New Abbey Explained

Country:Scotland
Official Name:New Abbey
Gaelic Name:An Abaid Ùr
Coordinates:54.9799°N -3.6194°W
Population:82
Population Ref:(2001 Census)
Unitary Scotland:Dumfries and Galloway
Lieutenancy Scotland:Dumfries
Post Town:Dumfries
Postcode District:DG2
Postcode Area:DG
Dial Code:01387
Constituency Westminster:Dumfries and Galloway
Constituency Scottish Parliament:Dumfriesshire
Static Image Name:Village Street, New Abbey - geograph.org.uk - 397710.jpg
Static Image Caption:Village Street, New Abbey

New Abbey (Gaelic; Scottish Gaelic: An Abaid Ùr) is a village in the historical county of Kirkcudbrightshire in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It is 6miles south of Dumfries.[1] The summit of the prominent hill Criffel is 2.5miles to the south.

History

The village has a wealth of history including the ruined Cistercian abbey Sweetheart Abbey, founded by Lady Dervorguilla in 1273 in memory of her husband John Balliol. She kept his embalmed heart close to her for the rest of her life. The monks named the abbey dulce cor ("sweet heart"). The village has a watermill, the New Abbey Corn Mill.[2] Loch Kindar has a crannog and the village has the remains of Kirk Kindar (this was the parish church until just after 1633 when it was transferred to the refectory of the suppressed Sweetheart Abbey) on an island located just outside the village.

New Abbey was one of five parishes from Kirkcudbrightshire included in the Nithsdale district of Dumfries and Galloway under the local government reforms of 1975 which abolished Kirkcudbrightshire as an administrative county. The parish has therefore been included in the Dumfries lieutenancy area since 1975.[3] [4] [5]

Description

The village has a saw mill, a hotel, a village shop, a coffee shop, a primary school, a doctor's surgery, a village hall, a bowling green, a football pitch – Maryfield Park (home to Abbey Vale FC) – and a Church of Scotland church. A Roman Catholic church, St Mary's, designed by the New Abbey born architect Walter Newall, closed in 2013. It is now The Thomas Bagnall Centre with occasional retreats and Mass said here.

Two burns flow through the village: the New Abbey Pow which runs into the River Nith Estuary and the Sheep Burn.

Notable people

List of listed buildings

List of listed buildings in New Abbey, Dumfries and Galloway

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: AA Book of British Villages . 1980 . Drive Publications Limited . 9780340254875 . 292.
  2. Web site: New Abbey Corn Mill. Historic Environment Scotland. 14 September 2017.
  3. act. Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973. 1973. 65. 22 November 2022.
  4. si. The Lord-Lieutenants Order 1975. 1975. 428. 25 November 2022.
  5. si. The Lord-Lieutenants (Scotland) Order 1996. 1996. 731. 25 November 2022.
  6. Web site: Dougie Sharpe career profile . qosfc.com . https://web.archive.org/web/20090226192017/http://www.qosfc.com/AboutUs/QueensLegends/tabid/115/Default.aspx . 2009-02-26 .