New Abbey

New Abbey
Village Street, New Abbey
New Abbey is located in Dumfries and Galloway
New Abbey
New Abbey
Location within Dumfries and Galloway
Population82 (2001 Census)
Council area
Lieutenancy area
CountryScotland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townDumfries
Postcode districtDG2
Dialling code01387
PoliceScotland
FireScottish
AmbulanceScottish
UK Parliament
Scottish Parliament
List of places
UK
Scotland
54°58′48″N 3°37′10″W / 54.979888°N 3.619428°W / 54.979888; -3.619428

New Abbey (Scottish Gaelic: An Abaid Ùr) is a village in the historical county of Kirkcudbrightshire in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It is 6 miles (10 km) south of Dumfries.[1] The summit of the prominent hill Criffel is 2.5 miles (4.0 km) to the south.

History

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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.[1] 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

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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

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List of listed buildings

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List of listed buildings in New Abbey, Dumfries and Galloway

Notes

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  1. ^ a b AA Book of British Villages. Drive Publications Limited. 1980. p. 292. ISBN 9780340254875.
  2. ^ "New Abbey Corn Mill". Historic Environment Scotland. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  3. ^ "Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1973 c. 65, retrieved 22 November 2022
  4. ^ "The Lord-Lieutenants Order 1975", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 1975/428, retrieved 25 November 2022
  5. ^ "The Lord-Lieutenants (Scotland) Order 1996", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 1996/731, retrieved 25 November 2022
  6. ^ "Dougie Sharpe career profile". qosfc.com. Archived from the original on 26 February 2009.
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