It has a hotel, post office, award-winning butcher, garage, fish and chip shop, bookshop and café and several convenience stores.

The village is mostly known for being on the route of St Cuthbert's Way, a long distance footpath linking Melrose Abbey (5 miles or 8 kilometres northwest) to the Holy Island of Lindisfarne off the Northumberland coast in north east England.

The Romans came to this area almost two thousand years ago, leaving Dere Street and the nearby fort of Trimontium as evidence of their occupation.

In the 7th century Northumbria was ruled by the pagan leader Oswald who, upon converting to Christianity, established, with the help of St Aidan, a monastery at Lindisfarne.

[8] In 1544, the army of Henry VIII of England under the Earl of Hertford razed the Border Abbeys and caused destruction of dwellings in the village including Lessuden House, which was later rebuilt.

Nearby this house stood the original village church called St Mary's which was established in the 12th century in the reign of David I.

Through time the worshippers moved to a church erected at Benrig near St Boisil's Chapel which, with repeated repairs and reconstructions, stood until 1952 when it was finally demolished.

Joiners, plumbers, builders, drapers, bakers, butchers, fishmongers, publicans, carters, undertakers and bankers all managed to make a living from premises within the village boundaries.

Modern life, ease of travel and changes in the nature of economic thinking have inevitably led to the depletion of local businesses.

The water-fountain in Main Street erected by Lord Polwarth of Mertoun is a remnant of the first public water system fed from Clintmains by lead pipes.

Two cast iron oil lamps, dated 1902, erected to commemorate the Coronation of King Edward V11 can still be seen on brackets attached to the end of the Public Hall.

One of the builders of the schoolhouse was John Smith of Darnick who also sculpted the William Wallace Statue at Bemersyde House near Dryburgh.

Mertoun Bridge was built to replace the old ford across the river, and population growth led to the building of the sandstone houses at West Croft and Jenny Moore's Road.

The main roads to Melrose, Jedburgh and Kelso operated a turnpike system which meant that the horse-drawn coaches, some of which ran on a daily basis, had to pay road-tax at the various tollhouses, one of which can still be seen at Mertoun Bridge.

One local business which did not lose out to the railway was operated by the Henderson brothers who ran a horse-drawn cab service to and from the station which was much used for both passengers and goods delivery.

The village green, still of considerable size, was once even bigger and old maps show it stretching as far as the tennis courts and up the west side of the A68 to behind the Kennels and across the cricket pitch.

It was a time for merriment and fun making, with kiosks, booths and campfires offering a change from daily routine for local residents.

Walkers on St Cuthbert's Way through the village on pilgrimage from Melrose to Lindisfarne see the same view of the Eildon Hills as was seen by such men as Modan who established a religious cell at Dryburgh; Aidan who brought twelve young monks from Lindisfarne to Old Melrose as missionaries; Cuthbert who became prior and bishop and Boisil who, after a life of holiness and healing gave his name to the village and parish of St Boswells.

The football and rugby team haven't seen similar fortune, though - both clubs finishing bottom of their respective leagues in the 2005–06 season.

St. Boswells Fair features in James Hogg's comic tale Willie Wastle and his Dog Trap, first published in the Royal Lady's Magazine in July 1832.

[9] St. Boswells Green features in Elliot Cowan Smith's Mang Howes an Knowes: A Day's Dander Throwe Border Waeter-Gates, published by Allan Watt & Son, Hawick, in 1925.