Round and About (2)

• The Town • The Harbour and Waterfoot • Round and About (page 1) • Round and About (page 2) • Round and About (page 3) • Printable Version

If you wish - click the map below for a larger version which will open in a new window so that you can read the text on this page at the same time:

It is a short journey from Annan on the B723 Lockerbie road to Hoddom Bridge, on a tranquil stretch of the River Annan.

It was here in the 7th Century AD that St Kentigern (St Mungo) built his monastery.

Excavations have located his small church under the old riverside graveyard, 300 metres west of the bridge.

The 1992 excavations on the slope to the north found the boundary and several buildings of the monastery, including this remarkable stone-lined baptistry, which is seen here being dismantled for future restoration on a suitable site.

The beautiful grounds of nearby Hoddom Castle contain a nine-hole golf course, an award-winning caravan site, a seasonal tearoom and shop, and several clearly signed walks. (Web site: www.hoddomcastle.co.uk)

The castle dates from the 16th Century and is crowned by an unusual beacon platform, designed to provide fire and bell signals of the approach of English marauders, with similar warning provided by the nearby Repentance Tower. The latter's bell and fire-pan were replaced by a dovecote in the 18th Century.

Across Hoddom Bridge the road forks to Ecclefechan, birthplace of the Victorian polymath Thomas Carlyle.

His statue looks down on the village, and the house built by his father and uncle has contemporary furniture and many souvenirs of the great man. Contact the National Trust for Scotland, Telephone 01576 300666 for opening times.

North of Ecclefechan lies the prominent saddleback of Burnswark Hill, an Iron Age hillfort, with extensive views.

The line of its defences is only faintly visible, but the ramparts of the southern of the two Roman camps at its foot are still prominent. The Romans used the ruined hillfort for practice assaults, the three mounds being platforms for artillery.

Birrens Roman fort, Blatobulgium, (G.R. 219753) is on the side of the minor road between Middlebie and the Motorway Bridge at Eaglesfield.

Its playing card shape and multiple ditches are still prominent. Some of the exceptionally fine sculptured and inscribed stones from the site are on display in Dumfries Museum, including this tombstone of centurion Afutianus.