Loch Ken is a long 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 historic county of

Kirkcudbrightshire Kirkcudbrightshire ( ), or the County of Kirkcudbright or the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright is one of the historic counties of Scotland, covering an area in the south-west of the country. Until 1975, Kirkcudbrightshire was an administrative county ...

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 lies in the Glenkens, where it is fed from the north by the

Water of Ken The Water of Ken is a river in the historical county of Kirkcudbrightshire in Galloway, south-west Scotland. It rises on Blacklorg Hill, north-east of Cairnsmore of Carsphairn in the Carsphairn hills, and flows south-westward into The Glenkens, ...

and from the west by the Dee. It continues as the Dee south from

Glenlochar Glenlochar ( Gd: ''Gleann Lochair'') is a hamlet on the western bank of the River Dee in the parish of Balmaghie in the historical county of Kirkcudbrightshire in Dumfries and Galloway. Glenlochar is located one and a half miles south of Balmag ...

, where the water is held back by the Glenlochar Barrage. Part of the

Galloway hydro-electric power scheme The Galloway hydro-electric power scheme is a network of dams and hydro-electric power stations in Galloway, south west Scotland. It was built between 1930 and 1936. The generating stations draw water from the River Ken, River Dee and River D ...

, the barrage regulates the river's flow.

Geography

Villages around Loch Ken include Glenlochar at the south, Laurieston and Mossdale on the west side of the loch, and Crossmichael and Parton on the east. The village of

New Galloway New Galloway ( gd, Gall-Ghàidhealaibh Nuadh) is a town in the historical county of Kirkcudbrightshire in Dumfries and Galloway. It lies on the west side of the valley of the Water of Ken, north of the end of Loch Ken. Before the local governme ...

lies one mile to its north. The parish church of

Balmaghie Balmaghie ( ), from the Scottish Gaelic language, Scottish Gaelic ''Baile Mhic Aoidh'', is an ecclesiastical and civil parish in the historical county of Kirkcudbrightshire in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland and was the seat of the McGhee Tartan, ...

is also by the loch. Loch Ken is used recreationally for

water skiing Water skiing (also waterskiing or water-skiing) is a surface water sport in which an individual is pulled behind a boat or a cable ski installation over a body of water, skimming the surface on two skis or one ski. The sport requires suffic ...

, fishing, and sailing, with Glenlaggan Lodges and Loch Ken Marina catering to visitors. A railway viaduct, once part of the

Portpatrick Railway The Portpatrick and Wigtownshire Joint RailwaysThe final word is in the plural. was a network of railway lines serving sparsely populated areas of south-west Scotland. The title appeared in 1885 when the previously independent Portpatrick Rai ...

crosses the loch at Boat o' Rhone, but is now disused and in an unsafe condition. Loch Ken and

River Dee Marshes The River Dee ( gd, Dè / Uisge Dhè), in south-west Scotland, flows from its source in Loch Dee amongst the Galloway Hills, firstly to Clatteringshaws Loch, then into Loch Ken, where it joins the Water of Ken. From there, the Dee flows southw ...

was designated a

Ramsar site A Ramsar site is a wetland site designated to be of international importance under the Ramsar Convention,8 ha (O) *** Permanent 8 ha (P) *** Seasonal Intermittent < 8 ha(Ts) **

Kenmure Castle Kenmure Castle is a fortified house or castle in The Glenkens, south of the town of New Galloway in Kirkcudbrightshire, Galloway, south-west Scotland. The site was occupied from the Middle Ages, and the house incorporates part of a 17th-century c ...

and is remembered for having caught in the loch the largest

pike Pike, Pikes or The Pike may refer to: Fish * Blue pike or blue walleye, an extinct color morph of the yellow walleye ''Sander vitreus'' * Ctenoluciidae, the "pike characins", some species of which are commonly known as pikes * ''Esox'', genus of ...

on record, the head of which rested on his shoulder, with the tail trailing on the ground. Its weight was seventy-two pounds, and it measured about seven feet in length. The skeleton of the head was for many years preserved on display in the Billiard Room at Kenmure where it was studied and measured by

Charles Tate Regan Charles Tate Regan FRS (1 February 1878 – 12 January 1943) was a British ichthyologist, working mainly around the beginning of the 20th century. He did extensive work on fish classification schemes. Born in Sherborne, Dorset, he was educat ...

ichthyologist, of the Natural History Museum. Murray died in 1777 and is buried at Kells Churchyard ; on his tombstone are carved in relief a gun, powder pouch, fishing-rod, dog and pigeon.

Loch Ken Trust

In June 2020, Loch Ken Trust was formed as a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation (SCIO), with the purpose, "To promote the natural, cultural and recreational assets of the Loch Ken area for the benefit of the public and to support sustainable local communities.

References

External links

{{commons category, Loch Ken
The Loch Ken Holiday ParkThe Galloway Sailing CentreLoch Ken Water Ski SchoolLoch Ken Boat Trips

Ken Ken or KEN may refer to: Entertainment * ''Ken'' (album), a 2017 album by Canadian indie rock band Destroyer. * ''Ken'' (film), 1964 Japanese film. * ''Ken'' (magazine), a large-format political magazine. * Ken Masters, a main character in ...

Ramsar sites in Scotland

Dee Basin (Kirkcudbright)