Hart Fell

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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Hartfell, a broad-based, flat-topped mountain on the mutual border of Moffat parish, Dumfriesshire, and Tweedsmuir parish, Peeblesshire, 6¼ miles NNE of Moffat town. It has an altitude of 2651 feet above sea-level, but formerly was assigned a much higher elevation, being falsely regarded as the loftiest summit of the Southern Highlands, whereas in fact it is surpassed by Merick (2764 feet), Broad Law (2754), White Coomb (2695), etc. So gentle is its acclivity from the upper basin of Annan Water, that the greater part of it may be ascended on horseback; its level plateau, clad with short, wiry grass, commands a vast, magnificent, and varied prospect. North-westward, across a wide and billowy sea of mountains, one sees, in certain states of the atmosphere, the snowy cap or cloud-wreathed brow of Ben Lomond; north-eastward and eastward one looks athwart the green hills of Tweeddale and Ettrick Forest to the Firth of Forth, the German Ocean, and the Cheviots; westward the Lowthers' wild and rugged scenery extends to the towering summit of Blacklarg; and southward the eye strays over the Dumfriesshire uplands till it rests upon Skiddaw and the other Cumberland mountains. Hartfell Spa, on the southern side of the mountain, 5 miles NNE of Moffat, occurs in the deep ravine of Auchencat or Hartfell Burn, flowing 3½ miles west-south-westward to Annan Water. A well that issues from strata of black shaly rock, it is protected by a small vaulted building, the keystone of whose roof is carved with the bloody heart of the Douglas family. The spa was discovered in 1748 by a farmer, John Williamson, who was superintending a mining operation lower down the burn; the following is the analysis of a litre of its water, made by Mr William Johnstone of Edinburgh in 1874:-Specific gravity, 1000.386; temperature, 49o F-; temperature of air, 56o F-; ferrous sulphate, 0 -2109; aluminic sulphate, 0-1970; sodium chloride, 0.0050; sodium sulphate, 0 -0048; calcium sulphate, 0.0352; calcium carbonate, 0 -0280; magnesic sulphate, 0.0233; magnesic carbonate, 0.0121; ferrous carbonate, 0 -0240; silica, 0.0050; carbonic dioxide, 6.734; oxygen, 6.062; nitrogen, 18.057. The water is a powerful tonic, cool and acidulous, specially good in dyspepsia. About a pint is the usual quantity prescribed per diem.—Ord. Sur., sh16, 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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