Gatelawbridge

Gatelawbridge
Dumfriesshire
Location
Grid reference:	NX905965
Location:	55°15’3"N, 3°43’22"W
Data
Postcode:	DG3
Local Government
Council:	Dumfries and Galloway

Gatelawbridge is a hamlet in Dumfriesshire, two and a half miles east of Thornhill and near the gorge Crichope Linn. The origin of the name is unknown though in the past the locals called it Gateley Bridge, so perhaps it takes its name from a type of bridge over the Cample River in the centre of the settlement. The river divides the parishes, with all those east of the river being in Closeburn Parish, and those west of the river being in Morton Parish.

The African explorer Joseph Thomson lived in Gatelawbridge from the age of 10 until leaving for Edinburgh. He attended the secondary school Morton Academy in Thornhill (now Wallace Hall Academy), making the journey each day on his pony called Donald. His father was the quarry master and presumably that is where his interest in rocks began. He studied geology at Edinburgh University. After graduating he was engaged on several explorations in East Africa and North Africa, in the course of which he discovered the Thomson's Falls in Kenya. The Thomson's gazelle is named after him. His exersions in a tropical climate took a cruel toll though as of so many and he died a young man of infections contracted in Africa. A monument to Thomson stands next to the school in Thornhill.

Gatelawbridge is the site of several red sandstone quarries opened in the 19th century, now largely disused. The sandstone derived from a huge sand dune which extended from Gatelawbridge through Locharbriggs to Annan. This sandstone is the building material of much of Dumfriesshire, and was exported to America where it was used to build the famous 'brownstones' of New York.

In modern times the hamlet has seen a lot of new housing.

("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Gatelawbridge)