Haugh of Urr

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Haugh of Urr
Kirkcudbrightshire
Urr Parish Church - geograph.org.uk - 263726.jpg
Urr Parish Church
Location
Grid reference: NX8066
Location: 54°58’41"N, 3°52’5"W
Data
Post town: Castle Douglas
Postcode: DG7
Dialling code: 01556
Local Government
Council: Dumfries and Galloway
Parliamentary
constituency:
Dumfries and Galloway

Haugh of Urr, is a village in Kirkcudbrightshire, beside the Urr Water, which gives the village its name. Haugh of Urr is to be found approximately three miles northeast of Castle Douglas and four miles north of Dalbeattie. It is equidistant between two county towns; 12½ miles west of Dumfries and 12½ miles east of Kirkcudbright.

The village is known to locals as 'The Haugh'.

Name

The word 'Haugh' is pronounced hoch', rhyming with 'loch'.

Haugh is from the Old English halh or healh meaning 'corner, nook', and in Scots has come to mean means river-meadow or a level piece of ground beside a stream.[1]

The 'Urr' element is from the river. That name appear to be from the Cumbric (or Strathclyde Welsh) word or, meaning a border, boundary or limit.[2]

Description

The village has one pub, the Laurie Arms which incorporates a part-time Post Office, one Church (Church of Scotland), a Village Hall, a Scout hut, and a small village green. The village no longer has any shops. It used to have two shops, one of which included a petrol filling station, while the other included a full-time post office, which reduced to part-time in later years. The last shop closed in 2009. Hardgate is a nearby hamlet up the hill and the boundaries are indistinct. Agriculture and tourism are the mainstays of the local economy.

River Urr

River Urr near Haugh of Urr

The Urr Water is noted for salmon fishing. The river originates at Glenlair and flows for thirty miles from Loch Urr to its outflow into the Solway Firth at Kippford near Dalbeattie.

Motte of Urr

Motte of Urr c. 1797
Motte of Urr 2011

The Motte of Urr, is the site of a motte-and-bailey castle. Today this mediæval earthwork near the Haugh of Urr is said to be the most extensive bailey earthwork in Scotland. It lies beside the River Urr to the north west of Dalbeattie. It dates from the 12th century, and covers an area of about 2 ha (5 acres). In the present day, there are no excavations or walls. It is associated with Buittle Castle, a courtyard castle dating to about 1230, which was destroyed early in the 14th century and belonged to Devorgilla and her husband John I de Balliol (founder of Balliol College, in the University of Oxford). Their son together was the future King John of Scotland.

Pictures

The village
Urr Parish Church

Outside links

Commons-logo.svg
("Wikimedia Commons" has material
about Haugh of Urr)
Commons-logo.svg
("Wikimedia Commons" has material
about Urr)

References