Gatelawbridge is a hamlet in the region of
Dumfries and Galloway
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 ...
, Scotland.
It is situated two and a half miles east of
Thornhill and near the gorge
Crichope Linn
Crichope Linn or Crichop Linn, originally Creehope is a gorge and waterfall near Gatelawbridge in Dumfries and Galloway, southern Scotland. ''Linn'' is the Scots language word for ''waterfall''. The etymology of the names 'Cree' or 'Crich' may der ...
. 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), 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 the
University of Edinburgh. After graduating he was engaged on several explorations in East and North Africa. He discovered the Thomson's Falls in Kenya and the Thomson's gazelle is named after him. He was known to be a kind and very fair man, who refused to beat his bearers in Africa when they did wrong, preferring to dock their wages instead. This however was quite unpopular at the time with the bearers who at one point went on strike and left him. He became ill due to infections picked up on his travels and died a young man.
His friends erected a fine monument to him which stands next to the school in Thornhill.
Gatelawbridge is the site of several Red Sandstone quarries opened in the 19th century that were once linked by rail to the G&SWR main line near Cample village. They are 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.
The hamlet has seen a lot of growth recently with several new houses being constructed.
See also
*
Deil's Dyke
Deil's Dyke, Pict's Dyke or Celt's Dyke
in south-west lowland Scotland is a linear earthwork that roughly follows the contours that divide upland pasture from lowland arable land, effectively acting like the head-dykes of medieval and later ...
- A linear earthwork.
References
External links
Video 'Crichope Linn - Sir Walter Scott, Elves and Covenaters
Villages in Dumfries and Galloway
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