Haugh of Urr (), is a village in the historical county of Kirkcudbrightshire in

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 ...

. It is approximately NNW of

Dalbeattie Dalbeattie (, sco, Dawbeattie, gd, Dail Bheithe meaning 'haugh of the birch' or ''Dail'' ''bhàite'' 'drowned (''i.e.'' liable to flood) haugh') is a town in the historical county of Kirkcudbrightshire in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. Dalbea ...

, NE 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 ...

, west of

Dumfries Dumfries ( ; sco, Dumfries; from gd, Dùn Phris ) is a market town and former royal burgh within the Dumfries and Galloway council area of Scotland. It is located near the mouth of the River Nith into the Solway Firth about by road from the ...

and east of

Kirkcudbright Kirkcudbright ( ; sco, Kirkcoubrie; gd, Cille Chùithbeirt) is a town, parish and a Royal Burgh from 1455 in Kirkcudbrightshire, of which it is traditionally the county town, within Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. The town lies southwest of C ...

Description

The village is situated beside the

River Urr Urr Water or River Urr ('' arc. River Orr'') is a river in which flows through the counties of Dumfriesshire and Kirkcudbrightshire in southwest Scotland. Course Entirely within Dumfries and Galloway, the Urr Water originates at Loch Urr and flow ...

. Scots ''haugh'', from

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...

''halh'', ''healh'' 'corner, nook' means river-meadow or a level piece of ground beside a stream. 'Urr' is from

Cumbric Cumbric was a variety of the Common Brittonic language spoken during the Early Middle Ages in the ''Hen Ogledd'' or "Old North" in what is now the counties of Westmorland, Cumberland and northern Lancashire in Northern England and the souther ...

''or'' 'a border, boundary, limit'. It has one public house, the Laurie Arms which incorporates a part-time

Post Office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

, one Church (Church of Scotland), a Village Hall, a

Scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement **Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom **Scouts BSA, sectio ...

hut, and a small

village green A village green is a commons, common open area within a village or other settlement. Historically, a village green was common pasture, grassland with a pond for watering cattle and other stock, often at the edge of a rural settlement, used for ...

. The village no longer has any shops. It used to have two shops, one of which included a petrol filling station, while the other included a full-time post office, which reduced to part-time in later years. The last shop closed in 2009. Hardgate is a nearby

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

up the hill and the boundaries are indistinct. Agriculture and tourism are the mainstays of the local economy. The village is known to locals as ''"The Haugh"''. The Australian suburb of Urrbrae was named after the village.

River Urr

The

is noted for

salmon Salmon () is the common name for several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family (biology), family Salmonidae, which are native to tributary, tributaries of the ...

fishing. The river, also known as Urr Water originates at Loch Urr and flows for southwards past Corsock,

Glenlair Glenlair, near the village of Corsock in the historical county of Kirkcudbrightshire, in Dumfries and Galloway, was the home of the physicist James Clerk Maxwell (1831–1879). The original structure was designed for Maxwell's father by Walter N ...

, Auchendolly, Bridge of Urr, Haugh of Urr, and close to Dalbeattie, via Palnackie to the Solway Firth at Rough Firth.

Motte of Urr

The Motte of Urr, is the site of a

motte-and-bailey A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade. Relatively easy to ...

castle. Today this

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...

earthwork near the Haugh of Urr is said to be the most extensive bailey earthwork in Scotland. It lies beside the River Urr to the north west of Dalbeattie. It dates from the 12th century, and covers an area of about 2 ha (5 acres). In the present day, there are no excavations or walls. It is associated with

Buittle Castle Buittle Castle, also known historically as Botle or Botel Castle, is a Motte and Bailey site in Galloway, south-west Scotland with significant early and medieval history comprising a significant ruined Norman style Motte, and several extant bui ...

, dated to about 1230, which was destroyed early in the 14th century and belonged to Devorgilla and her husband

John I de Balliol John de Balliol (before 1208 – 25 October 1268) was an English nobleman, belonging to the House of Balliol. Balliol College, in Oxford, is named after him. Life John de Balliol was born before 1208 to Cecily de Fontaines, daughter of Aléau ...

(founder of

Balliol College Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the f ...

, at

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

). Together they bore the future king

John of Scotland John Balliol ( – late 1314), known derisively as ''Toom Tabard'' (meaning "empty coat" – coat of arms), was King of Scots from 1292 to 1296. Little is known of his early life. After the death of Margaret, Maid of Norway, Scotland entered an ...

List of listed buildings

List of listed buildings in Urr, Dumfries and Galloway This is a list of listed buildings in the civil parish of Urr in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island o ...

References

* List of United Kingdom locations: Ha-Hd

External links

*Overview of the village http://www.scottish-places.info/towns/townfirst3245.html *Urr parish church https://web.archive.org/web/20070627091830/http://www.dlbteparishch.f9.co.uk/page15.html *Parish information http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/sct/KKD/Urr/ *Vale of Urr https://web.archive.org/web/20070701083935/http://www.glenlair.org.uk/vale_of_the_urr.asp *Unpublished records for the parish of Urr in Kirkcudbrighshire http://donjaggi.net/galloway/index.html *River Urr http://www.glenlair.org.uk/river_urr.asp *Motte of Urr http://www.scottish-places.info/features/featurefirst8406.html *Motte of Urr https://web.archive.org/web/20070928195711/http://thereformation.info/motte.htm *Buittle Castle http://www.rcahms.gov.uk/pls/portal/newcanmore.details_gis?inumlink=65002 File:Haugh of Urr - geograph.org.uk - 263728.jpg, The village in 2006 File:Urr Parish Church - geograph.org.uk - 263726.jpg, Urr Parish Church, 2006 File:Haugh Bridge on the old Military Road (geograph 2733923).jpg, Haugh Bridge {{DEFAULTSORT:Urr Villages in Dumfries and Galloway