Stow of Wedale, or more often Stow, /ˈstaʊ/ is a village in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland (historically Midlothian), 7 miles (11 kilometres) north of Galashiels. In the 2011 Census the population was 718. It is served by Stow railway station.
| Stow | |
|---|---|
 | |
  Stow Location within the Scottish Borders | |
| Population | 700 (2022)[1] |
| OS grid reference | NT456447 |
| Council area | |
| Lieutenancy area | |
| Country | Scotland |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | GALASHIELS |
| Postcode district | TD1 |
| Dialling code | 01578 |
| Police | Scotland |
| Fire | Scottish |
| Ambulance | Scottish |
| UK Parliament | |
| Scottish Parliament | |
Stow of Wedale | |
|---|---|
| Elevation | 180 m (590 ft) |
The name
The name Stow is an Old English word stōw meaning 'holy place' or 'meeting place', whilst Wedale is probably derived from the words wēoh (or wīg) meaning 'shrine' and dæl meaning 'valley'.[2]
History
There has been a church at Stow since the 7th century, but the earliest example still visible today was built in the late 15th century on the site of the Church of St Mary which was consecrated on 3 November 1242. The church used today, St Mary of Wedale, was built in 1876 and features a 140-foot-high clock tower.[3]
A mile or so north of Stow lies the clachan of Torquhan, likely in the 13th century to have been one of the last places where the Brittonic language Cumbric was finally replaced by English.[citation needed]
Our Lady's Well is situated 1 mile (2 kilometres) south of the village and was rebuilt in 2000.[4]
A rare example of a packhorse bridge, built in the 1650s, can be found in Stow.[5]
Stow of Wedale Town Hall was completed in 1857.[6]
In 1870, James Thin purchased a plot of land in the village and had a house built which was completed in 1873 and was named Ashlea. This house is still a private residence but is not owned by the Thin family.[7]
Famous residents
- Sir John Rose Cormack (1815–1882), born and raised in Stow[8]
- George Darling (physician) (1782?–1862), physician
- Sir Walter Mercer FRSE (1890–1971) orthopaedic surgeon[9]
Gallery
St. Mary's of Wedale Parish Church
Pack horse bridge across the Gala Water, at the south end of Stow
.jpg)
See also
References
Sources
Wikiwand in your browser!
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.
Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.
