Jedburgh Abbey

Jedburgh Abbey, a ruined Augustinian abbey which was founded in the 12th century, is situated in the town of Jedburgh, in the Scottish Borders 10 miles (16 km) north of the border with England at Carter Bar. Jedburgh is the largest town on the A68 between Newcastle upon Tyne and the Scottish capital, Edinburgh.

History

Towards the middle of the 9th century, when the area around Jedburgh was part of the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Northumbria, there were two Gedworths (as Jedburgh was then known). One of them became the Jedburgh we know now, the other was four miles to the south. According to Symeon of Durham, Ecgred, bishop of Lindisfarne from 830AD to 845AD, gifted the two villages of the same name to the See of Lindisfarne. The southerly Gedworth was the place of Ecgred's church, the first church in the parish. The present town was distinguished from the long disappeared south village by UBI CASTELLUM EST meaning, 'where the castle is'. The only solid evidence of Ecgred's church came from Symeon of Durham when he described the burial, at the church of Geddewerde, of Eadulf, one of the assassins of William Walcher, Bishop of Durham.

Jedburgh

Coordinates: 55°28′37″N 2°32′46″W / 55.477°N 2.546°W / 55.477; -2.546

Jedburgh (Scots Gaelic Deadard) (/ˈdʒɛdbərə/; Scots: Jeddart/Jethart, is a town and former royal burgh in the Scottish Borders and historically in Roxburghshire.

Location

Jedburgh lies on the Jed Water, a tributary of the River Teviot. It is only 10 miles (16 km) from the border with England, and is dominated by the substantial ruins of Jedburgh Abbey. Other notable buildings in the town include Mary, Queen of Scots' House, Jedburgh Castle Jail, now a museum, and the Carnegie library.

History

Bishop Ecgred of Lindisfarne founded a church at Jedburgh in the 9th century, and King David I of Scotland made it a priory between 1118 and 1138, housing Augustinian monks from Beauvais in France. The abbey was founded in 1147, but border wars with England in the 16th century left it a ruin.

The deeply religious Scottish king Malcolm IV died at Jedburgh in 1165, aged 24. His death is thought to have been caused by excessive fasting.

Jedburgh (disambiguation)

Jedburgh is a town in Scotland.

Jedburgh may also refer to:

See also

Jedburgh (Parliament of Scotland constituency)

Jedburgh in Roxburghshire was a royal burgh that returned one commissioner to the Parliament of Scotland and to the Convention of Estates.

After the Acts of Union 1707, Jedburgh, North Berwick, Dunbar, Haddington and Lauder formed the Haddington district of burghs, returning one member between them to the House of Commons of Great Britain.

See also