Lennel was the name of the civil Parish of Coldstream until at least 1860 and has been depicted in various forms on deeds and charters, i.e. Leinhah, Laynalle, Leinhall, Leinas, Lemhale, Lenhall, Laynal, Lennal, its etymology believed to be derived from two sources, Viz, the ancient British and Anglo Saxon language, Llyn and Len signifying a pool - thus giving the root of the name from the curve or bend in the river formed at this location, the end of the name hal from Anglo Saxon language signifies a large house or place of strength.

With the river Tweed the boundary on the east between Scotland and England, Lennel was frequently visited by English borderers during their predatory excursions, finally resulting in the abandonment of the original site to a site further west, now the origin of the New town of Lennel.

The church of Leinhah (Lennel) was in existence in the early 12th century and was the parish church for the village which stood to the east. The Church was dedicated to St.Mary by David de Bernham, Bishop of St.Andrews on 31st March 1243. During the 12th century the rights to the Lands of Lennel church were shared equally between Coldingham and Coldstream Priories. By the early 13th century the rights were granted solely to the Convent of St Mary at Coldstream.

In 1704 the church elders decided that Lennel church was in too ruinous a state to accommodate the congregation, many of whom had by now migrated to neighbouring Coldstream, where a new church was completed in 1705. However, the Earl of Haddington of Lennel, Lady Grissel Kerr of Moristoun, and others opposed this move, and the new building did not officially become the parish church until 1718.

Although today only the west gable stands to its original height, the church and its graveyard contain some interesting relics from the early 19th century when "resurrectionists" or body snatchers ran an illicit trade in corpses for Edinburgh surgeons. A shed built inside the west end of the nave was built in 1821 as a mort-house where corpses awaiting burial would be guarded by watchmen.

Two iron mort-safes can be seen in the ground just to the north of the main body of the church. With a weight of about one ton these would have been an effective deterrent to would-be grave robbers.

Some of the headstones in the yard date back as far as the 15th century. In the oldest part of the cemetary, some of the headstones have symbols which depict the occupation of the person, for example, a hammer and saw may tell us that whoever was buried here was a carpenter by trade. The skull and crossbones seen on many of the tombs is simply a symbol of mortality. During the cholera epedemic, victims were buried in iron coffins to prevent the spread of the disease.

Lennel House, which is now a nursing home, occupies an ancient site forming part of the medieval Earldom of Dunbar. Norman, Edgar and Liddell families owned the property from the 12th to the 15th century, after which it was taken over by Coldstream Priory. The present building dates from around 1820 and succeeds an earlier building on the same site once tennanted by Patrick Brydone, the traveller and antiquarian.

The house was visited by Robert Burns in 1787 and was at one time the holiday home of Beatrix Potter. Inspired by the border countryside, it is thought that some of her characters she created were 'born' during her stay here.