Galashiels

Parish No 775 Galashiels is located within the County of Selkirkshire which now makes up part of the Scottish Borders. Galashiels is situated approximately 28 miles south east of Edinburgh and approximately 5 miles north of Selkirk. For a map showing the location of Galashiels please click here.

In medieval times there was a hunting tower near Galashiels at the heart of the royal forest of Gala and Leader and huts or shiels by the river are said to have been used by pilgrims on their way to Melrose Abbey. Galashiels was made a burgh of barony by the Pringles in 1599, Galashiels developed in association with the textile industry. The granting of the burgh charter is an event celebrated annually in early summer at the Braw Lads' Gathering and the towns' coat of arms incorporates a fox attempting to reach plums on a tree, with the motto 'Sour Plums', an image that commemorates the story of a group of English soldiers killed in 1337 after stealing plums. By 1882 the population of Galashiels had risen to 17,000 and there were 21 mills in the town which had been granted the status of a Parliamentary Burgh in 1868.

Scotts Monument, Galashiels
	St John’s Church, Langlee Galashiels

"A village and parish in the district of Tweeddale. The parish is of an irregular triangular figure, on an average about 5 1/2 miles in breadth, lying partly in the county of Roxburgh, and partly in that of Selkirk; the Tweed, which divides it into two parts, being the boundary of the two shires. The surface is hilly and mountainous; the highest point, Meghill, being elevated about 1480 feet above the level of the sea. The hills are mostly green, and furnish excellent sheep pasture. The soil is various, being partly a deep loam on a till bottom and partly a shallow loam upon gravel, with which it is much mixed. Considerable attention is paid to the rearing of sheep, and the improvement of the wool. Besides the Tweed, the parish is intersected by the Etterick and Gala waters, which are well known from the beautiful pastoral songs to which they give their name. The village of Galashiels, part of which lies in the parish of Melrose, is finely situated on the banks of the Gala, and contains about 780 inhabitants ... Population [of the parish] in 1801, 844."

from Gazetteer of Scotland published 1806, Edinburgh.

Church History

Population

Here are some figures showing the parish's population through time:

1755 – 998

1791 – 914

1801 – 844

1811 – 986

1821 – 1358

1831 – 1364

1841 –

1851 –

1861 – 3379

1871 –

1881 – 9771

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