AYTON, a parish and post-town, in the county of
Berwick, 9 miles (X. \v. by N.) from Berwick-on-Tweed,
and 47 (E. by S.) from the city of Edinburgh;
containing about I7OO inhabitants. This place, which
takes its name from the water of Eye, on whose banks
it is situated, is intimately connected with important
transactions of early times. It was formerly dependent
on the monastery of Coldingham, upon the settlement
of which, between the years 1098 and 1 107, under the
auspices of King Edgar, that monarch made several
grants to the monks, including " Eytun" and " aliam
Eytun", the latter being Nether Ayton, on the opposite
side of the river. Ayton then belonged to the parish of
Coldingham; and it is considered that its church was
founded about that time, as a chapel to the neighbouring
priory, to which use it was appropriated till the
Reformation, when this district was disjoined from
Coldingham, and united to Lamberton on the southeast,
a short time after which it was erected into a
parish of itself. The Castle of Ayton, a place of some
consequence in turbulent times, but long since demo-
lished, is supposed to have been founded by a Norman
called De Vescie, whose family afterwards changed their
name to De Eitun, and of whom the Aytons of Inchdarney
in Fife are said to be the lineal descendants.
This castle was subjected to a siege by Surrey, the
famous general of Henry TIL, in 1497. It appears that
the village of Ayton sprang up in its vicinity for the
sake of the protection which it afforded in times of
danger. The estate of Prenderguest, a distinct and very
ancient portion of the parish, in the reign of David I.
partly belonged to Sw-ain, priest of Fishwick on the
banks of the Tweed, who afterwards renounced his
claim to it in favour of the Coldingham monks. A
truce between the hostile kingdoms was signed in the
church in 1384; and another in 1497, for seven years,
after the capture of the castle in July in the same year.
The p.\RisH is bounded on the east by the sea. It is
about four miles in length, the same in breadth, and
contains an area of about 7050 acres, of which 6OOO are
arable, 250 pasture, and 800 plantation. The surface is
most elevated in the southern part, which consists of a
sloping range of high land, adorned with beautiful
copses, and reaching at its highest elevation to about
660 feet above the level of the sea: on the northern
side the ground is lower, but has some very fine lofty
undulations. The sea-coast extends between two and
three miles, and is abrupt and steep, one point, called
Blaiky's, rising to a height of 350 feet. There are one
or two caves on the shore, accessible only by sea, and
which, it is supposed, were formerly used for smuggling;
they are the resort of marine fowls and shell-fish. At
the south-eastern point of the boundary is a rocky bay,
approached from land by a deep ravine, at the foot of
which stand the little fishing-village of Burnmouth, and
a singular rock called the Maiden Stone, insulated at
high water, and which has been separated from the
precipice above by the undermining of the sea. At the
north-eastern point of the parish are two or three islets
called the Harker rocks, over which the sea continually
rolls, and, when driven by strong east winds, exhibits a
succession of waves of sweeping foam. The chief rivers
are the Eye and the Ale, the former of which rises in
the Lammermoor hills, and after flowing for nearly
twelve miles, enters the parish by a right-angled flexure
on its western side, and at length falls into the sea.
The scenery of the valley through which it flows, if
viewed from Millerton hill, the old western approach to
Ayton, is of singular interest and beauty: the nearer
prospect consists of the village, manse, and church,
Ayton House with its beautiful plantations, and the
commanding house and grounds of Peelwalls; a number
of mansions and farm-houses appear in various parts on
the right, skirted by a range of hill country, and the
expansive and restless sea closes the prospect on the
north-east. The Ale rises in Coldingham parish, and
after running two or three miles, forms the northeastern
boundary of this parish, separating it from
Coldingham and Eyemouth for about two miles, when
it falls into the Eye at a romantic elevation called the
Kip-rock.
The soil is in general good, consisting in the southern
part of a fertile loam, and in the northern exhibiting a
light earth, with a considerable admixture of gravel in
many places. The finest crops, both white and green,
are raised in the parish; the land is in a high state of
cnltivation, and every improvement in agriculture has
been introduced, the most prominent signs of advance
being the adoption of a complete system of draining,
and the plentiful use of bone-dust as turnip manure.
The annual value of real property in the parish is
£12,970. The prevailing rock in the district is the
greywacke and greywacke slate, of which formation
large supplies of sandstone of good quality are quarried
for building. Considerable deposits of coarse alabaster,
or gypsum, have been dug up near the hamlet of Burnmouth;
and in the vicinity of the Eye are large quantities
of coarse gravel, boulders, and of rolled blocks
under the soil, apparently alluvial, and rounded by the
perpetual action of water.
The mansion-house of Ayton, which was destroyed by
fire in 1834, was afterwards sold as a ruin with the adjoining
property for £170,000, and has been rebuilt on
a scale of architectural splendour: it is situated on a
beautiful acclivity, near the great London road, on the
bank of the Eye, and is surrounded by extensive
grounds. The house of Preuderguest is a modern building
of superior construction; and at Peelwalls is an
elegant residence, lately built of the celebrated stone
from the quarries of Killala, in Fifeshire: it is situated
in grounds which vie in beauty with the mansion. Gunsgreen
House, standing by the sea-side and harbour of
Eyemouth, is also a fine mansion, erected by a wealthy
smuggler, who caused many concealments to be constructed
in the house, and under the grounds, for the
purpose of carrying on his contraband traffic. A new
and elegant seat was lately erected on the estate of
Netherbyres, by Capt. Sir Samuel Brown, with an approach
from the north side by means of a tensionbridge
over the Eye, by which, with many other improvements,
this valuable property has been rendered
more attractive.
The village of Ayton contains about "00 persons, and
the village of Burnmouth a third of that number. At
the former, a recently established cattle-market takes
place monthly, which is well supported; and fairs have
long been held twice a year, which at present are not of
much importance. Numerous buildings have been
erected upon the new line of the London road, under
leases granted by the proprietor; and the village has
thus been very considerably improved. There are
several manufactories, the principal of which is a papermill,
where pasteboard and coloured papers are chiefly
prepared: it possesses new and greatly improved machinery,
the drying process being effected by the application
of the paper to large cylinders heated by steam; about
£800 are annually paid to the workmen, and the excise
duties amount to upwards of £3000 per annum. A
tannery, which is at present on a small scale, but progressively
increasing, was commenced in the village a
few years since; and at Gunsgreen is a distillery, not
now at work, that yielded about 1500 gallons of aqua
weekly, chiefly derived from potatoes, 6000 cwt. of
which were sometimes consumed in two months. Kelp
has occasionally been made on the shore, at Burnmouth j
but the return is too small to induce the inhabitants to
prosecute the manufacture with vigour. A harbour has
been lately constructed at Burnmouth, as a security
against the violence of the sea: it is of sandstone found
in the parish, and was completed at a cost of £1600,
three-fourths defrayed by the commissioners for fisheries.
and one-fourth by the fishermen. Large quantities of
white fish and occasionally of red, of very fine quality,
are taken off the coast; and cod, ling, and herrings are
cured for distant markets: lobsters are sometimes sent
to London; and periwinkles, with which the rocks
abound, are likewise an article of trade, for the use of
those fishmongers who convert them into sauce. There
is the greatest facility of communication, the London
road and the North-British railway intersecting the
parish, and another road crossing the London line
nearly at right angles, and leading from Eyemouth into
the interior of the county.
For ecclesiastical purposes the parish is within the
bounds of the presbytery of Chirnside and synod of
Merse and Teviotdale; the patronage is possessed by
the Crown, and the minister's stipend is about £9,18,
with a glebe valued at £35 per annum, and a manse on
the bank of the river Eye, erected at the close of the
last century. The church is conveniently situated
about half a mile from the village, in a romantic and
sweetly secluded spot, near the river Eye, commanding
a fine view of Ayton House. It consists partly of the
walls of the ancient church, built about the twelfth
century by the monks of Coldingham, and which was
of very considerable dimensions. The old south transept
is still entire, shrouded with mantling ivy, and
converted into a burying-place for the Ayton family;
the gable of the chancel is also remaining, but its side
walls have been removed for the sake of the sandstone
material, which appears to have been cut from the
quarry at Greystonlees. The present building was repaired
and enlarged about twenty-five years since, and
contains 456 sittings. There are two places of worship
belonging to the United Presbyterian Synod. The parochial
school affords instruction in the usual branches
of education, with the classics, mathematics, and French
if required; the master has a salary of £34. 4. 4., and a
good house and garden, with fees and other emoluments
to the amount of £84 a year.
On the highest point of the southern extremity of the
parish is the round camp of Drumaw, or Habchester,
which, before recent mutilations by the plough, was a
fine specimen of ancient British encampments. It commands
an extensive prospect both by sea and land; and
from its situation on the northern side of the hill, and
its use for observation and defence, it is thought to have
been constructed by South Britons in order to watch
the movements and repel the attacks of their northern
neighbours. In the vicinity are remains of other
camps, all of which, in process of time, yielded to the
more efficient and permanent defence of castles, remains
of which are still visible in many parts. The
encampment of Drumaw was situated near the Roman
road which extended from the wall of Severus, and, after
crossing the country at Newcastle, terminated at the
Roman camp near St. Abb's Head in this district.