The Tolbooth
which was constructed in 1625-7 forms the focus of attention, and the turning point of Kirkcudbright's 'L' shaped High Street
This page continues the visit to Kirkcudbright this time it is devoted to the High Street the graceful elegance of which seems enhanced by its unusual right-angled turn. The buildings are mostly Georgian and in good repair enhanced by their decoration being in distinctive colours adding greatly to the street's appeal. Two websites offer some material on Kirkcudbright's history: that of the town's
History Society,
and a site on
Old Kirkcudbright
The 'top' end of the High Street, away from the harbour, starts with the Selkirk Arms Hotel. Its name being due to the Earls of Selkirk whose seat was at St Mary's Isle by Kirkcudbright - a title which lapsed in 1885
Next to the Selkirk Arms is the Old Bank House with its cannon
...when an external stone stair was added and on it was placed the Mercat Cross with its inscribed date of 1610. The picture above is taken from the school grounds
The fine lines of Georgian buildings and the distinctive paintwork create the visually outstanding High Street
...stone spire with its boat as a weather vane. Access to the tower was improved in 1742 ...
The tower of the Tolbooth was added in 1642 and on it sits the conical...
The right angle bend in the middle of Kirkcudbright High Street
The west end of the Tolbooth with the school beyond
Above Custom House Close. The closes of the High Street, each with its unique character, open up a labyrinth from the linear road. Houses were originally lined up down these narrow corridors, away from the main street...
...a configuration famous in Edinburgh and so like the extreme form of the
'Tunnel House' in Hà Nội
which may extend for seventy metres back from the road. Above, the close of 66 High Street, Kirkcudbright
Tolbooth's neighbouring house - 62A - with a simple rectangular surround...
...the genteel refinement of the pedimented double door of numbers 3 and 5
...no surround at all at number 27 in contrast to...
A window belonging to the same house as the door above
An unusually shaped window in the door of the close leading to number 14A
From the Tolbooth - one time jail
Window with bottle glass
A small Gable-end window
A lane down to the river beside Broughton House, at the foot of which can be seen the circular garden house shown below.
The circular garden house is at the foot of garden next to Broughton House
Central 'bay' of Broughton House: a 'blind bullseye window in a gablet' (ornamental gable)
Above is the house of
Jessie King
the illustrator of children's books and artist of many media, she lived here from 1915 till 1949
Kirkcudbright has attracted many famous Scottish artists over the years, some with sufficient funds to live in the best houses such as that owned by Jessie King's which is just across from the Tolbooth. On an even grander scale was the house bought by the local artist
E. A. Hornel
in 1909, and in which he lived until 1933. Whatever some of us may think of his paintings, the garden he made here at
Broughton House
is outstanding. The picture below shows the house in the morning sun. It was built as number 10 High Street, in the mid-eighteenth century by the Murrays of Broughton, then owned by E.A.Hornel, and now it is in the possession of the National Trust for Scotland.
The High Street starts from the harbour. This picture is of the
Harbour Gallery
beside Moat Brae and the castle, at the harbour end of the High Street
The next page
goes back to the Đòng Văn Palace and the road which leads from the Palace to the most northerly corner of Vietnam at Lũng Cú.
The last page revisited the Palace in Đồng Văn
A page on the sea by Kirkcudbright
