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The suggested start for
this walk is at the Tourist Information Centre in the Harbour
Square car park. The route follows around the town in a
clockwise
direction.
Left click on photos
to enlarge.
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From the Harbour,
walk up to the bridge and turn right along Bridge Street. The
concrete bridge over the tidal River Dee, built in 1926,
replaced an old iron bridge of 1868. At the end of Bridge Street
cross to the former Station building.
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"The
railway station is handsome and commodious, with a covered platform,
and accommodation in every way suited to the traffic. Opposite to the
station is the Free Church, a very handsome new building, with tall
tapering well-proportioned spire, and fine stained glass windows.
Adjoining it is the Johnson Free School, an elegant stone building,
with a centre tower and wings." - extract from "Rambles
in Galloway". |
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The Station
building, opened 1864, is currently a beauty
parlour. The former Free Church opposite has been
tastefully converted into flats. The Johnston School
of 1848, next to the
church still caters for infants. |
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Just a few yards from the school,
at the next junction, is a group of alms houses named Atkinson Place,
after its benefactor. At the telephone box, turn right and
walk along to Millburn Street. This older part of the town was
originally a hamlet outside the Burgh. Across the road, and to
the left, is the Old Mill Pottery, which occupies a former corn
mill. Turn right and walk up and across the B727 to high
Millburn Street, which was part of the original road to Dumfries.
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Continue to the Bowling Green and
take the footpath down to the right onto Church Row and walk along to
the Town Hall
on the corner. The Parish Church (1838)
and grounds are opposite. The sandstone Town Hall opened in
1879 and originally housed the Museum & Library. Turn left
along the main street, passing the Bowling Green, Church Hall and
tennis courts. The Stewartry Museum,
built in 1893, is on the other side of the road. |
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It was refurbished in 1996
and specialises in local history. It is open most days and
admission is free. At the cross roads, turn the corner into
High Street and along to the Selkirk
Arms, where Robert
Burns is said to have stayed in 1794. Just beyond the hotel,
stones are set in the road marking the position of one of the pillars
of the Meikle Yett (town gate); a plaque is attached to nearby
railings. From here to the far end of High Street is the oldest
part of the town. Walk along noting the colour washed facades
of the old houses, and cross Castle Street, passing the Police
Station, to the imposing Sheriff Court House
(1868); of which the
tallest castellated tower was the former town gaol. |
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Opposite the Court House
the dwellings with small windows and low doors are some of the
oldest in the town. In the corner is the Tolbooth,
dating from 1629; the Mercat Cross at the top of the external stairs
is dated 1610. The Tolbooth, originally the Council's meeting place,
court and prison, was refurbished in 1993 and opened as an Arts
Centre. The story of Kirkcudbright artists is shown in an
audio-visual display, with some of their best paintings hanging in
the gallery. Continue along High Street, a mixture of elegant
and homely houses, where some of the 20th. century artists known as
the "Glasgow Boys" were resident. Here is the home of Hornel. |
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Hornel lived at Broughton
House (NTS). The house
with his studio and gallery, plus the Japanese-style riverside
garden are open most days. At this end of High Street are the Harbour
Cottages, Mote Brae, MacLellan's Castle, the War
Memorial and Greyfriars
Church. |
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The Harbour Cottage
Gallery is located in an old habour-side cottage. The gallery,
on two floors, offers an exhibition programme by local artists and
craft workers throughout the year. On the Mote
Brae, a Franciscan Friary situated, a relic of which is
incorporated into Greyfriars Church (restored 1922). The
Friary stones were used to build MacLellan's Castle (1582),
now ruined, a good example of a Scottish tower house. The War
Memorial is located on the wide footway between the Castle and
Greyfriars Church. |
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The bronze sculpture, of man and
boy, on top of the Memorial, was made in 1921 at Gorgie,
Edinburgh: for more details, Click here: 
From Greyfriars Church return to the Tourist Office at
the harbour. The current Harbour
was built in 1912, but has since been extended and modified. The main
trade is from fishing boats. There is a large tidal range in the Dee
estuary which influences the movement of shipping. Considerable
amounts of silt are deposited in the harbour and these need to be
cleaned away on a regular basis. Periodically, at very high
tides, in the winter, the water rises above the top of the harbour wall. |
Follow the “Castledykes
Walk” to explore the
Kirkcudbright's maritime connection.
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More information
about the history of Kirkcudbright and the surrounding area can be
obtained from the Stewartry Museum, tel. 01557 331643, and found on www.old-kirkcudbright.net -
an internet browse through the history, topography and genealogy of
the ancient Parish and Burgh of Kirkcudbright. |
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