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Jedburgh began as Jedworð, the "worth" or enclosed settlement on the Jed. Later the more familiar word "burgh" was substituted for this, though the original name survives as Jeddart/Jethart.
Bishop Ecgred of Lindisfarne founded a church at Jedburgh in the 9th century, and King David I of Scotland made it a priory between 1118 and 1138, housing Augustinian monks from Beauvais in France. The abbey was founded in 1147, but border wars with England in the 16th century left it a ruin.
The deeply religious Scottish king Malcolm IV died at Jedburgh in 1165, aged 24. His death is thought to have been caused by Paget's disease of bone.
David I built a castle at Jedburgh, and in 1174 it was one of five fortresses ceded to England. It was an occasional royal residence for the Scots. It was demolished in 1409.
Jedburgh Abbey
In 1258, Jedburgh was a focus of royal attention, with negotiations between Scotland's Alexander III and England's Henry III over the succession to the Scottish throne, leaving the Comyn faction dominant. Alexander III was married to Yolande in the abbey in 1285.
In 1307, James Douglas, fighting for King Robert Bruce, took Jedburgh from the English with little effort.
Its proximity to England made it subject to raids and skirmishes by both Scottish and English forces but its strategic position also brought the town valuable trade. At various times and at various locations the town supported a horse market, a cattle market, a corn market and a butcher market. Farm workers and servants also attended hiring fairs seeking employment.
Jedburgh was burnt in September 1523 by an English force commanded by William Bulmer and Thomas Tempest. The Earl of Surrey reported the town had more houses than Berwick-upon-Tweed and six good towers. The horses stampeded from the English camp, some into the burning town. Such was the panic, Lord Dacre's men said that the Devil was seen amongst them. During the war with England now known as the "Rough Wooing", the Scots and their French allies made plans to fortify Jedburgh in 1549, with the advice of Camillo Marini, an Italian military engineer.
Mary, Queen of Scots, stayed at a certain house in the town in 1566 and that house is now a museum – Mary Queen of Scots House. Mary fell ill, and on 25 October 1566, the Privy council issued a "Proclamation to keep good rule at Jedburgh" during the time of her recuperation. No one should pursue their private quarrel and arm themselves, on pain of death for treason.
The title "Lord of Jedburgh Forest" was granted to George Douglas, 1st Earl of Angus on his marriage to the Princess Mary, daughter of Robert III in 1397. The titles of Archibald Douglas, 1st Duke of Douglas included "Viscount Jedburgh Forest", but he died without an heir in 1761.
On 6 November 1745, the Jacobite army led by Prince Charles Edward Stuart passed through the town on its way to England. The Castle Prison opened in 1823.
In 1787, the geologist James Hutton noted what is now known as the Hutton Unconformity at Inchbonny, near Jedburgh. Layers of sedimentary rock which are tilted almost vertically are covered by newer horizontal layers of red sandstone. This was one of the findings that led him to develop his concept of an immensely long geologic time scale with "no vestige of a beginning, no prospect of an end."
Jedburgh Town Hall
The Scots name for the town is part of the expression "Jeddart justice" or "Jethart Justice", in which a man was hanged first, and tried afterwards.
County Buildings, Castlegate, Jedburgh
Jedburgh became the county town of Roxburghshire after the original county town of Roxburgh was abandoned following the destruction of Roxburgh Castle in 1460 during the Anglo-Scottish Wars. In 1812, County Buildings was built at the junction of Market Place and Castlegate in Jedburgh, serving as both a sheriff court and meeting place for the Commissioners of Supply. Roxburghshire County Council was created in 1890 and continued to meet at the County Buildings until 1930 when it moved its meetings to County Offices at Newtown St Boswells.
The town's name was used for Operation Jedburgh, a clandestine operation by allied soldiers in occupied Europe during the Second World War.
