Stow of Wedale

Human settlement in Scotland

Scottish Borders

Roxburgh, Ettrick and Lauderdale

CountryScotlandSovereign stateUnited KingdomPost townGALASHIELSPostcode districtTD1Dialling code01578PoliceScotlandFire Scottish AmbulanceScottish UK Parliament

Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk

Scottish Parliament

Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale

List of places: UK; Scotland

55°41′31″N 2°51′43″W / 55.692°N 2.862°W / 55.692; -2.862

Place

Stow of Wedale
Elevation	180 m (590 ft)

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.

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
Stow of Wedale Town Hall

References

^ "Mid-2020 Population Estimates for Settlements and Localities in Scotland". National Records of Scotland. 31 March 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
^ Smith, A. H. (1956). English place-name elements. Cambridge: English Place-Name Society. pp. i.125, ii.159, ii.264–5.
^ Historic Environment Scotland. "Stow Parish Church, St Mary of Wedale (LB17403)". Retrieved 5 October 2022.
^ Historic Environment Scotland. "Stow, Galashiels, Our Lady's Well (54525)". Canmore. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
^ "Stow Packhorse Bridge". Scotland Starts Here. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
^ Historic Environment Scotland. "Townfoot, Town Hall (LB51301)". Retrieved 5 October 2022.
^ "Ashlea House, Stow". Capital Collections. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
^ Maclagan (1888). "Sir John Rose Cormack". Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. 14: 53–58. doi:10.1017/S0370164600004521. ISSN 0370-1646.
^ Stevenson, Alison M. (23 September 2004). Mercer, Sir Walter (1890–1971), surgeon. Vol. 1. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/40762.