Heritage Path of the Month.
Hexpethgate is our Heritage Path of the Month for January 2026, click here to view the details
More about Hexpethgate:
From Primsidemill, go southeast by Clifton, up Kaim Rig and over the east shoulder of Black Hill. Head through the forest to the col between the Curr and Blackdean Curr, then down to Auchope in the Sourhope valley. From there, head upstream past Schilgreen (NT857215), then south over the hill to the Dod Burn and ultimately further south to Cocklawfoot.
From Cocklawfoot, pass through a gate and follow a clear grassy track uphill through a conifer plantation and ever upwards, passing through a single gate before arriving at the border fence gate, where a signpost reads “Clennell Street, Pennine Way”.
OS Landranger 80 (Cheviot Hills & Kielder Water)
This old crossing of the Border was known as Hexpethgate; it is mentioned in a state paper of 1543 (Henry VIII Domestic Series XVIII) as one of seventeen crossings of the Cheviots. On Roy’s military mapping (1752-55), this route is marked “Road from Morpeth to Kelso”. The section north of Auchope is labelled “Windy Path” on the OS 6″ (1892-1905) and 1:25,000 (1937-1961) mapping. South of the Border, the track is known as Clennell Street.
At Outer Cock Law, the amount of traffic and the topography combined to force people using the road to take diversions and create new routes. This resulted in around nine roads being created in a very short space; these are visible in the landscape as holloways where the traffic has eroded the land so that it is much lower than the surrounding land. Holloways tend to be found in medieval roads that received a huge amount of traffic, as they wouldn’t have been surfaced with anything substantial enough to stop the road surface from eroding.
More about Heritage Paths
Learn about the history of some of the oldest transport routes in Scotland. Heritage Paths records the history of over 400 routes that criss-cross the Scottish landscape. From Roman Roads to Military Roads, find out how the route you are following came into being.
As well as historical information, you’ll find a modern-day route description along with start and finish details. Change the background mapping in our interactive viewer and time travel along your favourite Heritage Path from 1843 to today.