Parish of Inch: Historical perspective for Parish of Inch

Inch, a coast parish of NW Wigtownshire. Including till 1617-28 the present parishes of Stranraer and Portpatrick, it now comprises all the rest of the ancient parishes of Inch and Soulseat, the former named from the islet in Castle-Kennedy Loch, opposite the old parish church, 3 miles E of Stranraer; and it contains Castle Kennedy and Stranraer stations, the Tradeston suburb of Stranraer town, the post-office villages of Cairnryan and Lochans, Stranraer, and the hamlet of Aird. It is bounded N by Ballantrae in Ayrshire, E by New Luce, SE by Old Luce, S by Stoneykirk, and W by Portpatrick, Leswalt, Stranraer, and Loch Ryan. Its utmost length, from N to S, is 10¼ miles; its breadth, from E to W, varies between 3³/₈ and 6 miles; and its area is 31,919 acres, of which 590 are foreshore and 485 water. The coast-line along Loch Ryan, measuring 7¾ miles, includes most of the southern part or head of the loch and all the E side, till within 2¼ miles of the sea. In the S and the southern part of the E side it has a flat beach, covered with sand or gravel; but northward it grows bold and rocky, and is pierced with several caves 80 to 100 yards long. The northern and eastern districts, comprising three-fifths of the entire area, are everywhere hilly, their highest points being Cairnarzean Fell (735 feet), Cairnscarrow (761), Braid Fell (769), Brockloch Fell (769), and Mid-Moile (844). Here and there are arable patches; but mostly they are heathy, rugged, and unsusceptible of culture. The southern and south-western districts form the larger part of the isthmus between Loch Ryan and Luce Bay, which, though from the hills it looks to be perfectly level, has really a gently undulating surface. It seems at no distant geological period to have been covered by the sea; and its curious ' pots ' or hollows-the largest 1000 feet in circumference and 100 feet deep-are supposed to have been scooped out by the whirling caused by the meeting of opposite tidal currents from Loch Ryan and Luce Bay. The Water of Luce runs 7⁵/₈ miles south-south-eastward along all the eastern border; Piltanton Burn flows 7¼ miles south-eastward and eastward along the boundary with Portpatrick, Stoneykirk, and Old Luce; and a number of short burns drain the interior to Loch Ryan or these two streams. Of twelve lakes dotted over the interior, most of them in the low-level southern district, the two largest and finest -Castle-Kennedy and Soulseat -are noticed separately. Chalybeate and slightly - sulphuretted springs are in several places. The rocks are mainly Silurian. Granite occurs in detached blocks; excellent slate has been quarried on the lands of Lochryan; lead ore is traditionally said to have been mined; coal has been sedulously but vainly sought; and extensive mosses yield abundance of peat fuel. The soil is variously gravelly, sandy, clayey, loamy, and mossy, and throughout the low-level district is generally light and sandy. Fully two-fifths of the entire area are regularly or occasionally in tillage; woods cover some 650 acres, and the rest is either pastoral or waste. Special objects of antiquarian interest are treated under Castle-Kennedy, Craigcaffie Castle, the Deil's Dyke, Glenterra, the Moat of Innermessan, Larg Castle, and Soulseat Abbey. Sir John Ross (1777-1856), the celebrated Arctic voyager, son of the parish minister, was a native; and Marshal Stair (1673-1747) and General Sir John-Alexander-Agnew Wallace, K.C.B. (17751857), were residents. Mansions, noticed separately, are Lochinch Castle, Culhorn, and Lochryan; and 2 proprietors hold each an annual value of £500 and upwards, 4 of between £100 and £500, 4 of from £50 to £100, and 1 of from £20 to £50. In the presbytery of Stranraer and synod of Galloway, this parish is ecclesiastically divided into Lochryan quoad sacra parish and Inch proper, the latter a living worth £323. The parish church was built in 1862, and contains 400 sittings. The manse is beautifully situated on a peninsula in Soulseat Loch, the site of the old abbey. Inch Free church stands near Castle-Kennedy station; and Castle-Kennedy public, Inchparks public, Lochans public, and Cairnryan General Assembly school, with respective accommodation for 105, 115, 168, and 81 children, had (1881) an average attendance of 74, 73, 88, and 31, and grants of £59, 1s., £43, 12s., £79, 5s., and £36, 10s. Valuation (1860) £14,503, (1883) £17,344, 2s. 8d. Pop. (1801) 1577, (1831) 2521, (1861) 3469, (1871) 3268, (1881) 3766, of whom 2254 were in the parliamentary burgh of Stranraer and 3474 in Inch ecclesiastical parish.—Ord. Sur., sh. 3, 1856.

Inch or Insh, a lake, an ancient parish, and a quoad sacra parish, in Badenoch district, E Inverness-shire. The lake lies on the mutual border of Alvie and Kingussie parishes, ½ mile S of Kincraig or Boat of Inch station on the Highland railway, this being 18½ miles SSW of Grantown and 5¾ NE of the post-town Kingussie. Formed by expansion of the river Spey, it lies 721 feet above sea-level, and has an utmost length and breadth of 7½ and 4¾ furlongs. The rod-fishing is poor, but salmon and char are netted in great numbers. The Queen, under date 4 Sept. 1860, describes Loch Inch as 'lovely, not a wild lake, quite the contrary: no high rocks, but woods and blue hills as a background.' On 3 April 1881 the lake was completely frozen over with ice ¼ inch thick. The ancient parish is united to Kingussie parish, and forms its north-eastern district. The quoad sacra parish, mainly identical with the ancient parish, and lying around the upper part of Loch Inch, was originally constituted in 1828, and is in the presbytery of Abernethy and synod of Moray. The stipend is £120, with a glebe worth £9 a year. The church, an old building, stands near the NE shore of Loch Inch, and contains 300 sittings. Pop. (1871) 359, (1881) 455, of whom 58 were in Alvie and 397 in Kingussie.—Ord. Sur., sh. 74, 1877.

Note: This text has been made available using a process of scanning and optical character recognition. Despite manual checking, some typographical errors may remain. Please remember this description dates from the 1880s; names may have changed, administrative divisions will certainly be different and there are known to be occasional errors of fact in the original text, which we have not corrected because we wish to maintain its integrity. This information is provided subject to our standard disclaimer