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The loch which has virtually disppeared as a result of the extensive drainage, was formerly fed by the River Kale. Some 1000 acres of water and marsh, it dominated the area. The remains of its banks can be see as terraces at mouth of the Kale valley leading up to Hownam. The old road from Morebattle to Linton, via Linton Burnfoot, and on to Kelso was built around the side of the shrinking loch, the new road crossing the old loch bed. Today there is the River Kale and the very swampy area left, at the east end of the valley, after the drainage efforts of the 18th century, during the great agricultural improvements thrust in the Borders. The land recovered from the bed of the loch proved very fertile and excellent for arable farming.
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