Dere Street North Show path on map
Start location: Dere Street sign, B6368, south of Soutra Aisle ( NT 452 581 )
End location: Unclassified road near Kirktonhill ( NT 478 546 )
Geographical area: Lothian and Borders
Path type: Medieval Road, Pilgrimage Route, Roman Road
Path distance: 5.4km
Accessibility info: Suitable for pedestrians
Route Description
From the B6368, just south of Soutra Aisle, Dere Street is signposted from the south end of Soutra Mains Woods. Follow the field edge to reach an old grassy road visible as it goes south to cross the Armet Water. Continuing southeast, Dere Street passes through the Dun Law windfarm, but crosses the latter’s site access tracks intersect with the older route only once, at NT464566. Dere Street heads south-eastwards towards the remains of a Roman Camp at Kirktonhill, but it’s rough walking beside the forestry fence, on tussocky long grass, wet underfoot in places, with no trace of a track until NT469557. About here is a Historic Scotland plaque on a pole, describing Dere Street, and the route onwards to Kirktonhill farm and the end of the public road near Channelkirk House becomes easier, on tractor tracks and field edges.
OS Landranger 66 (Edinburgh & Midlothian area) or 73 (Peebles, Galashiels & surrounding area)
Heritage Information
Dere Street was the main Roman Road into Scotland, running from Durham to the Forth, used AD78-185. Between Soutra Aisle and Turf Law, as far as the purported site of a Roman Camp at Kirktonhill, Dere Street is scheduled as an Ancient Monument - its line north of Soutra is harder to find and is in places open to debate; south of Kirktonhill, the valley crossing is said to be now not practicable. The road was about 7m wide, sitting on a terrace 9-18m in width. Shallow pits can be seen in places beside the ancient terracing, created by quarrying gravel for the road.
The section of Dere Street between Jedburgh and Edinburgh was later known as the Via Regia or the Royal Way. Throughout the Middle Ages, Dere Street remained an important byway connecting greater Scotland with the important abbeys of the Borders region. As such, Dere Street became a pilgrimage route. Near the half way point between Edinburgh and Jedburgh, King Malcolm IV created the Church and Hospital of the Holy Trinity as a place of rest and healing for pilgrims and travellers. Run by Augustinian monks, the only visible remains of this once massive religious hospital complex is Soutra Aisle. After the border abbeys were destroyed during the Reformation, Dere Street fell into disuse and disrepair, serving primarily as an occasional drove road.
Although this section of Dere Street between Soutra Aisle and Channelkirk also formed part of the medieval Girthgate, their lines diverged south of Oxton where Dere Street kept more to the east in the valley of the Leader Water. Another, longer stretch of Dere Street lies further south, running towards the English border from Forest Lodge.
Alistair Moffat's book The Hidden Ways explores this old Roman Road, along with other historic routes such as the Herring Road and Crachoctrestrete.
