Tongland

Tongland
Kirkcudbrightshire
Bridge over the River Dee at Tongland
Location
Grid reference:	NX697539
Location:	54°51’47"N, 4°1’53"W
Data
Postcode:	DG6
Local Government
Council:	Dumfries and Galloway

Tongland is a small village and parish in Kirkcudbrightshire about two miles north of the county town, Kirkcudbright.

The village stands on the west bank of the Dee, in the tong between the Dee and the Tarff Water. Above the village is the fair ribbon of Togland Loch into which the Dee opens its course for several miles narrowing to a river again at Tongland but briefly, for below the village the Dee becomes tidal and opens into a modest estuary head. The Tarff Water is west of the village, and flows south into the Dee estuary here.

The Dee at Tongland

Though a peaceful place of fields, and a golf course, there is the hand of industry too; the power station at the mouth of the river, a quarry by the loch and the pillars of an otherwise vanished railway bridge still striding over the river.

History

Tongland Abbey, a mediæval Premonstratensian monastic community, existed here during the Middle Ages. The remains of this may still be seen together with a church, which is in a state of disrepair. The Dee is crossed shortly downriver by Tongland Bridge, a stone arch bridge constructed in 1806 by Thomas Telford.

Tongland Power station

Between 1921 and 1922 'Galloway' cars were made in Tongland in a First World War factory. Since the 1930s, Tongland has been the site of a hydro-electric power station, part of the Galloway Hydro Electric Scheme. The station is open to visitors during the summer months. Slightly earlier,

Since 2004, there have been several construction projects, with the site of a former garage now home to two new houses. There are also several more houses being constructed. In 2006, street lights were installed along the A711 which passes through the village.

Outside links

("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Tongland)

• Civil Parish records