Glenluce ( gd, Clachan Ghlinn Lus) is a small village in the parish of

Old Luce Old Luce is a civil parish in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It lies in the Machars peninsula, in the traditional county of Wigtownshire. The parish is around long and broad, and contains . It was anciently named Glenluce which was divided ...

Wigtownshire Wigtownshire or the County of Wigtown (, ) is one of the historic counties of Scotland, covering an area in the south-west of the country. Until 1975, Wigtownshire was an administrative county used for local government. Since 1975 the area has f ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. It contains a village shop,a caravan park and a town hall, as well as the parish church.

Location

Glenluce on the

A75 road The A75 is a primary trunk road in Scotland, linking Stranraer and its ferry ports at Cairnryan with the A74(M) at Gretna, close to the border with England and the M6 motorway. Route Heading west along the south coast of Scotland from its ju ...

between Stranraer () and

Newton Stewart Newton Stewart ( Gd: ''Baile Ùr nan Stiùbhartach'') is a former burgh town in the historical county of Wigtownshire in Dumfries and Galloway, southwest Scotland. The town is on the River Cree with most of the town to the west of the river, and ...

(). It's south of

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, west of Dumfries and south west of

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

The Church

The Parish Church of Glenluce, with the two chapels, was vested by the king in 1587. In 1646 the parish of Glenluce was split in two to form Old Luce Parish Church and New Luce Parish Church. However, in 2016 the parishes churches were reunited to form Luce Valley Church, which covers

Auchenmalg Auchenmalg is a small hamlet (place), hamlet situated on the shore of Luce Bay in the parish of Old Luce, Wigtownshire, south-west Scotland. Auchenmalg consists of a village hall, a pub called the Cock Inn, and a caravan park called Luce Bay Ho ...

Dunragit Dunragit ( gd, Dùn Reicheit) is a village on the A75, between Stranraer and Glenluce in Dumfries and Galloway, south-west Scotland. Dunragit is within the parish of Old Luce, in the traditional county of Wigtownshire. The modern village grew ...

, Glenluce and

New Luce New Luce ( gd, Baile Ùr Ghlinn Lus) is a civil parish in Dumfries and Galloway, south-west Scotland. It lies in the traditional county of Wigtownshire, and is about in length and in breath, being the upper part of the original Glenluce Paris ...

, as well as the surrounding area. They meet at 11am every Sunday in the church in Glenluce and the current minister is Rev Stephen Ogston.

Castle of Park

The Castle of Park is an L-plan

tower house A tower house is a particular type of stone structure, built for defensive purposes as well as habitation. Tower houses began to appear in the Middle Ages, especially in mountainous or limited access areas, in order to command and defend strateg ...

near the village. It was built in 1596 by Thomas Hay, upon the lands given to him by his father, who was the last abbot of

Glenluce Abbey Glenluce Abbey, near to Glenluce, Scotland, was a Cistercian monastery called also ''Abbey of Luce'' or ''Vallis Lucis'' and founded around 1190 by Rolland or Lochlann, Lord of Galloway and Constable of Scotland. Following the Scottish Reformatio ...

. The Hay family continued to live there until 1830, when they abandoned the castle, leaving it to fall into disrepair. The building remained empty until 1949, when the Ministry of Works came into possession of it. They performed some restoration work on the roof, but stripped out the floors and demolished the wings, which were derelict by this time. From 1976 to 1978

Historic Scotland Historic Scotland ( gd, Alba Aosmhor) was an executive agency of the Scottish Office and later the Scottish Government from 1991 to 2015, responsible for safeguarding Scotland's built heritage, and promoting its understanding and enjoyment ...

undertook a restoration programme, repairing the walls and renewing the floors and windows. They then leased it to the

Landmark Trust The Landmark Trust is a British architectural conservation, building conservation charitable organization, charity, founded in 1965 by John Smith (Conservative politician), Sir John and Lady Smith, that rescues buildings of historic interest or ...

, who have now opened the castle to the public.

Administration

Glenluce formerly had its own parish; however in 1646 this was split in two, forming the parishes of Old and

. At a regional level, Glenluce is governed by

Dumfries and Galloway Council Dumfries and Galloway ( sco, Dumfries an Gallowa; gd, Dùn Phrìs is Gall-Ghaidhealaibh) is one of 32 unitary council areas of Scotland and is located in the western Southern Uplands. It covers the counties of Scotland, historic counties of ...

which covers

Galloway Galloway ( ; sco, Gallowa; la, Gallovidia) is a region in southwestern Scotland comprising the historic counties of Wigtownshire and Kirkcudbrightshire. It is administered as part of the council area of Dumfries and Galloway. A native or ...

(of which Wigtownshire forms the western half) and

Dumfriesshire Dumfriesshire or the County of Dumfries or Shire of Dumfries (''Siorrachd Dhùn Phris'' in Gaelic) is a historic county and registration county in southern Scotland. The Dumfries lieutenancy area covers a similar area to the historic county. I ...

. Locally it is governed by Old Luce Community Council.

Glenluce Abbey

Near to the village is

, a ruined Cistercian

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone ( hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer whi ...

built in 1192 by

Lochlann, Lord of Galloway Lochlann of Galloway (died December 12, 1200), also known as Lochlan mac Uchtred and by his French name Roland fitz Uhtred, was the son and successor of Uchtred, Lord of Galloway as the "Lord" or "sub-king" of eastern Galloway. Family Lochlann w ...

. Following its dissolution at the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

it was abandoned, falling into its current ruinous state.

Railways

The town was served by Glenluce railway station from 1862 by the

Portpatrick and Wigtownshire Joint Railway The Portpatrick and Wigtownshire Joint RailwaysThe final word is in the plural. was a network of railway lines serving sparsely populated areas of south-west Scotland. The title appeared in 1885 when the previously independent Portpatrick Rai ...

which provided a strategic link to

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

under British Rail. However, it was cut under the Beeching Axe in 1965.

References

{{Authority control Wigtownshire Archaeological sites in Wigtownshire Castles in Wigtownshire Villages in Dumfries and Galloway