The 64.5 mile / 103 Km walk was developed around the four ruined Border Abbeys and the location of an even earlier but short lived Tironsian Abbey in Selkirk. Although all four are now in ruin they are beautiful monuments to the many Cistercian and Augustinian monks who lived here in the 12th to 16th centuries.

Kelso Abbey Founder in 1128 when Prince David granted the land to the Tyronensian Cistercian monks, this was seen as a more appropriate site to the earlier Abbey of 1113 set up in Selkirk. This was perhaps the largest of the Border Abbeys although its distruction in 1545 left very limited remains.
		Jedburgh Abbey This was first established as a Priory for the Augustinian Canons but in 1154 King David I granted it Abbey status. This Abbey was used for the Royal Concecration of Alexander III's marriage in 1285. Like Kelso Abbey it was burnt by the Earl of Hertford in 1545.
Melrose Abbey King David granted the land and charter in 1136 to the Cistercian monks from Rievaulx. This was to become a very wealthy monastery but it was completely destroyed by Richard II in 1385. What now exists was the 15th Century Gothic Abbey that replaced the earlier monastery.
		Dryburgh Abbey Established in 1150 for the Augustinian Monks from Premonstre in France this was a smaller Abbey to the others. Its fate was similar with it being burnt in 1322 by Edward II and in 1385 by Richard II. It was finally attacked and abandoned in 1544.

Link to the History and Interest section for a fuller understanding of the history of the Border Abbeys.
The following table provides details of the recommended day sections, although it is recognised that some walkers may want to extend the distances and hence reduce the walk from five days to four.