Anwoth is a settlement near the

Solway Firth The Solway Firth ( gd, Tràchd Romhra) is a firth that forms part of the border between England and Scotland, between Cumbria (including the Solway Plain) and Dumfries and Galloway. It stretches from St Bees Head, just south of Whitehaven in ...

in the historic county of Kirkcudbrightshire, southwest

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, within a parish of the same name in the Vale of Fleet,

Dumfries and Galloway Dumfries and Galloway ( sco, Dumfries an Gallowa; gd, Dùn Phrìs is Gall-Ghaidhealaibh) is one of 32 unitary council areas of Scotland and is located in the western Southern Uplands. It covers the counties of Scotland, historic counties of ...

. Anwoth lies a mile (1.5 km) to the west of Gatehouse of Fleet. Anwoth's most famous inhabitant was the Rev.

Samuel Rutherford Samuel Rutherford (also Rutherfurd or Rutherfoord; – 29 March 1661) was a Scottish Presbyterian pastor and theologian who wrote widely read letters, sermons, devotional and scholastic works. As a political theorist, he is known for "L ...

(c. 1600 – 1661), who was the minister at Anwoth Old Kirk from 1627 until 1636 when he was banished to

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

On a nearby hill, there is Rutherford's Monument a 56-foot-high

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...

obelisk An obelisk (; from grc, ὀβελίσκος ; diminutive of ''obelos'', " spit, nail, pointed pillar") is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape or pyramidion at the top. Originally constructed by Anc ...

erected in 1842. Rutherfords_Monument_(geograph_2605585)

A millennium

cairn A cairn is a man-made pile (or stack) of stones raised for a purpose, usually as a marker or as a burial mound. The word ''cairn'' comes from the gd, càrn (plural ). Cairns have been and are used for a broad variety of purposes. In prehis ...

opposite the monument lists the names of all the ministers of Anwoth and Girthon until the year 2000 when it was erected. The Old Kirk was in use until 1825, but is now just a ruin.

Anwoth Parish Church Anwoth Parish Church was built in 1826 to serve the parish of Anwoth in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. Designed by Walter Newall, it replaced Anwoth Old Church, which had been the parish church since it was built in 1626 and was partially demol ...

was built in 1826–1827. It is a

Walter Newall Walter Newall (3 April 1780 – 25 December 1863) was a Scottish architect and civil engineer, born at Doubledyke in the parish of New Abbey in the historic county of Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland. He was the leading architect in the Dumfries a ...

Gothic box-style church with tower and hood-moulded windows. It closed in 2002. The Church of Scotland sold the Church to a neighbouring family who now keep it as a hall for ceremonies and parties. The church was re-roofed in 2007 and the building is being maintained. An ancient fort on

Trusty's Hill Trusty's Hill is a small vitrified hillfort about a mile to the west of the present-day town of Gatehouse of Fleet, in the parish of Anwoth in the Stewartry district of Dumfries and Galloway. The site is notable for a carved Pictish stone locate ...

was occupied by Iron Age people and may have been attacked and burned by a Pictish raiding party, who carved a series of symbol stones in a rock beside the entrance passage. Anwoth Kirk and Old School opposite were key locations for the 1973 cult film The Wicker Man. Anwoth Old Kirk - geograph

This area, with many references to Anwoth and specifically the Anwoth Hotel, is the location for most of Dorothy L Sayers detective novel "The Five Red Herrings".

Literary allusion

Anne Ross Cousin Anne Ross Cousin (née Cundell; 27 April 1824 – 6 December 1906) was a British poet, musician and songwriter. She was a student of John Muir Wood and later became a popular writer of hymns, most especially "The Sands of Time Are Sinking", w ...

's hymn, ''The Sands of Time are Sinking'',The Sands of Time Are Sinking
mentions Anwoth, because of its historic spiritual connection with Samuel Rutherford. Verses 9 & 10 of her original nineteen stanza poem are: :The little birds of Anwoth, I used to count them blessed, :Now, beside happier altars I go to build my nest: :Over these there broods no silence, no graves around them stand, :For glory, deathless, dwelleth in Immanuel’s land. :Fair Anwoth by the Solway, to me thou still art dear, :Even from the verge of heaven, I drop for thee a tear. :Oh! If one soul from Anwoth meet me at God’s right hand, :My heaven will be two heavens, In Immanuel’s land.

List of listed buildings

List of listed buildings in Anwoth, Dumfries and Galloway This is a list of listed buildings in the parish of Anwoth in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. List Key See also * List of listed buildings in Dumfries and Galloway Notes References * All entries, addresses and coor ...

References

External links

Parish of Anwoth Home PageAnwoth Monumental Inscriptions and Photographs
{{authority control Villages in Dumfries and Galloway Kirkcudbrightshire Parishes in Dumfries and Galloway