Kirkcolm
Kirkcolm
|
|
|---|---|
 Blue Peter Hotel, Main Street, Kirkcolm |
|
 Kirkcolm
|
|
| Kirkcolm shown within Dumfries and Galloway | |
| Council area | |
| Lieutenancy area | |
| Country | Scotland |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Police | Scottish |
| Fire | Scottish |
| Ambulance | Scottish |
| EU Parliament | Scotland |
| UK Parliament | |
| Scottish Parliament | |
Kirkcolm (Scots: Kirkcaum) is a village and civil parish on the northern tip of the Rhinns of Galloway peninsula, south-west Scotland. It is in Dumfries and Galloway, and is part of the former county of Wigtownshire. The parish is bounded on the north and west by the sea, on the east by the bay of Loch Ryan and on the south by Leswalt parish.
The name Kirkcolm means the Church of St. Columba. The parish has a spring known as the Crosswell, or St. Columba's Well. Historically Kirkcolm has seen human activity since ancient times. Sheltered from the rough seas of the North Channel and the North Atlantic, Loch Ryan has long been an important safe harbour for vessels. An Iron Age fort is located at Dunskirkloch on the north coast.
In the spring of 1307, at the beginning of Robert the Bruce's campaign in the Wars of Independence, he sent two forces to attempt to gain control of south-west Scotland. One force, led by his two brothers and consisting of eighteen galleys, landed in Loch Ryan. They were immediately overwhelmed by local forces, led by Dougal MacDougal of Clan MacDowall, a supporter of the Comyns.
The barony of Corsewall was held by Alexander Stewart, Lord Garlies from 1622.
An Early Medieval cross-slab is located in Kirkcolm churchyard. The cross was removed from the site of Kilmorie Chapel, which was next to St Mary's Well, in the 18th century and built into Kirkcolm church. It was later moved to the grounds of Corsewall House, but re-erected in Kirkcolm churchyard in the 1980s. The designs on cross-slab combine Christian and Norse imagery, reflecting Galloway's Viking and Celtic past. One face of the stone has an elaborately carved cross above a design of intertwined snake-like animals. On the reverse-side is a representation of the Crucifixion. Below is a figure of a man with a pair of tongs and a bird on his shoulder; this may represent Odin or Sigurd. It is thought the carvings on the Kilmorie Stone show the triumph of Christianity over paganism.
...
Wikipedia