Portpatrick
Portpatrick
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 Aerial view of Portpatrick. |
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 Portpatrick
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| Portpatrick shown within Dumfries and Galloway | |
| Population | 960 (2001) |
| OS grid reference | NW995545 |
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| Council area | |
| Lieutenancy area | |
| Country | Scotland |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Stranraer |
| Postcode district | DG9 |
| Dialling code | 01776 |
| Police | Scottish |
| Fire | Scottish |
| Ambulance | Scottish |
| EU Parliament | Scotland |
| UK Parliament | |
| Scottish Parliament | |
Portpatrick (Scottish Gaelic: Port Phàdraig), is a village and civil parish in Dumfries and Galloway, south-west Scotland. It is located on the west coast of the Rhins of Galloway, in the traditional county of Wigtownshire. The parish is about 4 1⁄2 miles (7 km) in length and 4 miles (6 km) in breadth, covering 9,300 acres (3,800 ha).
Portpatrick village is on the south-westerly coast of the Scottish mainland, cut into a cleft in steep cliffs. Anciently known as Portrie (Port Rhin), its quay was protected by the baron of Dunskey Castle (from dun meaning castle; key meaning quay) and his local men. When being invaded, the fishermen and their families probably scrambled up the cliffs to Dunskey for protection.
Dating back some 700 years and built adjacent to the ruins of nearby Dunskey Castle, Portpatrick's position on the Rhins of Galloway affords visitors views of the Northern Irish coast 21 miles (34 km) to the west, with cliff-top walks and beaches both north and south. The Gulf Stream, flowing in from the north, gives the coastline a pleasant climate, in which subtropical plant life can flourish.
Portpatrick has a Community Council, and an annual Life Boat Week, featuring parades, activities, and a firework display. There are bowls clubs, a golf club, many guesthouses and hotels, and rustic public houses. The village is also home to a mini putting course.
To the north of the village is the starting point of the Southern Upland Way, a long-distance walking route to Cockburnspath on the east coast. The Portpatrick Hotel, built in 1905 and extended in 1907, sits on the cliffs above this point.
The village was used as one of the locations for the 1952 film Hunted.
Portpatrick village was founded on fishing, operating from the sandy, crescent-shaped harbour that remains the focal point of the village today. Attempts were made to render it safer from the strong North Channel gales. In 1770 John Smeaton, the leading civil engineer of his day, was appointed to make further improvements. He constructed breakwaters that turned the sandy bay into an enclosed harbour. Strong westerly winds and waves eventually broke through this construction, and in 1821 John Rennie was appointed to create a new harbour defined by two new piers. Money and weather problems meant that these piers were never finished. The calm inner basin, now home to the port's lifeboat, was constructed between 1861 and 1863, too late to prevent the government switching the mail service to boats that plied between Stranraer and Larne. The harbour retains a fleet of fishing craft, a Navtex and a lifeboat station.
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Wikipedia