#Inbetween land free

As Graham Robb writes in his 2018 book, The Debatable Land: The Lost World Between Scotland and England, it is “probably the oldest national boundary in Europe”. The line between Scotland and England was established with the Treaty of York in 1237. The architecture reflects the early 20th Century well, such as the once-upon-a-time colonial revival-style cinema, whose adjoining cafe I was thawing out in. Gretna and its Green may be affectionately known as a safe haven for young lovers looking to elope, but the town also has an illustrious industrial heritage owing to the production of munitions for World War One, which drastically reshaped the community. As Dr Anna Groundwater, principal curator, Renaissance and Early Modern History, National Museums Scotland, told me, “It was not a valuable piece of land, high ground and poor farming potential, so it was probably seen as not particularly worth fighting for or defending.” Neither side wanted the responsibility of dealing with the Debatable Lands and as they could not agree on who owned it or how it was divided, neither could be held responsible for it, either. While this decree was made into law, it was more of a legal “out” for England and Scotland.

#Inbetween land free

This was highlighted in a remarkable parliamentary decree issued by the governments of both countries in the mid-16th Century, some 300 years into the Debatable Lands’ story: “All Englishmen and Scottishmen are and shall be free to rob, burn, spoil, slay, murder and destroy, all and every such person and persons, their bodies, property, goods and livestock… without any redress to be made for same.” A tiny 'country' between France and Switzerland.Straddling the border, the Debatable Lands flourished as a sort of anarchic no-man's land, not independent but too dangerous and lawless for either Scotland or England to be able – or want – to take control of. Here, from the 13th to the 16th Centuries, the region's clans plundered land and livestock and endless blood was shed. The Debatable Lands is believed to have been the last great territorial division in Britain. It’s a place where local histories and scant ruins linger among wooded valleys, fast-flowing rivers and open moorland that lend themselves to letting your imagination fill in some of the blanks of its much under-told story.Īnd what a fascinating tale it is.

This lesser-visited corner of the UK is also where you can get close to the story of those who called the Debatable Lands home: feuding clans known as the Border Reivers. Today, this once troublesome region is a laidback, quiet part of the border where hardy animal breeds are reared and a sense of community reverberates among the long-established towns and villages. Peacefully admiring nature at work, it was hard to believe that this seemingly tranquil, rural landscape was once at the edge of one of Britain's most lawless, and for a time, bloodiest, regions: the area known as the Debatable Lands. Standing firm against a determined breeze, I was surveying the scene from what marks the south-western end of the border between Scotland and England. The lowland coastline, flanked by rolling hills, expands until the firth meets the Irish Sea, creating a natural break in the land between Dumfries and Galloway in Scotland and Cumbria in northern England. All around, fields dipped gently to flatten out along the shore of the channel, which snakes its way westwards to the Solway Firth. As I looked across the open estuary of the River Esk, pale yellow sunlight filtered through streaks of low-lying cloud, reflected in the mirror-like ribbons of water and ripples of sand exposed by the retreating tide. Nowhere does a brooding winter sky quite like the west coast of Scotland. (This year, we published many inspiring and amazing stories that made us fall in love with the world – and this is one our favourites.