Third Statistical Account of Scotland The Parish of Kirkgunzeon by Alan W. Lindsay (1959) Mr Lindsay was the Head Teacher at Kirkgunzeon School and author of this third statistical account of the Parish. Boundaries: The Parish of Kirkgunzeon, lying between the burghs of Dumfries and Dalbeattie, is bounded by the parishes of Urr on the west, Lochrutton on the north, Southwick and Colvend on the south and New Abbey on the east. These boundaries are unchanged since 1792. Natural Features: The parish consists of a shallow north-east-south-west valley five miles long and three miles broad. Through this valley runs Kirkgunzeon Lane which, as its name implies, flows for a mile or two at least, through a straight channel (partly man-made) in the flat ground in the north-east of the parish. It is a good trout stream. The high land in the parish lies roughly round the boundaries. On the southern side the hills are heather-clad, forming the slopes of the large granite batholith of Criffel. The opposite side of the valley lies on blue whinstone. The dividing line between the granite and the whin runs down the centre of the valley. The whinstone ground is considered to be stronger land and better 1 able to hold moisture. Hence it grows better grass while the sharper granite- based ground produces better oats. Throughout the area much of the ground is uneven owing to small rocky outcrops here and there. The largest wooded area is Camphill, where there are perhaps 15 acres of rough coniferous plantation. Apart from this there are only occasional shelter strips, clumps and single trees, sufficient to prevent an impression of actual bareness. Climate: The mild south-west climate of course prevails. Spring growth is slightly slower, and snow and frost linger longer than in the seaside parishes five or six miles distant. Agriculture: When the New Statistical Account was written in 1840 all the land belonged to persons residing outside the parish and was held by tenant farmers.Today practically every farm is owner-occupied. In the two or three instances where this is not so the land is managed for a farmer living in the vicinity. In 1920 the Terregles estate, comprising 60 farms, was sold off. Over twenty sizeable holdings in Kirkgunzeon parish were included. These passed, for the most part, to the sitting tenants. This process of owner occupancy has recently been completed. Dairy farming is the principal activity of the parish. Out of 27 farms, 16 have commercial or pedigree herds of Ayrshire cows, ranging from 30 - 90 head. Most of the commercial Ayrshire’s have lately been dehorned. In the 1920s there were only two or three dairies, but the number increased in the 1930s and rose sharply soon after 1939. There is a tendency at present for these also to engage in the rearing of beef cattle by crossing the Ayrshires with a Shorthorn bull. On the non-dairy farms, cattle for beef is the main concern but a small number raise Galloway cattle for breeding and beef. Some of these, from Congeith, have gained championships at the National Fat Stock Show in London. Only three horses are now used, compared with two hundred counted by the writer of the Old Statistical Account. Their work, and much of what used to be hard work, is performed by about 40 tractors. After grass, turnips or kale, oats and hay are the main field crops. About half an acre of potatoes is general. The acreage of turnips or kale together might be 12 to 20, hay the same, and oats twice as much. The making of silage in quantity is undertaken by two or three farms. For the past few years much of the oats has been cut by combine harvester and much of the hay baled. Housing: Many new dwelling houses were built in Kirkgunzeon after the second world war. Out of 109 dwellings in the parish, 12 new ones and an equal number of extensively reconditioned buildings can be counted. Of these most are for agricultural workers, two or three for farmers, and two for persons not connected with farming. This does not include the county council housing scheme which stands by the church, across the burn from the original small village and the school. 2 The ground which it occupies was part of the church glebe. Here there are 20 dwellings; a block of four steel houses, Athollbank, erected in 1945 and 16 brick houses, known as Kirkbank, erected in 1954. A small area adjoining is fitted up as a children’s playground with swings and the like. Church: There is one church, the Church of Scotland. The present building was erected in 1790 on the site of a former church. That this former building was very ancient may be deduced from the following facts. The author of the Old Statistical Account states that ‘the roof is of a peculiar construction and is said to have been formed at Holmcultern in Cumberland and brought hither when the parish of Kirkgunzeon belonged to the Abbey’. As the monks of Holmcultern lost their property in Scotland in the reign of David Bruce, and Kirkgunzeon was given to Sir John Herries of Terregles by charter dated 7 June 1369, the old church must have been built some time before this date. This year, when the present church was being altered by the installation of electric heating and the conversion of the old hearse house into a vestry, it was noted that very old timber beams, which looked like roof beams, were supporting the floor. In 1956 on the retiral of the Rev. R L Kirk after a ministry of 23 years, the church was linked to Dalbeattie Park Church and its minister, the Rev. S M Aitkenhead, assumed responsibility for both charges. As he lived in Park Church Manse, Kirkgunzeon Manse was sold. It is a large house adjoining the church and was built in 1804. The communion roll is 180. Morning services are held weekly and there are flourishing Sunday schools and Woman’s Guild. The three Roman Catholic families worship in Dalbeattie. Communications and Services: The adoption of the telephone began about 1920 and it is now in use in every farm house. Electricity for power and cooking is almost universally used; this dates from about the middle 1930s. Nowadays all farmers and most farm workers own a motor car for personal transport. Corra Garage, which was erected near the main Dumfries-Dalbeattie road about 1945 employs several mechanics. Bus services on this same main road have been maintained since 1928. About this date the old style macadamized road compacted with mud and sand gave place to the tarred surface on the main thoroughfare, and all side roads were similarly treated in the following decade. With the establishment of the bus services the importance of the main line railway to the village declined. Kirkgunzeon station was first closed to passenger traffic. When the work of transporting cattle, feeding stuffs and manures to farms was undertaken by the more convenient cattle float or lorry about 1930, the railway station was shortly afterwards closed to goods traffic. At the start of the motor era farmers who had previously been in the habit of 3 droving cattle to Dumfries took advantage of the new service. Education: The present school building in the old village has served the parish area since the early nineteenth century. From the start of compulsory education in 1872 until 1945 instruction was provided for pupils up to the statutory school leaving age. At that date it became purely a primary school. Pupils were transferred at the age of 12 years to Dalbeattie High School where a three year course was available. From there they could proceed to Kirkcudbright Academy or Dumfries Academy for senior secondary education. Before the school was made a purely primary one, of course, progress to Dalbeattie, Kirkcudbright or Dumfries was open to pupils as an alternative to finishing their schooling locally. The provision of school meals was started in 1944. For many years around 1900 soup and bread were supplied to the school children at a penny for each family. For the last ten years 50 has been the usual number dining each day. Living in the parish are 24 post-primary school children, one college student and one university student. Occupations: Twelve men working on the railway reside locally; 17 men and 11 women travel daily to Dumfries or Dalbeattie to their employment. Apart from the blacksmith, three men who haul milk to the creamery, the two school teachers and the half dozen workers at the garage, all others are employed in farming. The total population is nearly five hundred. Leisure and Recreation: The school is used in the evenings for country dancing, needlework or arts and crafts classes. The newly formed Girl Guides and Brownies also meet there. In the well built and equipped public hall, given to the parish by the Maxwell family in 1911, various clubs function. The badminton club and the carpet bowling club make use of it for four evenings weekly. The Scottish Women’s Rural Institute meetings are held every month. Wild Life: In 1955 the rabbit plague, myxomatosis, cleared the parish of these animals, but they are beginning to return. The farmers are now organising a clearance scheme. Foxes are quite numerous and are kept down by fox shoots. Anything up to twenty guns may assemble for such shoots about half a dozen times in the year. Pheasants, grouse and partridges are seen occasionally.