Mochrum

Coordinates: 54°48′N 4°34′W / 54.80°N 4.56°W / 54.80; -4.56

Mochrum
Mochrum Mochrum shown within Dumfries and Galloway
Council area	Dumfries and Galloway
Lieutenancy area	Wigtown
Country	Scotland
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Police	Scottish
Fire	Scottish
Ambulance	Scottish
EU Parliament	Scotland
UK Parliament	Dumfries and Galloway
Scottish Parliament	Galloway and Upper Nithsdale
List of places UK Scotland

Mochrum is an area nearly ten miles in length and four to five miles in breadth in Wigtownshire, in the District Council Region of Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, bounded on the south-west by the bay of Luce. It contains 22,000 acres, of which 200 are woodland and plantations, about 1000 waste, and the remainder, almost in equal proportions, meadow, pasture in the west of the Machars peninsula.^[1]^[2]

The Village

Mochrum village lies 3.1km north of the village of Port William and 14.3km southwest of Wigtown. The parish was described by its minister in 1838 as "bleak but healthful".^[3] A number of farms and scattered cottages, though outside the village, come within Mochrum parish, as does the village of Port William and the clachan of Elrig.^[4]

The village consists of a Main Street, a long row of mostly large, terraced cottages dating back to the 1800s, and Mote Brae, a row of eight semi-detached formerly council-owned houses built in the early 1930s. There is evidence of another 'street' running along the line of the back gardens of the current main street houses. This may have been the original main street as the buildings found here show evidence of having been lived in (although now are almost entirely converted into sheds and garages) and are considerably older than the houses of the current Main Street). The oldest house in the village to still be in use is the old gravedigger's cottage adjacent to the kirk gates (although at this time, the author doesn't have a date for this house).

Port William, Scotland The port was constructed by Sir William Maxwell, and in the 1800s was a safe anchorage for vessels of about 200 tons. Each coastal farm had its own "port" by clearing the rocks away so that a ship could beach at high tide, unload and reload and float off at the next high tide.

Monreith Loch ^[5]

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The Kirk and churchyard

12th century church The village's centrepieces is provided by the church which is built on the site of (and using the walls of) a previous church building which dates back to the 12th Century.

The former Kirk building was largely destroyed by fire in the 1770s, and the current building which used most of the former building's rectangular walls in its construction, was substantially altered sometime around AD1840.

The Georgian T-plan kirk building, which dates back to 1794 is a prime example of Scotland's post-Reformation ecclesiastical architecture.^[6]

The churchyard contains 10 war graves of which 4 male and 1 female are unknown.

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History

Sir John Dunbar of Mochrum was killed at the Battle of Flodden in 1513. John Dunbar of Mochrum and his wife Janet Stewart, had a 3rd son, Gavin Dunbar 1490-1547, who was Archbishop of Glasgow. Gavin Dunbar (archbishop of Glasgow)

Castle Island fortified mediaeval manor house also called Drumwalt. (click on Old Place of Mochrum photo below)

Castle Island and Castle Loch

Myretoun McCulloch was owned by the McCullochs, and in AD1574 they had the 5 merk land of Balsalloch in the "Barony of Myretoun".^[7] See above note re the Mesolithic Barsalloch Fort.

Myretoun Castle on the Monreith Estate on the border of Mochrum-Glasserton parishes was owned by Sir William Maxwell, and then the Maxwells built Monreith House

Myrtoun Castle Motte" Myrtoun Castle was built on an earlier motte.,^[8] but was there also a castle and motte on the island ?

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Archaeology

About one mile from Monreith is Barsalloch Point, with evidence of human encampments as early as 6000BC making it the oldest dated settlement in Galloway.

Barsalloch Iron age fort Mochrum is the site of many prehistoric forts, and many earthworks, standing stones, and crannógs, as well as both early and medieval crosses.^[9]^[10]

Doon of May Iron Age hill fort ^[11]

Chippermore Fort ^[12]^[13]

Mochrum Fell Bronze Age Cairn or Burial Cist ^[14]

Garheugh Cave Two hammerstones were found from a kitchen midden at Garheugh Cave, and also an axe head.

Crailoch or Crailloch Mote is recorded on p.6 and some cairns are noted in History of the Lands and Their Owners in Galloway. Vol.2. P.H. MacKerlie ^[15] map ^[16]

Chapel Finian The foundations are all that is left of Chapel Finian, a 10th-11th Century chapel standing on an old raised beach at Corwall Port. It probably takes its name from Saint Finian who was educated at Whithorn and died c.AD579. The site was probably a landing place for Irish pilgrims to Saint Ninian's shrine. ^[17] It is shown on Timothy Pont's map in Blaeu's Atlas, as "Chappel finan".^[18]

Druchtag Motehill, a steep-sided mound and site of a 12th-century motte-and-bailey castle lies about 100m north west of Mote Brae.Clan McCulloch ^[19]^[20]^[21]

Old Place of Mochrum built AD1368 ^[22]

See Archaeological and Historical Collections relating to Ayrshire and Galloway. vol.V. pp. 62–73.^[23]

A crannog is in Elrig Loch.^[24]

A standing stone, the Carlin stone, can be found on The Derry, near to the head of Elrig Loch.

The ruins of a mediaeval chapel can be found at Barhobble, which is near to the House of Elrig. Plan at ^[25]

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