Overview of Gatehouse of Fleet

A village in Dumfries and Galloway, Gatehouse of Fleet is situated near the mouth of the Water of Fleet, 6 miles (10 km) northwest of Kirkcudbright. It was founded in the 1760s as the estate village for Cally by James Murray of Broughton and developed as a centre of tanning, brewing, boat building and cotton manufacturing. It once had four cotton mills, a brass foundry and a soap factory. The village takes its name from the 'Gait-House' built by the Murrays in the 17th century, the 'gait' or road being the routeway from Dumfries to Creetown. Buildings of note include the Clock Tower (1871), the Murray Arms Hotel (1766) and the Mill on the Fleet (c.1790), formerly a cotton mill and now incorporating a visitor centre. Robert Burns composed the song 'Scots Wha Hae' while riding from St Mary's Isle to Gatehouse of Fleet on 1st August 1793 and is thought to have written it down when he arrived at the Murray Arms Hotel.