisfarne off the coast of Northumberland, England. The walk is named after Cuthbert, a 7th-century saint, a native of the Borders who spent his life in the service of the church. The route links Melrose Abbey, where Cuthbert began his religious life, with his initial burial place on Holy Island. Cuthbert achieved the status of bishop, and was called a saint eleven years after his death, when his coffin was opened and his remains found to be perfectly preserved.
Blackadder Water is a river in Berwickshire in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland, forming part of the River Tweed system. It reached 2.84m at Mouthbridge, which was its highest level ever recorded on Tuesday 22 October 2002 at 2:45pm.
Berwick-upon-Tweed is a railway station on the East Coast Main Line, which runs between London King's Cross and Edinburgh Waverley. The station, situated 67 miles (108 km) north-west of Newcastle, serves the border town of Berwick-upon-Tweed in Northumberland, England. It is owned by Network Rail and managed by London North Eastern Railway.
St Boswells is a village on the south side of the River Tweed in the Scottish Borders, about 1 mile southeast of Newtown St Boswells on the A68 road. It lies within the boundaries of the historic county of Roxburghshire.
Whiteadder Water is a river in East Lothian and Berwickshire, Scotland. It also flows for a very short distance through Northumberland before joining the River Tweed. In common with the headwaters of the Biel Water it rises on the low hillside of Clints Dod in the Lammermuir Hills, just ESE of Whitecastle Hillfort and 3 km (1.9 mi) south-east of the village of Garvald.
The TD postcode area, also known as the Galashiels postcode area, is a group of fifteen postcode districts in south-east Scotland and the far north-east of England, within seventeen post towns. These cover most of the Scottish Borders council area and the northernmost part of Northumberland, plus a part of south-eastern East Lothian and a very small part of Cumbria.
The Anglo-Scottish border is an internal border of the United Kingdom separating Scotland and England which runs for 96 miles (154 km) between Marshall Meadows Bay on the east coast and the Solway Firth in the west.
Tweedmouth railway station was a railway station which served the Tweedmouth area of Berwick-on-Tweed in Northumberland, England. It was located on the East Coast Main Line. As well as a railway station for passengers, it was also the main service yard and goods yard between Newcastle upon Tyne and Edinburgh. Also Tweedmouth station was the terminus for the Tweed Valley Railway line, which connected the East Coast Main Line with the Waverley Line at Newtown St. Boswells. The station lies to the south of the Royal Border Bridge.
The Caddon Water is a small river by the village of Caddonfoot, in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland. It rises on Windlestraw Law, four miles north of Innerleithen, and flows through the Stantling Craig Reservoir. It joins the river Tweed at Caddonfoot, having completed its journey after 11 miles (18 km).
The Railway of Kelso and Jedburgh branch lines was a 'network' of three distinct railway services serving Kelso in the Scottish Borders.
Sprouston is a village, parish and former feudal barony in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland, as well as the historic county of Roxburghshire, located 2 miles north-east of Kelso.
The Upper Tweeddale National Scenic Area lies in the Borders region of Scotland. It is one of 40 national scenic areas (NSA) in Scotland, which are defined so as to identify areas of exceptional scenery and to ensure their protection from inappropriate development. The designated area covers 12,770 ha of countryside surrounding the upper reaches of the River Tweed between Broughton and Peebles.