Parish of Kirkurd

A historical perspective, drawn from the Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland: A Survey of Scottish Topography, Statistical, Biographical and Historical, edited by Francis H. Groome and originally published in parts by Thomas C. Jack, Grange Publishing Works, Edinburgh between 1882 and 1885.

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1791-99: Kirkhurd
1834-45: Kirkhurd

Kirkurd, a parish of W Peeblesshire, whose church stands 3 ¼ miles SSE of the station and post-town, Dolphinton, 6 ¼ N by E of Broughton station, and 5 3/8 SW of Noblehouse. It is bounded N by Linton, NE by Newlands, SE by Stobo, S by Stobo and Broughton, SW by Skirling, and NW by Dolphinton in Lanarkshire. Its utmost length, from E to W, is 4 1/8 miles; its utmost breadth, from N to S, is 3 ¼ miles; and its area is 5704½ acres, of which 6 are water. Tarth Water runs 3 7/8 miles south-eastward along all the Linton and Newlands border; and Dean Burn, rising on the southern border, runs north ward through the interior to the Tarth. In the extreme E, where Tarth Water quits the parish, the surface declines to 680 feet above sea-level, and thence it rises to 1632 feet at Lochurd Hill, 1872 at the Broughton Heights, 1385 near the Mount, and 1121 at Shaw Hill. The rocks are Silurian and Devonian; and the soil towards the Tarth is chiefly loam, elsewhere being either clayish or gravelly. About one-third of the entire area is in tillage; one-eleventh is under plantation; and the rest of the land is pastoral or waste. A sulphureous spring on the N border, like those of Moffat and Harrowgate, has been dry nearly 50 years. The chief antiquities are remains of a Caledonian stone circle, two circular fortifications called the Rings and the Chesters, and two stone-engirt artificial mounds, supposed to have been used as seats of justice. Mansions, both noticed separately, are Castle Craig and Netherurd. Kirkurd is in the presbytery of Peebles and synod of Lothian and Tweeddale; the living is worth £200. The parish church was built in1776, and contains 300 sittings. Kirkurd Free church is in Newlands parish; and a public school, with accommodation for 82 children, had (1881) an average attendance of 76, and a grant of £57, 17s. Valuation (1860) £2520, (1883) £3263, 10s. Pop. (1801) 327, (1831) 318, (1861) 362, (1871) 294, (1881) 282.—Ord. Sur., sh. 24, 1864.

An accompanying 19th C. Ordnance Survey map is available, or use the map tab to the right of this page.

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

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