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Bells Chapel
An old religious site now in England close to the Scottish Border but once firmly Scottish.
Bell's Chapel, also known as Bell's Kirk, stood near Bells Burn, on the border between Scotland and England. It is mentioned in a document written in 1590. The chapel itself no longer exists, but a hollowed out natural boulder, probably used as a font, marks a possible former location. The remains of a deserted medieval village are nearby.
The earliest reference to the chapel are in the C16th when it was under the jurisdiction of Jedburgh Abbey. The Bells appears to have been an important meeting place in the Middle Marches. Indeed, the England-Scotland Border follows the Bells Burn down from its high point on the Larriston Fells but its line turns sharply back on itself just above the site of the chapel, following a prominent wall over the ridge of Bells Moor to Thorlieshope Pike before eventually descending down an unnamed sike to Deadwater and the low watershed there between the River North Tyne and Liddel Water.
James Logan Mack considered that the Border Line may have previously continued down Bells Burn to its junction with the North Tyne, leaving the chapel and community of Bells on Scottish ground. This was for a long time disputed territory, bandit country of the Liddesdale and Tynedale Reivers.
Bell's Chapel, also known as Bell's Kirk, stood near Bells Burn, on the border between Scotland and England. It is mentioned in a document written in 1590. The chapel itself no longer exists, but a hollowed out natural boulder, probably used as a font, marks a possible former location. The remains of a deserted medieval village are nearby.
The earliest reference to the chapel are in the C16th when it was under the jurisdiction of Jedburgh Abbey. The Bells appears to have been an important meeting place in the Middle Marches. Indeed, the England-Scotland Border follows the Bells Burn down from its high point on the Larriston Fells but its line turns sharply back on itself just above the site of the chapel, following a prominent wall over the ridge of Bells Moor to Thorlieshope Pike before eventually descending down an unnamed sike to Deadwater and the low watershed there between the River North Tyne and Liddel Water.
James Logan Mack considered that the Border Line may have previously continued down Bells Burn to its junction with the North Tyne, leaving the chapel and community of Bells on Scottish ground. This was for a long time disputed territory, bandit country of the Liddesdale and Tynedale Reivers.
Created: Sat, 6 Sep 2014, Updated: Sun, 21 Sep 2014
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