Thornhill ( Archived fro
the original
on 5 March 2014) is a village in the Mid Nithsdale area of

Dumfries and Galloway Dumfries and Galloway (; ) is one of the 32 unitary council areas of Scotland, located in the western part of the Southern Uplands. It is bordered by East Ayrshire, South Ayrshire, and South Lanarkshire to the north; Scottish Borders to the no ...

, Scotland, south of

Sanquhar Sanquhar (, ) is a town on the River Nith in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, north of Thornhill and west of Moffat. It is a former Royal Burgh. It is notable for its tiny post office, established in 1712 and considered the oldest working p ...

and north of

Dumfries Dumfries ( ; ; from ) is a market town and former royal burgh in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, near the mouth of the River Nith on the Solway Firth, from the Anglo-Scottish border. Dumfries is the county town of the Counties of Scotland, ...

on the main A76 road. Thornhill sits in the

Nithsdale Nithsdale (), also known as Strathnith, Stranith or Stranit, is the strath or dale (landform), dale of the River Nith in southern Scotland. Nithsdale was one of the medieval provinces of Scotland. The provinces gradually lost their administrat ...

valley with the Carsphairn and Scaur range to the west and the

Lowther hills The Lowther Hills, also sometimes known as the Lowthers, are an extensive area of hill country in the Southern Uplands of Scotland, though some sub-ranges of hills in this area also go under their own local names – see "Hillwalking" below. They ...

to the east. It was initially a small village, planned and built in 1717 on the Queensberry Estate on the road linking Dumfries to

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

. The Earl of Queensberry initially named the village ' New Dalgarnock' however the name did not achieve popular approval. The village is primarily comprised a grid pattern with the main street of Drumlanrig Street (the A76), East and West Morton Streets, New Street, Townhead Street Station Road, Corstorphine road, and Gill Road (the A702). The village is near

Drumlanrig Castle Drumlanrig Castle is situated on the Queensberry Estate in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. The category A listed castle is the Dumfriesshire home of the Duke of Buccleuch and Queensberry. As of September 2023, the castle itself is open to t ...

, a 17th-century turreted mansion once the ancient Douglas stronghold, now home to the Duke of Buccleuch and Queensberry. The grounds contain Tibbers Castle which was founded in the 12th or 13th century. The most recently published Census data from 2001 recorded the population at 1,512 inhabitants.

Public Transport

The village's bus service is operated by the South West of Scotland Transport Partnership (SWESTRANS) incorporating a number of local and national operators. Thornhill railway station, closed in 1965, is on the old

Glasgow and South Western The Glasgow and South Western Railway (G&SWR) was the third biggest of the five major Scottish railway companies prior to the 1923 Grouping. It served a triangular area of south-west Scotland between Glasgow, Stranraer and Carlisle, Cumbria, Ca ...

main line from

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from ) is a city in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. Carlisle's early history is marked by the establishment of a settlement called Luguvalium to serve forts along Hadrian's Wall in Roman Britain. Due to its pro ...

and

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock ( ; ; , ), meaning "the church of Mernóc", is a town and former burgh in East Ayrshire situated in southwest Scotland. The town has served as the administrative centre of East Ayrshire Council since 1996 and is the region's main ...

and

. The nearest train stations are located in

. In 2016 the local community council distributed a survey, and residents showed overwhelming support of the re-opening of the station. Recently a community action plan was released, which outlined the next steps for village development, and the station's redevelopment is a current goal for the village.

Education

The rebuilt school gained its name, Wallace Hall, on amalgamation with the nearby Closeburn school of that name. The original Closeburn school was founded in 1723 by John Wallace, a merchant in

and native of Closeburn. Wallace Hall Primary School and its Nursery moved into a new building in January 2010, as part of a shared campus with Academy. Alumni include the golfer

Andrew Coltart Andrew John Coltart (born 12 May 1970) is a Scottish professional golfer and TV commentator. He had a successful amateur career and played in the 1991 Walker Cup. As a professional he won twice on the European Tour, the 1998 Qatar Masters an ...

, Bobby Black (Scottish League internationalist and

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup, also known as the Premier Sports Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League cup in ...

winning

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

and also all England

bowls Bowls, also known as lawn bowls or lawn bowling, is a sport in which players try to roll their ball (called a bowl) closest to a smaller ball (known as a "jack" or sometimes a "kitty"). The bowls are shaped (biased), so that they follow a curve ...

champion) is also from Thornhill. Colin Peacock, a long serving Scottish International Bowler and Commonwealth Games representative in 2006. Swimmer Moira Brown represented Scotland in the Commonwealth Games and Great Britain in the 1972 Munich Olympics as well as several other internationals.

Notable residents

A monument to the explorer Joseph Thomson (after whom the

Thomson's Gazelle Thomson's gazelle (''Eudorcas thomsonii'') is one of the best known species of gazelles. It is named after explorer Joseph Thomson (explorer), Joseph Thomson and is sometimes referred to as a "tommie". It is considered by some to be a subspecies o ...

is named), who lived in neighbouring Penpont and Gatelawbridge, can be found close to the school. There is also a column topped by a winged horse, the emblem of the Queensberry family, in the centre of the town. The Very Reverend Dr James Harkness, first non-Anglican Chaplain-General of the UK Armed Forces and

Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland The moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland is the minister or elder chosen to moderate (chair) the annual General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, which is held for a week in Edinburgh every year. After chairing the Ass ...

in 1995, is from Thornhill. Helen Armstrong, née Hyslop worked for thirty years at the Buccleuch Arms as a cook. She is said to have been an illegitimate daughter of

Robert Burns Robert Burns (25 January 1759 – 21 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the List of national poets, national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the be ...

and Helen Hyslop from

Moffat Moffat is a burgh and parish in Dumfriesshire. Part of the Dumfries and Galloway local authority area in Scotland, it lies on the River Annan, with a population of around 2,500. It was a centre of the wool trade and a spa town. Moffat is arou ...

. Samuel Wallace, a

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious decoration of the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British decorations system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British ...

recipient, was born in the town. A plaque was placed by the Thomson memorial John McLachan (architect) (1843–1893) was born here. Joseph Laing Waugh, an author, was born and raised here.

, a professional golfer with one Ryder Cup cap was born and learned his trade here.

Amenities

Thornhill has a bowling green, a squash court, a football field, and a golf course, and is known for fishing in the nearby

River Nith The River Nith (; Common Brittonic: ''Nowios'') is a river in south-west Scotland. The Nith rises in the Carsphairn hills of East Ayrshire, between Prickeny Hill and Enoch Hill, east of Dalmellington. For the majority of its course it flows ...

and tributaries. Thornhill also features a wide variety of retail outlets, such as clothes boutiques, chinese takeaway, cafes, pubs, food stores, a large pharmacy, an ironmonger, butcher, an electrical retailer, gift shops and a hairdressers. The large Victorian post office stands on the north side of the town, along with a

Royal Mail Royal Mail Group Limited, trading as Royal Mail, is a British postal service and courier company. It is owned by International Distribution Services. It operates the brands Royal Mail (letters and parcels) and Parcelforce Worldwide (parcels) ...

sorting office which serves a large rural area. There is also a garage and a small backstreet filling station. The town also has a public wash rooms, and a small cottage hospital.

Thornhill Music Festival

Beginning in 2012, Thornhill Music Festival has grown into an annual community event, with regular attendees from all over the UK coming each year. The festival has grown each year thanks to the help of the local community, the committee, the venues, and other participants. This Festival was started by The Lewis Hamilton Band who noticed a steady decline in available live music, and so in 2012 they decided to put on something similar to the established and successful Blues Festivals such as Shetland, Arbroath, Callander and in particular Montrose (they played at all of them several times), where all the bands are paid directly by the venues, but differing in that they wanted to broaden the musical scope. All venues apart from the Bowling Club are free entry all weekend. From 2018, with the assistance of funding received from National Lottery Awards, Thornhill Music Festival is planning on bringing the music so enjoyed in the village venues, to those who are unable to attend. With the agreement of the local school, Wallace Hall, they plan to provide the music to both the Dementia Group at the Friendship Club and also to Briary Park Old People's home. In 2018, the Festival launched their own website.

References

External links

Video footage of the feudal Gallows Hill.Video footage of Dalgarnock Kirk site and burial ground.Video 'Crichope Linn - Sir Walter Scott, Elves and Covenaters'Crichope Linn - Devil's Cauldron, Burley's Leap and the Souter's Seat.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thornhill, Dumfries And Galloway Towns in Dumfries and Galloway