Sanquhar Castle

Sanquhar Castle, now a ruin, was built by the Crichton family in the 13th century. Situated on the southern approach to the former royal burgh of Sanquhar in Dumfries and Galloway, south west Scotland, it sits on the trail of the Southern Upland Way, and is passed by hundreds of visitors who walk through the grounds each year.

The castle is a stronghold bounded on the west by the River Nith, to the north by a burn, and made strong by a deep ditch running the remainder of the boundary. It was visited by many notable figures including Robert the Bruce, William Wallace, Edward I, Mary, Queen of Scots, and James VI.

Sanquhar Castle was sold by the Crichtons in the mid 17th century to Sir William Douglas, 1st Duke of Queensberry, who established the fairytale pink sandstone Drumlanrig Castle ten miles south of Sanquhar near Thornhill. From then on the castle at Sanquhar began to steadily crumble to a ruin, until 1895 when John Crichton-Stuart, 3rd Marquess of Bute, purchased it and attempted to enthuse a restoration of his ancestral home, following successful restorations at Cardiff Castle and Castell Coch in Wales. This was undertaken by Robert Weir Schultz and the squarer and more structurally sound sections rebuilt at that time can clearly be identified.

Sanquhar

Coordinates: 55°22′05″N 3°55′29″W / 55.36793°N 3.92463°W / 55.36793; -3.92463

Sanquhar /ˈsæŋkər/ (Scots: Sanchar,Scottish Gaelic: Seanchair) is a town on the River Nith in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It lies north of Thornhill and west of Moffat. It is a former Royal Burgh.

Sanquhar is notable for its tiny post office (established in 1712), claimed to be the oldest working post office in the world. It was also the place where the Covenanters, who opposed episcopalisation of the church, signed the Sanquhar Declaration renouncing their allegiance to the King, an event commemorated by a monument in the main street. The church of St. Brides contains a memorial to James Crichton, a 16th-century polymath. The ruins of Sanquhar Castle stand nearby. Nithsdale Wanderers, the local team, were formed in 1897. In 1924–25, Wanderers won the Scottish Division Three.

History

The name "Sanquhar" comes from the Scottish Gaelic language Seann Cathair, meaning "old fort". There is a 15th Century castle ruin that overlooks the town, but the name predates even this ancient fort. The antiquary, William Forbes Skene even considered it the probable location of the settlement named Corda in Ptolemy's Geographia. With its location along the River Nith, Sanquhar has been a major crossroads for centuries. Artifacts have been found here from Neolithic times. The remains of several prehistoric British forts can be found in the area as well as traces of a Roman outpost.

Sanquhar (Parliament of Scotland constituency)

Sanquhar in Dumfriesshire was a royal burgh that returned one commissioner to the Parliament of Scotland and to the Convention of Estates.

After the Acts of Union 1707, Sanquhar, Annan, Dumfries, Kirkcudbright and Lochmaben formed the Dumfries district of burghs, returning one member between them to the House of Commons of Great Britain.

See also