A vision of Britain through time
A vision of Britain from 1801 to now.
Including maps, statistical trends and historical descriptions.
A vision of Britain through time
A vision of Britain from 1801 to now.
Including maps, statistical trends and historical descriptions.
Kirkcowan, a village and a parish of N Wigtownshire. The village stands on the left bank of Tarf Water, 7¼ miles NW of Wigtown, and 3 furlongs E by S of Kirkcowan station on the Dum fries and Portpatrick branch of the Caledonian railway, this being 6¼ miles WSW of Newton-Stewart. Serving in a small way as a centre of country trade, it finds employment in two neighbouring woollen mills, and has a post office, with money order, savings' bank, and railway telegraph departments, 3 hotels, and a bowling-green. Pop. (1861) 734, (1871) 693, (1881) 671.
The parish is bounded N by Colmonell in Ayrshire, E by Penninghame and Wigtown, SE by Kirkinner, SW by Mochrum, and W by Old Luce and New Luce. Its utmost length, from NNW to SSE, is 14½ miles; its breadth varies between 9 furlongs and 6¼ miles; and its land area is 35, 865 acres. The Bladenoch, issuing from Loch Maberry (1¼ mile x 3 furl.; 405 feet), at the meeting-point with Colmonell and Penninghame, winds 16¾ miles south-south-eastward along all the eastern boundary; and Tarf Water, from just below its source, runs 161/8 miles south-south-eastward along most of the western boundary, and then strikes 4 miles east-south-eastward through the interior, till it falls into the Bladenoch at a point 1¼ mile ESE of Kirkcowan village. Several considerable burns rise in the interior, and run to either the Bladenoch or Tarf Water. Lakes, other than Loch Maberry, are Loch Clugston (3 x 1¼ furl.), in the SE; Black Loch (2 x 1 furl.), Loch Heron (3 x 11/8 furl.), and Loch Ronald (5 x 2¾ furl.), in the W; and seven or eight smaller ones, dotted over the centre and the N. At the confluence of Tarf Water with the Bladenoch the surface declines to 95 feet above sea-level, thence rising south-westward to 306 feet at Mindork Fell, and north-north-westward to 579 at Barskeoch Fell, 702 at Cuhennan Fell, 742 at Eldrig Fell, 604 at Urrall Fell, and 1000 at Craigairie Fell. Most of the land is either moor, moss, or bleak pasture; and much of it expands into broad hill plateau. Granite and greywacke are predominant rocks, and both have been largely worked. The soil is generally thin and poor. Little more than one-fifth of the entire area is either regularly or occasionally in tillage; wood covers 315 acres; and all the rest of the parish is either pastoral or waste. Antiquities are the site of Mindork Castle and traces of the old military road. Craighlaw House, noticed separately, is the principal residence; and 3 proprietors hold each an annual value of £500 and upwards, 4 of between £100 and £500, 2 of from £50 to £100, and 5 of from £20 to £50. Kirkcowan is in the presbytery of Wigtown and synod of Galloway; the living is worth £337. The parish church, at the village, is a handsome edifice of 1834, containing 400 sittings. There is also a U.P. church; and two public schools, Darnow and Kirkcowan, with respective accommodation for 35 and 155 children, had (1881) an average attendance of 15 and 142, and grants of £25, 1s. and £127, 11s. Valuation (1860) £7079, (1883) £10,349, 4s. 9d. Pop. (1801) 787, (1831) 1374, (1861) 1434, (1871) 1352, (1881) 1307.—Ord. Sur., shs. 4, 8, 1857-63.
(F.H. Groome, Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland (1882-4); © 2004 Gazetteer for Scotland)
| Linked entities: | |
|---|---|
| Feature Description: | "a village and a parish" (ADL Feature Type: "populated places") |
| Administrative units: | Kirkcowan ScoP Wigtownshire ScoCnty |
| Place: | Kirkcowan |
Go to the linked place page for a location map, and for access to other historical writing about the place. Pages for linked administrative units may contain historical statistics and information on boundaries.