The village lies south of the Eildon Hills on the Sprouston and Newtown burns,[4] approximately 40 miles (64 km) south-east of Edinburgh.

[citation needed] It lies split between the civil parishes of Melrose and St Boswells.

Historically, Newtown St Boswells was a centre for milling grain, with watermills on its burns.

Roxburghshire County Council established offices at Newtown St Boswells in 1896, and subsequently moved its meeting place there from Jedburgh in 1930.

A Borders College campus at the southeastern tip of the village specialises in agricultural education.