About Eildon
Eildon is the largest of the five area partnerships in Scottish Borders, and is approximately twice the size of the other four areas. It had an estimated population of 36,840 in 2021. Download a map of the Eildon area.
The main towns in Eildon are:
- Galashiels (12,302)
- Selkirk (5,458)
Other towns and large villages in Eildon with a population over 1k are:
- Tweedbank (1,994)
- Melrose (1,904)
- Lauder (1,887)
- Earlston (1,715)
- Newtown St Boswells (1,465)
The only other villages with a population of over 500 are:
- Stow (697)
- Newstead (589)
Annual population estimates for settlements over 500 people are recorded by National Records of Scotland.
23.9% of Eildon's population (8,808 people) in Eildon lived in settlements of under 500 people, or in isolated hamlets. Population counts for these settlements are recorded by the decennial Population Census.
Settlements with a population of less than 500, that were recorded by the 2011 Census, include:
- Gattonside (461)
- Darnick (397)
- Oxton (351)
- Lilliesleaf (347)
- Newstead (297)
- Bowden (294)
- Fountainhall (202)
- Heriot Village (173)
- Ettrickbridge (167)
- Midlem (166)
- Ashkirk (139)
- Yarrow and Yarrowford (139)
- Blainslie (114)
- Eildon village (97)
- Redpath (87)
Population Change
The population of Eildon increased slightly between 2011 and 2019 but this affected the large locality unevenly.
The biggest population increase was in Newtown St Boswells, with the 16.8% increase reflecting the new housing in the area. This was the biggest percentage increase of any settlement of 500 or more in Scottish Borders during that period.
There were also large population increases on the outskirts of Galashiels, Melrose and Lauder, again following patterns of new housebuilding.
The biggest population loss was in Tweedbank, with 5.5% fewer people in 2019 than in 2011, followed by 3% - 5% population losses in Selkirk, Earlston and Stow. There were also slight population losses from the traditional residential parts of Galashiels, again due to the effect of new housing opportunities.