Kirkconnel

"KIRKCONNEL, a parish in the district of Nithsdale, county Dumfries, Scotland, 3 miles N.W. of Sanquhar. It has a station on the Glasgow and South-Western railway, by which the parish is intersected. It is 17 miles long by 7 broad. There are about 6,100 acres under tillage. Two-thirds of the whole area is hilly pasture, and much attention is given to dairy farming. It is watered by the river Nith and its tributaries. The parish is in the presbytery of Penpont, and synod of Dumfries. The minister's stipend is £241. The church is a commodious structure. Old Kirkconnel and its church, which was dedicated to St. Connel, stood about 2 miles N. of the present village. Glenwhurry Hill has recently been discovered to be the burial-place of St, Connel. There are two mineral wells in the parish. Coal, ironstone, limestone, and lead are found, but the first only is worked. The Duke of Buccleuch is the chief landowner."

[Description(s) from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868)
Transcribed by Colin Hinson ©2003]