Undiscovered Scotland

 

Longformacus lies seven miles north-west of Duns along a seriously minor road. Further to the north-west this same road becomes if anything still narrower as it crosses the spine of the Lammermuir Hills at a height of over 430m before joining the B6355 and descending towards Gifford in East Lothian.

The village lies on both sides of the beautiful east-west valley of the Dye Water as if flows east to join the Whiteadder Water. These days the south side of the river valley carries the Southern Upland Way long distance path through the village en route from Portpatrick on the Irish Sea to Cockburnspath, having skirted the North Sea en route.

Gateposts on a hedge-lined drive just to the south of the bridge over the river show the way to Longformacus Parish Church. What you see today was largely built in about 1730, though it reused the foundations of an earlier church: in part possibly dating back to the 1300s.

Beyond the church, signs discourage further exploration along the curving drive. But an idea of what lays beyond can be gained from the gatehouse on the main road a little to the south. Here the trees part to give a glimpse of Longformacus House, built in the early 1700s, possibly by William Adam.

Much of the remainder of the village has the feel of estate housing originally built to service the big house. Its heart comprises a long terrace of beautiful one and two storey stone cottages overlooking the north bank of the river.

The track passing the front of these partly ivy-clad cottages separates them from their gardens laid out on the riverbank itself, while at the far end of the track the road curves around to the village post office. Combined with a scattering of cottages and a few more modern houses, a church hall, and a barn or two along the roadside, this is Longformacus.