View source for Eyemouth

{{Short description|Coastal town in Berwickshire Scotland}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2022}}
{{Infobox UK place
 | static_image_name        = Eyemouthharbour01.jpg
 | static_image_caption     = Eyemouth Harbour
 | country                  = Scotland
 | official_name            = Eyemouth
 | scots_name               = 
 | map_type                 = Scotland
 | label_position           = top
 | edinburgh_distance_mi    = 43
 | london_distance_mi       = 312
 | coordinates              = {{coord|55.871|-2.093|display=inline,title}}
 | population               = {{Scottish locality population|name|POP=Eyemouth}}
 | population_ref           = ({{Scottish settlement population citation|year}})<ref>{{Scottish settlement population citation}}</ref>
 | os_grid_reference        = NT944640
 | civil_parish             = Eyemouth
 | unitary_scotland         = [[Scottish Borders]]
 | lieutenancy_scotland     = [[Berwickshire]]
 | constituency_westminster = [[Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk (UK Parliament constituency)|Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk]]
| constituency_scottish_parliament = [[Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire (Scottish Parliament constituency)|Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire]]
 | historic_county          = 
 | post_town                = Eyemouth
 | postcode_district        = TD14
 | postcode_area            = TD
 | dial_code                = 01890
}}

'''Eyemouth''' is a town and [[civil parishes in Scotland|civil parish]] in [[Berwickshire]], in the [[Scottish Borders]] area of [[Scotland]]. It is {{convert|2|mi|km|abbr=off|0|spell=on}} east of the main north–south [[A1 road (Great Britain)|A1 road]] and {{convert|8|mi|km|abbr=off|0|spell=on}} north of [[Berwick-upon-Tweed]].

The town's name comes from its location at the mouth of the [[Eye Water]]. The Berwickshire coastline consists of high cliffs over deep clear water with sandy coves and picturesque harbours. A [[fishing port]], Eyemouth holds a yearly [[Herring Queen Festival]]. Notable buildings in the town include Gunsgreen House<ref>{{cite web|title=BBC - Scotland - Coast|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/whereilive/coast/stages.shtml|website=www.bbc.co.uk|access-date=May 17, 2022|url-status=live|archive-date=14 August 2005|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050814014208/http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/whereilive/coast/stages.shtml}}</ref> and a cemetery watch-house built to stand guard against the [[Resurrectionists in the United Kingdom|Resurrectionists]] (body snatchers). Many of the features of a [[traditional fishing village]] are preserved in the narrow streets and "[[vennel]]s".{{citation needed|date=May 2022}}

Eyemouth is not far from the small villages of [[Ayton, Scottish Borders|Ayton]], [[Reston, Scottish Borders|Reston]], [[St Abbs]], [[Coldingham]], and [[Burnmouth]], all in [[Berwickshire]].

The coast offers opportunities for birdwatching, walking, fishing and diving. Accommodation includes several hotels, B&Bs and a holiday park.

[[File:Eyemouthharbour02.jpg|thumb|290px|Eyemouth Harbour]]

==History of Eyemouth==
===A 16th-century artillery fortress===
[[File:Eyemouth, Gunsgreen House - 20120604160115.jpg|left|upright=1.2|thumb|Gunsgreen House, Eyemouth]]
Fort Point at Eyemouth was the site of the first [[Bastion fort|''trace-italienne'']]-style fortification in Britain, built on a spur or peninsula overlooking the existing harbour during the war known as the [[Rough Wooing]]. Building commenced in 1547 by the English military engineer [[Richard Lee (engineer)|Sir Richard Lee]] (1513–1575),<ref>Skempton, A, ''Biographical Dictionary of Civil Engineers'', vol. 1 (Telford, 2002), 401.</ref> and it cost £1,906. Some of the stone was brought from a demolished tower at [[Dunglass Castle, East Lothian]] and timber was taken from [[Coldingham Priory]].<ref>[[Marcus Merriman]], 'The Forts of Eyemouth: Anvils of British Union?', ''Scottish Historical Review'', 67 (1988), p. 146.</ref>

The fort was demolished under the [[Treaty of Boulogne]] in 1551.<ref>Marcus Merriman, 'The Forts of Eyemouth: Anvils of British Union?', ''Scottish Historical Review'', 67 (1988), p. 150.</ref> A larger and more complex fort was built in 1557 and 1558 by [[Henri Cleutin|d'Oisel]] and probably the Italian military engineer Lorenzo Pomarelli for the Regent of Scotland, [[Mary of Guise]], when at war with England. The new fortress could hold some 500 French troops, and may have been intended as a staging post to securely store munitions and artillery near [[Berwick-upon-Tweed]] and the border with England. New fortifications were built at Berwick in response.<ref>Geoffrey Stell, "Foundations of a Castle Culture", Audrey Dakin, Miles Glendinning, Aonghus Mackechnie, ''Scotland's Castle Culture'' (Edinburgh: John Donald, 2011), p. 33.</ref>

New picks, mattocks, and shovels made in [[Edinburgh Castle]] were shipped to the workforce from [[Leith]] in April 1558, and provisions with butter, biscuit, cheese, flour, and ling (salt fish) were sent until October.<ref>[[James Balfour Paul]] ''Accounts of the Treasurer of Scotland'', 10 (Edinburgh, 1913), pp. 419–431.</ref> However, the new work at Eyemouth, which perhaps was never completed, was scheduled for demolition under the [[Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis]] in 1559. French garrisons remained in Scotland at [[Dunbar Castle]], [[Inchkeith]], and at [[Leith]]. The landward ramparts from both the English and French phases are still to be seen as earthworks.<ref>Pamela E. Ritchie, ''Mary of Guise in Scotland: A Political Career'' (East Linton: Tuckwell, 2002), pp. 182, 187: Marcus Merriman, 'The Forts of Eyemouth: Anvils of British Union?', ''Scottish Historical Review'', 67 (1988), pp. 152–154: Amadio Ronchini, 'Lorenzo Pomarelli' in ''Atti e memorie delle RR. Deputazioni di storia patria per le provincie Modenesi e Parmensi'' (Modena, 1868), pp. 264-5, and [[National Records of Scotland]] E34/21.</ref>

===17th and 18th centuries===
[[File:Netherbyres House.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Netherbyres House]]
Eyemouth fell within the feudal barony of Coldingham, possessed until the early 17th century by Coldingham Priory, after which it passed to the [[Clan Home|Home family]], who had held lands in that barony since at least the 15th century.<ref>''Historic Manuscripts Commission, Manuscripts of Colonel David Milne Home of Wedderburn Castle'' (London, 1902), p. 26.</ref> All landowners (portioners) within the barony held their properties either by hereditary [[feu (land tenure)|feu]] or by a term-renewable, occasionally hereditary, [[tacksman|tack]] ([[Scots language|Scots]] word for a lease) from the barony. 

The lands between the southern banks of the Eye Water consisted of three estates: Gunsgreen, immediately opposite Eyemouth and Netherbyres, once part of the larger lands of Flemington which stretched all the way to [[Lamberton, Borders, Scotland|Lamberton]]. At the beginning of the 17th century Gunsgreen estate was possessed by Alexander Lauder of Gunsgreen,<ref name="ReferenceA">Historic Manuscripts Commission, ''Manuscripts of Colonel David Milne Home of Wedderburn Castle'' (London, 1902, pp. 183–4.</ref> a great-great-grandson of [[Sir Robert Lauder of The Bass]].<ref>Lawder, Charles A B, ''The Lawders of The Bass and Their Descendants'', Belfast, 1914.</ref> On 17 January 1629, Alexander Lauder of Gunsgreen, acting as [[bailie]] for Sir David Home of [[Wedderburn Castle|Wedderburn]], gave a [[sasine]] to Andrew Gray in Eyemouth, of some land on the boundaries of Houndlaw and also in Eyemouth.<ref>John Anderson, ''Calendar of the Laing Charters'' (Edinburgh, 1899), p. 487.</ref>

Netherbyres was for at least 250 years held by the Craw (originally Auchincraw) family. "George Craw of Netherbyre" was "deceased" by July 1614 when his son William came into possession of that property and Reidhall, "with the walk mill" extending to 12 husbandlands ({{convert|312|acre|ha|abbr=off}}).<ref name="ReferenceA"/> A later William Craw, who had a passion for mathematics, built the first modern harbour at Eyemouth and, in 1715, the elliptical walled garden, the latter almost certainly unique in the world. The Netherbyres House we see today was commenced about 1835 for Captain [[Samuel Brown (Royal Navy officer)|Samuel Brown]], who had the patent and monopoly for the supply of anchor chain to the Royal Navy. He later went on to design and patent chain suspension piers and bridges, including the [[Union Bridge (Tweed)|Union Bridge]] over the [[River Tweed]],<ref>Christies Scotland, ''Netherbyres, Eyemouth, Berwickshire'' (Glasgow, 1991), p. 9.</ref>

[[John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough]] was created Lord Churchill of Eyemouth in the [[Peerage of Scotland]] in 1682. This was the first of his peerage titles. In the late 18th century Dutch engineers undertook a survey for a canal linking Eyemouth to Duns. The plan would have involved damming the [[Whiteadder Water]] at [[Chirnside]] thus diverting the course of the Whiteadder Water through the low-lying area known as Billiemire to join the Eye Water near Ayton. The plan was never carried out.

===19th century onwards===
[[File:William Spears.jpg|thumb|200px|Bronze statue of William Spears.]]
The hero William Spears (1812–1885) is celebrated by a bronze statue in Eyemouth Market Place, where he stands pointing the way to Ayton, the scene of his peaceful demonstration. Spears led a revolt against the [[tithe]]s on fish levied by the [[Church of Scotland]], even after the great [[Disruption of 1843]] when most fishermen left the established Church to join other congregations.

Very soon after the cost of getting the tithes removed had been met, the town was struck by the [[Eyemouth Disaster]] when, on 14 October 1881, most of the fishing fleet, some 20 boats and 129 men from the town, were lost in a terrible storm.<ref name="v736">{{cite web | last=Rowan | first=Jenny | title=The Great Eyemouth Fishing Disaster of October 1881 | website=NMMC | date=2023-05-05 | url=https://nmmc.co.uk/2023/05/black-friday-the-great-eyemouth-fishing-disaster-of-14-october-1881/ | access-date=2025-10-22}}</ref> Including victims from other coastal towns, a total of 189 men lost their lives.<ref name="v630">{{cite web | last=Knox | first=David | title=UK Day of Remembrance for the fishermen who never came home | website=BBC News | date=2024-05-12 | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx8qvv39y9wo | access-date=2025-10-22}}</ref> This is commemorated in the Eyemouth Tapestry housed in the museum.<ref>{{cite web |title=Handwoven tapestry from Eyemouth |url=http://www.rls.org.uk/database/results.php?query1=Eyemouth+tapestry&bool1=AND&query2=&bool2=AND&query3=&FULL=1&_IXSPFX_=z&sortby=title&sortorder=ASC |website=Scran |access-date=3 June 2021 |language=en}}</ref>

A contemporary article offers an interesting insight into Eyemouth in the 1860s:
<blockquote>Between St Abbs Head and Berwick, however is situated Eyemouth, a fishing village pure and simple, with all that wonderful filth scattered about which is a sanitary peculiarity of such towns. The population of Eyemouth is in keeping with the outward appearance of the place. As a whole, they are rough, uncultivated, and more drunken in their habits than the fishermen of the neighbouring villages. [[Coldingham Shore]], for instance, is only three miles distant, and has a population of about one hundred fishermen, of a very respectable class, sober and well dressed, and well to do.<ref>"The Fisher Folk of the Scottish East Coast", ''Macmillian's Magazine'',  no. 36 (October 1862).</ref></blockquote>

In December 1920, a war memorial was unveiled in the town to the those who died in the [[First World War]].<ref name="p251">{{cite web | title=Eyemouth | website=Imperial War Museums | date=1920-12-21 | url=https://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/13314 | access-date=2025-10-22}}</ref> Netherbyres House was bought by [[Furness baronets|Christopher Furness]] in 1928, and was donated to [[Gardeners' Royal Benevolent Society]] for charitable use by his second son, Colonel Simon Furness, the Vice Lord Lieutenant for [[Berwickshire]].

From 1891 until 1962, the town was served by a [[Eyemouth Railway|short branch railway line]] that ran from {{stnlnk|Burnmouth}} on the present-day [[East Coast Main Line]]. The line was forced to close from August 1948 to June 1949 after being damaged by the flooding of the [[Eye Water]].

In October 2016, a statue was unveiled to commemorate the Eyemouth Fishing Disaster of 1881.<ref name="y826">{{cite web | title='Black Friday' sculpture unveiled in Eyemouth | website=BBC News | date=2016-10-13 | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-south-scotland-37642596 | access-date=2025-10-22}}</ref> It is a five-metre long bronze sculpture called 'Widows and Bairns'.<ref name="y826"/>

==Transport==
The [[A1 road (Great Britain)|A1 road]], the main Edinburgh – Newcastle route, puts the town within commuting distance of Edinburgh.

[[Eyemouth railway station]] served the town until it was closed in 1962. The nearest railway station is [[Reston railway station]], The 253 bus route, operated [[Borders Buses]], stops at Reston railway station

==Education==
Eyemouth Public School, in Albert Road, was built in 1876, designed by the architect William Gray Junior.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.scottisharchitects.org.uk/building_full.php?id=204187|title=Dictionary of Scottish Architects - DSA Building/Design Report (September 15, 2021, 9:30 pm)}}</ref>

Children attend Eyemouth Primary School, after which they attend Eyemouth High School.

There is a further education training centre in the town. [[Northumberland College]] in [[Berwick-upon-Tweed]] is {{convert|8|mi|km|spell=in}} away, and full-time further and higher education courses are offered at [[Borders College]] and [[Heriot-Watt University|Heriot-Watt University's]] textiles campus in [[Galashiels]].

==Media==
Local news and television programmes are provided by [[BBC Scotland]] and [[ITV Border]]. Television signals are received from the local relay transmitter.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://ukfree.tv/transmitters/tv/Eyemouth |title=Freeview Light on the Eyemouth (The Scottish Borders, Scotland) transmitter|date=May 2004 |publisher=UK Free TV |access-date= 8 October 2023}}</ref>

Eyemouth's local radio stations are [[BBC Radio Scotland]] on 94.1 FM and [[Radio Borders|Greatest Hits Radio Scottish Borders and North Northumberland]] on 103.4 FM.

The Border Telegraph and [[Southern Reporter (newspaper)|Southern Reporter]] are the town's local newspapers.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.britishpapers.co.uk/scotland/border-telegraph/|title=Border Telegraph|date=23 November 2013|website=British Papers|accessdate= 8 October 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.britishpapers.co.uk/scotland/southern-reporter/|title=Southern Reporter|date=21 January 2014|website=British Papers|accessdate= 8 October 2023}}</ref>

== Harbour and industry ==
[[File:Yachts Eyemouth Harbour.jpg|thumb|Yachts berthed in Eyemouth Harbour]]
In 1997, Eyemouth was given EU funding from a scheme to regenerate declining fishing villages and raised matching funds itself to construct a deep water extension to the harbour.{{citation needed|date=February 2025}} Eyemouth Harbour caters for most types of fishery activity and as a result Eyemouth's primary industry has seen a certain amount of rejuvenation.{{citation needed|date=February 2025}} A [[Pontoon (boat)|pontoon]] has been installed in the harbour to provide ease of boarding for seafarers. Volunteers for [[Her Majesty's Coastguard]] and the seagoing [[Eyemouth Lifeboat Station|RNLI lifeboat]] are called out by the firing of [[Maroon (rocket)|maroons]], one for the Coastguard and two for the Lifeboat.{{citation needed|date=February 2025}}

There is a [[boatyard]] which carries out works to fishing and commercial vessels. The new harbour and fish market has toilets and showers which are available to visiting seamen. The visitor centre explains the methods of fishing, the types of nets and the vessels used and examples of the equipment of a typical [[fishing boat]] are displayed. Visitors can see the market in action in the early mornings from a viewing platform. Boats are available for hire for sea fishing, sightseeing and diving in one of the few [[marine reserve]]s in Britain.{{citation needed|date=February 2025}}

===Eyemouth Pale===
The ''[[Eyemouth pale]]'' is a cold-smoked haddock, distinct from varieties such as [[Finnan haddock]] by its lighter, golden hue, and subtler smoked flavour, achieved by a shorter smoking time.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Paston-Williams |first1=Sara |title=Fish: Recipes from a Busy Island |date=2006-02-10 |publisher=Pavilion Books |isbn=978-1-905400-07-2 |page=108 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aJoDxN4T-eEC&pg=PA108 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="n161">{{cite book | last=Miers | first=Richenda | title=Scotland | publisher=Cadogan Books | date=1991 | isbn=978-0-87106-351-9 | url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Scotland/yfIJAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%2522Eyemouth+pale%2522&dq=%2522Eyemouth+pale%2522&printsec=frontcover | access-date=2025-10-22 | page=69}}</ref>

==Politics==
The elected Eyemouth Town Community Council is led by a chairman and has 12 members, including an Honorary [[Provost (civil)|Provost]]. Three representatives of [[Scottish Borders Council]] attend monthly public meetings in order to take on board and act upon feedback from the community councillors, who serve as a voice of the people of the town. Eyemouth Town Community Council (a Scottish [[Community Council]]), meets on the last Monday of the month (except in December) at 7.00pm in the community centre, minutes of the meetings being displayed on their website, on two notice boards in the town and also in the ''Berwickshire News.''

== Attractions ==
[[File:Eyemouth Bantry Photo.jpg|thumb|200px|Beach and Bantry at Eyemouth]]
The wide sandy bay is flanked by high cliffs. Despite being sheltered by Hurkur Rocks, storms can generate high waves and throw high plumes of spume into the air over the sea wall. It is named "The [[Bantry]]", said{{by whom|date=October 2024}} to be in affectionate memory of the Irish labourers from the fishing town of that name in [[County Cork]] who constructed it.

The 18-hole [[golf course]] and clubhouse have sea views and a restaurant which is open to the public.

Divers can visit to the St Abbs and Eyemouth Voluntary Marine Reserve.

Eyemouth also has a leisure centre consisting of a gym, a studio, a sauna and two swimming pools, one small with a maximum depth of less than 3 feet and a big pool with a minimum depth of 3 feet to a maximum depth of 10 feet.

There is a resident seal, Sammy the seal in the harbour.<ref name="j084">{{cite web | last=Bathgate | first=Craig | title=Sadness at fish hook in Sammy the seal's mouth | website=East Lothian Courier | date=2023-08-18 | url=https://www.eastlothiancourier.com/news/23733357.dunbar-sadness-fish-hook-sammy-seals-mouth/ | access-date=2025-10-23}}</ref> 

===Nearby places of interest===
Other places of interest nearby include the fortifications of [[Berwick-upon-Tweed]] also designed by [[Richard Lee (engineer)|Sir Richard Lee]], and its military museum, [[Paxton House, Berwickshire|Paxton House]], the [[Union Bridge (Tweed)|Union Bridge]] and the Chain Bridge Honey Farm, and scores of quiet country roads skirting the [[Cheviot Hills]], frequently snow-capped in winter. Many visitors pause on their journey on the A1 to photograph their arrival in Scotland or their departure to England at the border crossing. Though the border has significance to many visitors, most residents of Eyemouth consider themselves Scottish rather than British.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}} Nearby the border is a nature trail through the mysteriously named 'Conundrum' Farm. Typical Border towns and villages, such as [[Kelso, Scottish Borders|Kelso]], [[Grantshouse]], [[Abbey St Bathans]], [[Cove, Scottish Borders|Cove]], [[Cockburnspath]] (pronounced 'coburnspath' or 'copath' by locals), [[Cornhill-on-Tweed|Cornhill]], [[Wooler, Northumberland|Wooler]], [[Morpeth, Northumberland|Morpeth]], [[Alnmouth]] and [[Alnwick]] are all within easy reach for day trips from Eyemouth. Near [[Chirnside]] stood Ninewells House, since demolished, where [[Scottish Enlightenment]] philosopher [[David Hume]] spent much of his life.

==Popular culture==
*ITV's ''[[Taggart (series)|Taggart]]'' was filmed on occasion at St Abbs and Coldingham Sands.
*Eyemouth is the setting for a novel by [[Susanna Kearsley]] titled ''The Shadowy Horses''.
*Eyemouth is the home of the Queen of the Underworld in H.P. Mallory's series of Jolie Wilkins books.

==See also==
*[[List of places in the Scottish Borders]]

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
Rev. Daniel McIver, ''An old-time fishing town – Eyemouth'', John Menzies, 1906.

Peter Aitchison, ''Children of the Sea: The Story of the People of Eyemouth'', Tuckwell Press Ltd, 2001. Republished ?2007 as ''Black Friday''. (The author is a descendant of William Spears.)

== External links ==
*[http://www.community-council.org.uk/eyemouth/index.asp Eyemouth Town Community Council]
*{{gbmapping|NT943639}}
*[http://www.eyemouth.com Eyemouth Chamber of Trade]
*[http://www.marine-reserve.co.uk/ St Abbs and Eyemouth Voluntary Marine Reserve]
*[http://www.rls.org.uk/database/results.php?query1=Eyemouth+tapestry&bool1=AND&query2=&bool2=AND&query3=&FULL=1&_IXSPFX_=z&sortby=title&sortorder=ASC The Great Disaster and the Eyemouth Tapestry]
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qws6sqKIOPw&feature=youtu.be The 1881 Disaster Memorials]
*[http://www.scran.ac.uk/database/results.php?field=where&searchterm=%22Eyemouth%22&searchdb=scran/ Historic photographs of Eyemouth showing life and work in past ages].
* {{cite web |url=http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/unvbrit/a/001cotaugi00001u00060000.html |title=Plan of Eyemouth fortified 1557, British Library}}
*[https://netherbyres.com/2021/11/the-history-of-netherbyres/ History of Netherbyres House]

{{Scottish Borders settlements}}
{{Berwickshire towns and villages}}
{{fisheries and fishing}}
{{Recreational dive sites|reesit}}
{{authority control}}

[[Category:Eyemouth| ]]
[[Category:Towns in the Scottish Borders]]
[[Category:Ports and harbours of Scotland]]
[[Category:Port cities and towns of the North Sea]]
[[Category:Berwickshire]]
[[Category:Parishes in Berwickshire]]
[[Category:Burghs]]
[[Category:Fishing communities in Scotland]]
[[Category:Surfing locations in Scotland]]
[[Category:Underwater diving sites in Scotland]]
[[Category:Populated coastal places in Scotland]]