Lauder

Lauder is elongated town that simply follows the line of the A68 road from Edinburgh to Darlington in England. Much of the medieval street plan of Lauder still remains pretty much intact. The central Market Place is divided by a line of buildings called Mid Row. At the north end of them is Lauder Town Hall which has served various uses over the years as the tolbooth, the town jail and the council meeting place.

The original Lauder was contained within encircling lanes that defined the circumference of the town and were bounded with semi-defensible walls. These lanes are now called Castle Wynd and Manse Road; their original names were much more charming and boisterous: Upper Backside and Lower Backside. To the east of the Market Place is Lauder Old Church with its unusual Greek Cross plan and octagonal tower. The church was built in 1673 to replace a church knocked down by the 2nd Earl of Lauderdale.

The A68 road South lies along the route of the famous Roman road "Dere Street" and has witnessed the passage of many armies while the present–day Southern Upland Way crosses Lauder on its way to the East Coast.

The remains of an important Medieval Hospital and Medical Centre lies on Soutra Hill, near Lauder, currently being lovingly restored by archaeologists and historians.

To the South of Lauder is Earlston and the Rhymer's Tower once the home of Thomas the Rhymer the 13^th century poet famed for his gift of prophesy.