The Debatable Land

When Graham Robb moved to a lonely house on the very edge of England, he discovered that the river winding around his new home had once marked the southern boundary of the legendary Debatable Land. The oldest detectable territorial division in Great Britain, the Debatable Land served as a buffer between Scotland and England. It was once the bloodiest region in the country, fought over by Henry VIII, Elizabeth I, and James V. After most of its population was slaughered or deported, it became the last part of Great Britain to be brought under the control of the state. Today, it has vanished…