Keir, Dumfries and Galloway

Keir is a civil parish, containing the small village of Keir Mill, in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, one mile south of Penpont. It was founded in the late eighteenth century.

1. Overview

The village was the birthplace of Kirkpatrick Macmillan, the inventor of the bicycle. A plaque on his home, Courthill Smithy, commemorates this. He is buried in the parish church. The church itself is in the Gothic style, of Capenoch ashlar, and was built from 1813 to 1815 by architect William Burn. In 1880 a vestry was added by James Barbour. The other notable building in the village is the Mill, built in 1771.

1. See also

List of listed buildings in Keir, Dumfries and Galloway

1. References


1. External links

Keir map

Nearby Places View Menu

Scaur Water

Scaur Water is a river which rises near Polskeoch in the Scaur hills in the region of Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It flows from its source near Sanquhar in the Southern Uplands and joins the River Nith two miles southwest of Thornhill. The total length is 30 km (19 mi). During its course it descends from 500m to 55m altitude, and forms part of the boundary between Tynron and Keir Parishes. The river valley, the Scaur Glen, displays several sculptures by Andy Goldsworthy and Bronze Age forts, and is lined for much of its length with birch and oak forest. The river is renowned for trout fishing and canoeing, especially at the Glenmarlin Falls near Penpont. A local legend tells of the ghosts of a horse and rider who drowned in a deep pool, known colloquially as the Black Hole, at the bottom of the falls.

Fishing Hiking

Penpont

Penpont is a village about 2 miles (3 km) west of Thornhill in Dumfriesshire, in the Dumfries and Galloway region of Scotland. It is near the confluence of the Shinnel Water and Scaur Water rivers in the foothills of the Southern Uplands. It has a population of about 400 people.

Landmark Neighbourhood

Dalgarnock

Dalgarnock, Dalgarno, Dalgarnoc was an ancient parish and a once considerably sized village in the Nithsdale area of Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, south of Sanquhar and north of Dumfries that enclosed the parish of Closeburn but was annexed to Closeburn in 1606 following the Reformation, separated again in 1648 and finally re-united in 1697, as part of the process that established the Presbyterian Church of Scotland. It was a burgh of regality bordering the River Nith and Cample Water and held a popular market-tryst or fair from medieval times until 1601 when the Earl of Queensberry had them transferred to Thornhill, commemorated in song by Robert Burns, shortly before its demise and now only a remote churchyard remains at a once busy site.

Shinnel Water

Shinnel Water, also spelt Shinnell, is a river in the region of Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It rises in the Scaur hills of Tynron Parish in the Southern Uplands at an altitude of 460m, and flows 13 miles to join Scaur Water near Penpont, at an altitude of 70m. There are two notable features of the Shinnel: at the confluence of the two rivers, it flows over a ridge of rocks with some force; and three miles upstream, the river forms a picturesque waterfall at Aird Linn. Like Scaur Water, the Shinnel is renowned for trout fishing and flows through birch and oak forest.

Fishing Hiking