A grazing cow at Mouswald Cleuch - geograph

Mouswald is a rural village slightly east 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 ...

in south-west Scotland. It lies on the B724 south of the A75. The site views southward over 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 ...

History

A Scandinavian settlement began here in the 9th century and the name Mouswald is said to derive from the Danish ''mosi vollr'', meaning mossy field. The land belonged to the

Clan Carruthers Clan Carruthers is a Lowland Scottish clan of the Scottish Borders headed by their Chief, Simon Peter Carruthers of Holmains and is recognised as such by the Lord Lyon King of Arms. A Clan Chief of Carruthers was confirmed after over 12 years ...

up to the 16th century. A church existed in the village since at least the 13th century. The current church dates from 1816 but was remodelled by J M Bowie of

in 1929. It is a category C listed building. The church ceased to be used for worship around 2014 and was subsequently placed on the property market for sale by the

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland ( sco, The Kirk o Scotland; gd, Eaglais na h-Alba) is the national church in Scotland. The Church of Scotland was principally shaped by John Knox, in the Scottish Reformation, Reformation of 1560, when it split from t ...

ostensibly for conversion for domestic dwelling. As of 2019, the building remains on the market.

Notable residents

*Very Rev

John Gillespie John Gillespie may refer to: * John H. Gillespie, evolutionary biologist *John Gillespie (auditor) (1832–1897) state auditor and commissioner in Nebraska * Dizzy Gillespie (John Birks Gillespie, 1917–1993), jazz trumpeter * Jimmy Gillespie (J ...

(1834–1912)

Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland The Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland is the ministers and elders of the Church of Scotland, minister or elder chosen to moderate (chair) the annual General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, which is held for a week i ...

in 1903. *Rev

Henry Duncan Henry Duncan may refer to: *Henry Duncan (minister) Henry Duncan FRSE (8 October 1774 – 12 February 1846) was a Scottish minister, geologist and social reformer. The minister of Ruthwell in Dumfriesshire, he founded the world's first mu ...

(1774–1846) founder of the Trustee Savings Bank (TSB). *Gwen Kirkwood, prolific author of historic romantic novels.

References

{{authority control Villages in Dumfries and Galloway