Ruthwell is a village and parish on the

Solway Firth The Solway Firth is an inlet on the west coast of Great Britain, forming part of the border between England and Scotland. The firth (a Scottish term for an inlet of the sea) divides Cumbria (including the Solway Plain) from Dumfries and Gallow ...

between

Dumfries Dumfries ( ; ; from ) is a market town and former royal burgh in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, near the mouth of the River Nith on the Solway Firth, from the Anglo-Scottish border. Dumfries is the county town of the Counties of Scotland, ...

and Annan in

Dumfries and Galloway Dumfries and Galloway (; ) is one of the 32 unitary council areas of Scotland, located in the western part of the Southern Uplands. It is bordered by East Ayrshire, South Ayrshire, and South Lanarkshire to the north; Scottish Borders to the no ...

, Scotland. In 2022 the combined population of Ruthwell and nearby Clarencefield was 400. Thomas Randolph, Earl of Moray, gave Ruthwell to his nephew, Sir William Murray, confirmed to Sir John Murray, of Cockpool, in 1509 by King

James VI James may refer to: People * James (given name) * James (surname) * James (musician), aka Faruq Mahfuz Anam James, (born 1964), Bollywood musician * James, brother of Jesus * King James (disambiguation), various kings named James * Prince Ja ...

. He was later given the title Earl of Annandale: their landownings in Ruthwell passed by inheritance to Lord Stormont in 1658, and after 1792 to the Earls of Mansfield. Ruthwell's most famous inhabitant was the Rev. Henry Duncan. He was a minister, author,

antiquarian An antiquarian or antiquary () is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artefacts, archaeological and historic si ...

, geologist, publisher, philanthropist, artist and businessman. In 1810 Dr Duncan opened the world's first commercial

savings bank A savings bank is a financial institution that is not run on a profit-maximizing basis, and whose original or primary purpose is collecting deposits on savings accounts that are invested on a low-risk basis and receive interest. Savings banks ha ...

, Ruthwell Savings Bank, paying interest on its investors' modest savings. The Henry Duncan Savings Bank Museum tells the story of early home savings in

Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...

. The museum is on the site of the Ruthwell Savings Bank. In 1818, Duncan restored the

Ruthwell Cross The Ruthwell Cross is a stone Anglo-Saxon cross probably dating from the 8th century, when the village of Ruthwell, now in Scotland, was part of the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Northumbria. It is the most famous and elaborate Anglo-Saxon monumental ...

, one of the finest Anglo-Saxon crosses in the United Kingdom, now in Ruthwell church, which had been broken up in the

Scottish Reformation The Scottish Reformation was the process whereby Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland broke away from the Catholic Church, and established the Protestant Church of Scotland. It forms part of the wider European 16th-century Protestant Reformation. Fr ...

. This cross is remarkable for its sculpture and inscriptions in Latin and

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

, some in

Anglo-Saxon runes Anglo-Saxon runes or Anglo-Frisian runes are runes that were used by the Anglo-Saxons and Medieval Frisians (collectively called Anglo-Frisians) as an alphabet in their native writing system, recording both Old English and Old Frisian (, ᚱ� ...

, which include excerpts from '' The Dream of the Rood'', an Old English poem. After the

Disruption of 1843 The Disruption of 1843, also known as the Great Disruption, was a schism in 1843 in which 450 evangelical ministers broke away from the Church of Scotland to form the Free Church of Scotland. The main conflict was over whether the Church of Sc ...

in the

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland (CoS; ; ) is a Presbyterian denomination of Christianity that holds the status of the national church in Scotland. It is one of the country's largest, having 245,000 members in 2024 and 259,200 members in 2023. While mem ...

, Dr. Duncan became one of the founding ministers of the Free Church of Scotland. During his youth, Robert Murray M'Cheyne spent summer holidays at ''Clarence Cottage'' in the hamlet of Clarencefield near Ruthwell, the home of his maternal aunt. During these visits he would often call to see "Uncle" Henry Duncan at the manse. M'Cheyne's parents were born in this part of Scotland. Brow Well Ruthwell Parish - geograph

The Brow Well is situated west of the village of Ruthwell. This well, stained reddish by the high levels of iron salts in the water, is the place where Scottish poet

Robert Burns Robert Burns (25 January 1759 – 21 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the List of national poets, national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the be ...

hoped to cure his final illness by drinking the iron-rich water. The village was once served by Ruthwell railway station.

References

External links

Map of RuthwellHenry Duncan Savings Bank MuseumRuthwell Rovers F.C.Ruthwell Savings Bank Museum video footage
Villages in Dumfries and Galloway Parishes in Dumfries and Galloway {{DumfriesGalloway-geo-stub