History of Ayton

For more information on Ayton’s history, please visit Ayton Historical Society’s website.

~6000 BC

There is evidence to prove that human activity was present within what is now known as The Eastern Borders and Northumberland. The people were nomadic, as they did not build permanent houses nor erect monuments to their dead, preferring to travel across the land gathering plants and vegetables and following the herds of deer which were a source of food. Animal skin would have been used for tents and clothing whilst tools would have been from bones, stone or flint. These ancient tools can still be found in rock shelters and caves as was shown at Fairnieside Farm, near Ayton, where, in 1876, a stone age cutting or cleaving instrument was found.

~3000 BC

People started to farm and to herd animals and they constructed permanent homes as well as religious and funeral monuments. Monuments from 3000BC are located in The Eastern Borders and Northumberland, and they include: ring marks, stone circles, burial cairns and hill forts.

~1000 BC

There were the first signs of a community in the area. Evidence of this was revealed again at Fairnieside Farm when in 1968, a farmers plough opened up an adult grave which was estimated to be 3000 years old.

~750 BC

The first Celts came to what is now Scotland, displacing ancestral settlers as the dominant group. However, the Celts, as was typical around their homelands across Europe, were never one kingdom as separate families gathered together to form tribes or clans.

Scotland had at least 16 tribes with the tribesmen loyal to their own respective kings and queens. Those north of the Forth-Clyde isthmus were to become known as the Pictii by the Romans, or as we know call them, “Picts”. Those in the south were regarded as Brythonic/Brethonic or, as they became known, the “Britons”.

The tribe which ruled what is now The Eastern Borders, the Lothians and Northumberland were the Votadini (later known as Y Gododdin by the dark ages): their capital was located on a hill in East Lothian called Traprain Law (between Haddington and East Linton just off the A1). These tribesmen and women, as well as those living in most of the area to the south of the Forth-Clyde isthmus probably spoke a language similar to the old Welsh/Brethonic tribes occupying what were later to become Wales and England.

To the north of Traprain Law was another Votadinian centre called Din Eidyn, later to become Dunedin - today we call it Edinburgh.

To the south it is possible that Ayton Hill with its panoramic views and fresh water supply was also used by the Votadini Celts as a base.

1333

19th July, the rout which followed Scotland’s defeat at the Battle of Halidon Hill continued for 5 corpse strewn miles as the English knights killed at will: the first rear-guard defence was organised around Ayton using the River Eye as a natural defensive barrier.

1497

In September 1497, at Ayton Old Church, James IV of Scotland and Henry VII of England signed a seven year truce. This was 5 years after Christopher Columbus banged into the new world (1492) and 123 years before the Pilgrim Fathers landed in New England (1620).

1715

James Hume, Earl of Hume, a supporter of the Jacobite cause, aided the Earl of Mar to reinstate the Stewarts upon the throne with his support of the failed second Jacobite rebellion. For this support, James Hume forfeited the Ayton Castle Estates and they were passed to the Crown.

1797

Robert Mennon, the Ayton Bard was born.

1914-18

42 men from Ayton Parish lost their lives in defence of their country during World War One.

1939-45

World War Two: 15 men from Ayton Parish lost their lives in defence of their country

1948

Between 8 and 13 August 15 inches of rain fell. The River Eye burst its banks and damaged many railway bridges. Ayton, lying on the high ground was not flooded by the river. Unfortunately, the Bean Burn, which runs through the village, burst its banks and caused much flooding.

1966

Ayton train station closed, and the nearest railhead became Berwick-upon-Tweed. This would change in 2022 when neighbouring Reston re-opened its train station.

1980

Ayton is finally bypassed so that the bulk of traffic is diverted on to the present A1.