Kirkpatrick Fleming

Kirkpatrick-Fleming is a village and civil parish in Dumfries and Galloway, south-west Scotland. It is located around 5.5 kilometres (3.4 mi) north-west of Gretna, and 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) west of Annan, between the Kirtle Water and the A74(M) motorway. From the village road, the Solway Firth, and the Cumbrian hills are visible. It also has little light pollution, affording good views of the night sky.

The name is derived from the parish church, dedicated to St Patrick, and the Fleming family, the local landowners who resided at Redhall. The medieval parish church was given to Gisborough Priory in Cleveland by Robert de Brus, Lord of Annandale, around 1170, though this connection lapsed after 1330. The present church dates to the 18th century and is protected as a category B listed building.

The village was served by Kirkpatrick railway station on the old Caledonian Railway main line from 1847 to 1960.

It also has a caravan and camping site, Bruce's Cave, which boasts a cave allegedly used by King Robert the Bruce. Here the fleeing king is supposed to have watched a spider swinging from one side of the cave to the other, which gave rise to the saying "if at first you don't succeed, try, try, try again".

Due to a legacy left to the parish by a former resident, Ann Hill, the archaeology and history of Kirkpatrick Fleming have been studied in two volumes: Roger Mercer and others, Kirkpatrick Fleming Dumfriesshire: an Anatomy of a Parish in South West Scotland, 1997, and Duncan and Sheila Adamson, Kirkpatrick Fleming: On the Borders of History, 2011, both published by the Dumfriesshire and Galloway Natural History and Antiquarian Society. More recent information about the parish is to be found at the Community Council website: kirkpatrickfleminglife.org.uk

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