Maxwellheugh and Springwood Park, by James Tait 497 



15th November, 1605. As vicar of Maxwell and Kelso, he 

 was allowed certain old vaults in the Abbey of Kelso, which 

 he used as a manse, one of which was a hall and kitchen, 

 while another was used as a bedroom and closet, but both 

 were much under the level of the adjoining ground. Robt. 

 Knox, eldest son of James Knox, succeeded his father as 

 vicar of Kelso and Maxwell in 1633 ; and in addition to the 

 accommodation in Kelso Abbey, occupied by his father as a 

 manse, he received two galleries or " to-falls," one to walk 

 and study in, the other as a bed-chamber. 



The grave-yard of Maxwell church is still preserved in 

 the Bridgend Park, and has through the care of Sir George 

 Douglas, been enclosed with a wall, and ornamented with 

 four cedars of Lebanon, planted in the form of a cross. It 

 is in the haugh not far from Maxwellheugh Mill ; and some 

 of the tombstones are still so well preserved as to show the 

 names of persons whose ashes repose below. There is more 

 difficulty in fixing the site of the oratory, which was dedi- 

 cated to St. Thomas the martyr, and which was appended as 

 a gift to the monks along with a toft. In Stobie's old map, 

 it is marked in a field, called St. Thomas' Lands, which lies 

 in front of the present mansion house. Three beech trees, 

 in the shape of a triangle, are believed to mark the spot. 

 On the other hand, Morton says it stood at Harlaw, near 

 the head of Wooden Burn. Jeffrey thinks the name Pen- 

 dicill or Pendicle indicates the site of the oratory, which 

 was a chapel "appended" to the church of Maxwell, and 

 that the chapel probably stood near the "law" or tumulus 

 at the entrance gate of Pinnaclehill, or Pendiclehill, while 

 the " toft" was near the Maisondieu. The Maisondieu or 

 hospital of Roxburgh, for the reception of pilgrims, the 

 diseased, and the indigent, was situated on the south side 

 of the Teviot, but no vestige of it now remains. 



The site of the old Maxwell barony is now, of course, com- 

 pletely changed. The old house of Bridgend was taken down 

 in 1756, and the name changed to Springwood Park. The 

 archway, near the end of Kelso Bridge, was designed by 

 Gillespie Graham, and was erected by Sir John James Scott 

 Douglas, in 1822. The situation of the present house of 

 Springwood Park is well chosen, and it commands some pic- 

 turesque though not very extensive prospects. The grounds 

 are romantic, and the park contains some splendid trees. 



