Editing Coldstream (section)

== History ==
[[File:Coldstream, 73 High Street, Town Hall (cropped).jpg|thumb|left|[[Coldstream Town Hall]]]]
Coldstream is the location where [[Edward I of England]] invaded Scotland in 1296. In February 1316 during the [[Wars of Scottish Independence]], [[James Douglas, Lord of Douglas|Sir James Douglas]] defeated a numerically superior force of Gascon soldiery led by [[Edmond de Caillou]] at the [[Battle of Skaithmuir|Skaithmuir]] to the north of the town. In 1650 [[General]] [[George Monck]] founded the [[Coldstream Guards]] regiment (a part of the [[Guards Division]], [[Foot Guards]] [[regiment]]s of the [[British Army]]). It is one of two regiments of the [[Household Division]] that can trace its lineage to the [[New Model Army]]. Monck led the regiment to London, helping to enable [[Stuart Restoration|the Restoration]] of [[Charles II of England|King Charles II]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Harris|first=Tim|title=Restoration; Charles II and his kingdoms|publisher=Penguin|year=2006|pages=43–44}}</ref>

In the 18th and 19th centuries, Coldstream was a popular centre for [[Marriage in Scotland#Border marriages|runaway marriages]], much like [[Gretna Green]], as it lay on a major road (now the [[A697 road|A697]]). A monument to [[Charles Albany Marjoribanks|Charles Marjoribanks]] (1794–1833), MP for [[Berwickshire]], whose ancestral home was in nearby Lees, stands at the east end of the town, near the Coldstream Bridge. [[Alec Douglas-Home]] (1903–95), who served as [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom]] from October 1963 to October 1964, is buried in the churchyard of the ruined Lennel parish church, just outside the village.<ref>{{cite book|last=Thorpe |first=D R |year=1997 |title= Alec Douglas-Home|location=London |publisher=Sinclair-Stevenson |isbn=1856196631|pages=463–464}}</ref>

Notable buildings in the town include the marriage house, where weddings were conducted,<ref>{{Historic Environment Scotland|desc=The Marriage House, Coldstream Bridge|num=LB4074|access-date=3 October 2022}}</ref> [[The Hirsel]], which is the family seat of the [[Earls of Home]],<ref>{{Historic Environment Scotland|desc=The Hirsel|num=LB4069|access-date=3 October 2022}}</ref> and [[Coldstream Town Hall]], which is used as a library and registration office.<ref>{{Historic Environment Scotland|desc=Town Hall, 73 High Street, Coldstream|num=LB23072|access-date=3 October 2022}}</ref>

Each year, during the first week of August, Coldstream hosts a traditional "Civic Week" where it includes historical aspects of the town's history such as the Torchlight procession and horse-rides to the [[Battle of Flodden]] battlefield.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://scotlandstartshere.com/event/coldstream-civic-week/|title=Coldstream Civic Week|publisher=Scotland Starts Here|access-date=3 October 2022}}</ref>

===Coldstream Priory===

The Priory of St Mary was founded before 1166 by [[Gospatric III, Earl of Lothian]]. Never wealthy or powerful, the monastery nevertheless occurs frequently in the history of the border lands, being targeted several times by English forces. The monastery is the only one from the period where any charters survive thanks to the good sense of the prioress, having them copied. The house was used by both the English and Scots to gather information on each other, thanks to its location, the prioress treading a tightrope to ensure the survival of the monastery. It became a favourite of Margaret Tudor, wife of James IV, Margaret using it several times during the troubled times of the Regency. 

After the Battle of Flodden, the prioress had all the bodies of the Scottish casualties (apart from [[James IV]]’s, which was taken to England) brought to the monastery for burial - an event commemorated annually even today, by a procession & service, involving cutting a sod of grass from the battle field and it being carried back to Coldstream; since the priory is completely lost today, the sod is symbolically ‘buried’ on the Tweed Green. The last prioress signed away her community and it ceased to exist as a legal entity in 1621, although no new novices had been permitted since the 1560 Reform Parliament.  No reliable record of the number of nuns living in the house have survived. <ref>[https://monasticmatrix.osu.edu/monasticon/coldstream Coldstream] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190328084205/https://monasticmatrix.osu.edu/monasticon/coldstream |date=28 March 2019 }}; Monastic Matrix</ref> [[Isabella Hoppringle]] (1460–1538) was the prioress of Coldstream from 1505 until her death. She was succeeded by her relative, Janet Pringle, the last ‘real’ prioress of the house.<ref>{{cite web| title       = Isabella Hoppringle: Biography on Undiscovered Scotland| website=Undiscovered Scotland|url=https://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/usbiography/h/isabellahoppringle.html| access-date = 29 March 2019}}</ref>

=== Bughtrig House ===

In February 2020, the [[Scottish Borders Council]] announced plans to build a museum at the family home of Vice-Admiral [[Bertram Home Ramsay]], who masterminded [[Operation Dynamo]], the evacuation of [[Dunkirk]].  "A former garden store will be converted at Bughtrig House in Coldstream to create the museum in his honour," [[BBC News]] reported.<ref>
{{cite news
| title = Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay: Dunkirk Mastermind Museum Approved
| work = BBC News
| url = https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-south-scotland-51413475
| date = 8 February 2020
| access-date = 9 February 2020}}</ref>