Carlingwark Loch is a small freshwater

loch ''Loch'' () is the Scottish Gaelic, Scots language, Scots and Irish language, Irish word for a lake or sea inlet. It is Cognate, cognate with the Manx language, Manx lough, Cornish language, Cornish logh, and one of the Welsh language, Welsh w ...

in the historical county of Kirkcudbrightshire,

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 ...

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 ...

lying just south of

Castle Douglas Castle Douglas ( gd, Caisteal Dhùghlais) is a town in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It lies in the lieutenancy area of Kirkcudbrightshire, in the eastern part of Galloway, between the towns of Dalbeattie and Gatehouse of Fleet. It is in the ...

and is roughly rectangular in shape, trending nearly north and south. The name of the loch comes from the

Scots Gaelic Scottish Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig ), also known as Scots Gaelic and Gaelic, is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family) native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well as ...

word Caer meaning fort and wark the old

Scots language Scots ( endonym: ''Scots''; gd, Albais, ) is an Anglic language variety in the West Germanic language family, spoken in Scotland and parts of Ulster in the north of Ireland (where the local dialect is known as Ulster Scots). Most commonly ...

word for work. There are four artificial islets in the loch showing evidence of fortification and settlement, Ash Island is thought to be a

crannog A crannog (; ga, crannóg ; gd, crannag ) is typically a partially or entirely artificial island, usually built in lakes and estuarine waters of Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. Unlike the prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps, which were bu ...

. Several archaeological finds have been retrieved from the loch including a bronze cauldron, sword and pan and two dugout canoes. Carlingwark Lane Canal is a 1.5 mile canal which opened between the loch and the River Dee, 1.5 miles away in 1765. It remained in use until its abandonment in about 1840, allowing flat-bottomed boats to transport shell-marl to farms along the route. There is a footpath around the loch and it is popular for bird watching and fishing. As of 5 March 2012 the loch and the land around it has been designated as a

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle of ...

on account of its varied birdlife and grassland. In 1903 the loch was surveyed by E.R. Watson and later charted as part of The Bathymetrical Survey of Fresh-Water Lochs of Scotland 1897–1909. In 2009 an

aerating Aeration (also called aerification or aeriation) is the Systems engineering process, process by which air is circulated through, mixed with or solvation, dissolved in a liquid or other substances that act as a fluid (such as soil). Aeration proces ...

fountain was installed at a cost of £10,000 to try to prevent the build-up of

blue-green algae Cyanobacteria (), also known as Cyanophyta, are a phylum of gram-negative bacteria that obtain energy via photosynthesis. The name ''cyanobacteria'' refers to their color (), which similarly forms the basis of cyanobacteria's common name, blu ...

. The funding was provided by South West Scotland Environmental Action Trust. The installation of the fountain was part of a wider development of Carlingwark Outdoor Activity Centre by

Dumfries and Galloway Council 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 historic counties of Dumfriesshire, Kirkcu ...

. However, further research showed that, owing to the relatively shallow depth of the loch, the fountain is ineffective and its use was discontinued. Barley straw, added twice a year, has been used very successfully up to 2019 to reduce the blue-green algae levels.

References

{{reflist, 30em Freshwater lochs of Scotland Lochs of Dumfries and Galloway Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Wigtown and Stewartry