Roxburgh | |
---|---|
Historic county | |
Country | Scotland |
County town | Jedburgh |
Area | |
• Total | 666 sq mi (1,725 km2) |
Ranked 12th of 34 | |
Chapman code | ROX |
Roxburghshire or the County of Roxburgh is a historic county in the Southern Uplands of Scotland. It borders Dumfriesshire to the west, Selkirkshire to the north-west, and Berwickshire to the north. To the south-east it borders Cumberland and Northumberland in England.
It was named after the Royal Burgh of Roxburgh, a town which declined markedly in the 15th century and is no longer in existence. Latterly, the county town of Roxburghshire was Jedburgh.
The county has much the same area as Teviotdale, the basin drained by the River Teviot and tributaries together with the adjacent stretch of the Tweed into which it flows. The term is often treated as synonymous with Roxburghshire, but may omit Liddesdale as Liddel Water drains to the west coast.
Today, Roxburghshire is within the Scottish Borders council area for local government purposes and contains the administrative centre of the area, the small town of Newtown St Boswells. It retains official status as a registration county, and falls within the Roxburgh, Ettrick and Lauderdale lieutenancy area for ceremonial purposes.
The county has a population of 48639 (in 2011), which is 43% of the population of the Scottish Borders area.
Today, the main towns in the county are (population in 2011):