Hawick (Scottish Borders)

Lat:55.4290 Lon: -2.7735

Hawick is the largest town in the Scottish Borders. It sits on the River Teviot where it is joined by the Slitrig Water.

The settlement appears to have been founded in the 11th Century. Hawick remained a small village until a charter of 1537 allowed it to hold markets, encouraging its growth.

Since the 17th Century, textile work has grown to become the dominant industry in Hawick. Hand knitting, mostly of socks and underwear, developed into major production of woollen goods with the introduction of water-powered mills. From the second half of the 1800s, first steam power, then diesel and electricity grew to replace water power. The mills expanded in both size and number. At one time there were more than fifty mills in the town.

The original photo shows Atheenic Mill, set up by Robert Turnbull around 1906. A mill had existed on this site since Messrs William Wilson and Sons erected Weensland Mills here in the 1820s.

In addition to the mills, workers houses were built in Weensland Row. Ownership of the mill changed several times and immediately prior to the setting up of Atheenic Mill, the building was shared by a number of separate textile firms.

The Atheenic Underwear Company converted the building to a hosiery mill, manufacturing ladies', gents' and children's woollen underwear and nightwear.

The company ceased trading some time after 1939. It is possible that under the World War II Concentration of Industry Scheme, the company's production was amalgamated with that of other Hawick firms into some of the larger mills. After the war, there was no longer a call for the underwear manufacture that Atheenic had specialised in. Other mills converted to knitwear manufacture but this required a large initial investment to purchase necessary machinery. It is possible that the company did not have sufficient funds to make this switch.

In the post war period, the mill again changed hands several times before finally closing in 1991. The building remained derelict for several years. Following a fire in 1999 it was largely demolished.

Features of the area

• River
• Town
• Industry
• Mill

Scottish Borders Group

The Scottish Borders is one of Scotland’s 32 unitary council areas. It is bordered by Dumfries and Galloway, South Lanarkshire, West Lothian, City of Edinburgh, East Lothian, and Midlothian, as well as Northumberland and Cumbria in. The administrative centre of the area is Newtown St. Boswells.

Historically, the name Scottish Borders designated the entire border region of southern Scotland and, together with neighbouring areas of England, was part of the historical Borders region.

Elsewhere on the BBC

• BBC South Scotland

Elsewhere on the web

• Hawick Online: Community website
• Wikipedia entry on Hawick
• Heart of Hawick: Heritage Hub
• Scottish Borders Council: Library and Information service