Parish of Kirkpatrick-Juxta

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: Kirkpatrick-Juxta
1834-45: Kirkpatrick-Juxta

Kirkpatrick-Juxta, a parish of Upper Annandale, NE Dumfriesshire. It takes the suffix Juxta on account of its being nearer to Edinburgh than any of the other Kirkpatricks; and it contains the station of Beattock and the village of Craigielands, with Beattock post and telegraph office under Moffat. It is bounded N by Moffat, E by Moffat and Wamphray, S by Johnstone and Kirkmichael, SW by Closeburn, and W and NW by Crawford in Lanarkshire. Its utmost length, from N to S, is 8½ miles; its utmost breadth, from E to W, is 7¾ miles; and its area is 22,458½ acres, of which 123 are water. The river Annan, from a point within 3 ¼ miles of its source, winds 7¾ miles south-by-eastward along all the eastern border; Evan Water flows 4 3/8 miles south-south-eastward through the north-eastern district, till it falls into the Annan opposite the influx of Moffat Water; Garpol Water runs 2 ¼ miles eastward along the northern boundary, then 3 3/8 miles east-south-eastward through the interior to the Evan, its last mile being through picturesque Garpol Glen, where it forms two waterfalls; and Kinnel Water, rising near the NW border, runs 7 ¼ miles east-south-eastward through the interior, then 2 7/8 miles southward along the Johnstone boundary. Perennial springs are numerous, and afford the inhabitants abundance of pure water; whilst several chalybeate springs might probably draw attention were they not excelled by the famous neighbouring wells of Moffat and Hartfell. The surface is hilly, declining in the SE along the Annan to 260 feet above sea-level, and rising thence to 780 feet near Marchbankwood, 1008 at Knockilsine Hill, 1897 at Harestones Height, and 2000 at Earncraig Hill on the meeting-point of Kirkpatrick-Juxta, Closeburn, and Crawford. The rocks are mainly of Lower Silurian age; and trap and greywacke are quarried. The soil of the arable lands is shallow, but dry and not unfertile. About one-third of the entire area is in tillage; woods cover some 500 acres; and all the rest of the land is pastoral or waste. The chief antiquities are numerous cairns, vestiges of a Roman camp, several circular enclosures supposed to have been used for sheltering cattle from marauders, the strong old castle of Achincass, the tower of Lochhouse, and ruins of one or two other mediæval fortalices. Mansions are Auchen Castle, Beattock House, Craigislands House, and Marchbankwood; and 4 proprietors hold each an annual value of £500 and upwards, 4 of between £100 and £500, and 2 of from £20 to £100. Kirkpatrick-Juxta is in the presbytery of Lochmaben and synod of Dumfries; the living is worth £268. The church, 7 furlongs S by E of Beattock station, was built in 1799, and, as repaired in 1824 and 1877, contains 430 sittings. Two public schools, Dumgree and Kirkpatrick-Juxta, with respective accommodation for 59 and 130 children, had (1881) an average attendance of 39 and 112, and grants of £50, 19s. 6d. and £79, 5s. Valuation (1860) £6761, (1883) £10,883, 16s. 11d., plus £3836 for railway. Pop(1801) 596, (1831) 981, (1861) 1025, (1871) 1091, (1881) 1064.—Ord. Sur., shs. 16, 10, 15, 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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