Editing Kirkcudbright (section)

==History==
An early rendition of the name of the town was Kilcudbrit;<ref>Learmonth, W. (2012) ''Kirkcudbrightshire and Wigtownshire'', Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press</ref> this derives from the [[Scottish Gaelic|Gaelic]] ''Cille Chuithbeirt'' meaning "chapel of [[Cuthbert]]", the saint whose mortal remains were kept at the town between their exhumation at [[Lindisfarne]] and reinterment at [[Chester-le-Street]].<ref>Eyre, C (1849) ''The History of St. Cuthbert: Or an Account of His Life, Decease, and Miracles; of the Wanderings with his Body at Intervals During CXXIV. Years; of the State of his Body from his Decease Until A.D. 1542; and of the Various Monuments Erected to His Memory'', City of Westminster: James Burns</ref>

[[John Spottiswoode]], in his account of religious houses in Scotland, mentions that the [[Franciscans]], or Grey Friars, had been established at Kirkcudbright from the 12th century.<ref>Spottiswood, J (1655) ''The history of the Church of Scotland, beginning in the year of our Lord 203 and continued to the end of the reign of King James the VI of ever blessed memory : wherein are described the progress of Christianity, the persecutions and interruptions of it, the foundation of churches, the erecting of bishopricks, the building and endowing monasteries, and other religious places, the succession of bishops in their sees, the reformation of religion, and the frequent disturbances of that nation by wars, conspiracies, tumults, schisms : together with great variety of other matters, both ecclesiasticall and politicall'', City of London: J. Flesher for R. Royston</ref>

[[John I de Balliol|John Balliol]] was in possession of the ancient castle at Castledykes in the late 13th century and [[Edward I of England]] is said to have stayed here in 1300 during his war against Scotland.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Keay|first=John|title=Collins Encyclopedia of Scotland|publisher=HarperCollinsPublishers|year=1994|isbn=0002550822|location=London|pages=585}}</ref>

In 1455 Kirkcudbright became a [[royal burgh]].<ref>Bell, J (2015) 'Old Kirkcudbright - History of an Ancient Parish & Burgh.', Kirkcudbright Community Website. [http://www.old-kirkcudbright.net/]</ref> About a century later, the magistrates of the town obtained permission from [[Mary, Queen of Scots|Queen Mary]] to use part of the convent and nunnery as a parish church. From around 1570, Sir Thomas MacLellan of Bombie, the chief magistrate, received a charter for the site, its grounds and gardens. MacLellan dismantled the church in order to obtain material for his [[MacLellan's Castle|new castle]], a very fine house, which was built on the site.<ref>Coventry, M. (2006) ''The Castles of Scotland'', City of Edinburgh: Birlinn Limited</ref>

After defeat at the [[Battle of Towton]], [[Henry VI of England]] crossed the [[Solway Firth]] in August 1461 to land at Kirkcudbright before joining his wife [[Margaret of Anjou|Queen Margaret]] in exile at [[Linlithgow]]. The town for some time withstood a siege in 1547 from the English commander Sir Thomas Carleton but, after the surrounding countryside had been overrun, was compelled to surrender.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Nicolson|first1=J |last2= Burn|first2= R|year=1777|title=The History and Antiquities of the counties of Westmorland and Cumberland|volume=1|location=City of Westminster|url=https://archive.org/stream/historyandantiq00burngoog#page/n60/mode/2up.asp}}</ref>

[[File:Kirkcudbright Tollbooth - geograph.org.uk - 841001.jpg|thumb|left|[[Kirkcudbright Tolbooth]]]]
[[Kirkcudbright Tolbooth]] was built between 1625 and 1629 and served not only as the [[tolbooth]], but also the council offices, the burgh and sheriff courts, the criminal prison and the debtors' prison. One of the most famous prisoners was [[John Paul Jones]], founder of the United States Navy, who was born in [[Kirkbean]].<ref>[http://www.jpj.demon.co.uk/jpjlife.htm Slaving and a Murder Trial]. Retrieved 14 November 2012.</ref><ref>[http://www.scan.org.uk/researchrtools/courtrecords.htm 1770 Extract of Warrant for the arrest of John Paul (Jones)]. Scan.org.uk. Retrieved 14 November 2012.</ref> The Tolbooth was superseded as the county's main administrative building by a new courthouse at 85 High Street, built in 1788 and rebuilt in 1868, which then served as the meeting place of Kirkcudbrightshire County Council from its creation in 1890 until 1952 when the council moved its meeting place to [[County Buildings, Kirkcudbright|County Buildings]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Former Kirkcudbright Sheriff Court |url=http://portal.historicenvironment.scot/designation/LB36518 |website=Historic Environment Scotland |access-date=4 December 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Stewartry District Council Offices |url=http://portal.historicenvironment.scot/designation/LB36523 |website=Historic Environment Scotland |access-date=3 December 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Canmore|num=175784|desc=Kirkcudbright, 121, 123 High Street, County Buildings}}</ref>

[[File:Johnston_School,_Kirkcudbright_-_view_from_NW.jpg|thumb|The Johnston School, Kirkcudbright]]
The Johnston School was one of the town's two primary schools, until it was merged with Castledykes Primary School in 2009, the new School called Kirkcudbright Primary School being housed in a new building. The school was endowed with a bequest by Kirkcudbright merchant and shipowner William Johnston (1769–1845) and opened in 1847 as Johnston's Free School. The building was designed by Edinburgh architect [[James Newlands]] (1813–1871) who later went on to be the first Borough Engineer for Liverpool where he designed and built the first integrated sewerage system in the world in 1848. The school building was rebuilt, retaining the [[Italianate architecture|Italianate]] tower and façade in 1933 by William A MacKinnell, (1871–1940). He was the County Architect for Kirkcudbrightshire and built many schools in the Stewartry. In 2020 the building was refurbished as a Community Activity and Resource Centre. The building is [[listed building|Listed]] Category B.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://canmore.org.uk/site/212431/kirkcudbright-st-mary-street-johnston-school|title= The Johnston School|publisher=Canmore}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.buildingsatrisk.org.uk/details/991918|title=Johnston School (Former), St Mary Street, Kirkcudbright &#124; Buildings at Risk Register|website=www.buildingsatrisk.org.uk|access-date=2 February 2020|archive-date=25 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200125025111/http://www.buildingsatrisk.org.uk/details/991918|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The Johnston {{!}} Kirkcudbright Development Trust |url=https://www.kdt.org.uk/the-johnston/ |access-date=2022-10-30 |language=en-GB}}</ref>

St Andrew's and St Cuthbert's Church was designed in 1886 by London architect A. E. Purdie (1843–1920), in the Gothic style. It was built on the site of the medieval St Andrew's Church. In 1971 the interior was re-ordered and stripped of its Victorian fixtures and fittings and now features an abstract concrete and iron cross by the Liverpool sculptor Sean Rice<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-sean-rice-1283255.html|title=Obituary: Sean Rice|newspaper=[[The Independent]] |date=23 October 2011}}</ref> (1931–1997), modern stained glass by the Polish artist [[Jerzy Faczynski]] (1917–1994) and a set of four paintings by Vivien K. Chapman depicting The Passion of Christ.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gatehouse-folk.org.uk/userfiles/files/Who%20Did%20What/Artists/Chapman%2C%20Vivien3.pdf|title=Chapman, Vivien (1925–c.2000)|publisher=Gatehouse Folk|access-date=23 October 2022}}</ref>

The [[Kirkcudbright railway station|Kirkcudbright Railway]] opened in 1864 but the railway line and station closed in 1965.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://canmore.org.uk/site/69353/kirkcudbright-st-mary-street-railway-station|title= Kirkcudbright, St Mary Street, Railway Station |publisher= Canmore}}</ref>

[[File:Kirkudbright Town Hall - geograph.org.uk - 2541003.jpg|thumb|left|[[Kirkcudbright Town Hall|Kirkcudbright Galleries]]]]
[[Kirkcudbright Town Hall]] was designed by architects [[John Dick Peddie|Peddie]] and [[Charles Kinnear|Kinnear]]. It was completed in 1879 and is a Category B listed building.<ref name="SArch">{{cite web |title=Kirkcudbright Public Hall and Museum |url=http://www.scottisharchitects.org.uk/building_full.php?id=215193 |website=Scottish Architects |access-date=27 January 2020}}</ref> It has since been converted into the Kirkcudbright Galleries, a new facility which was opened by the [[Anne, Princess Royal|Princess Royal]] on 12 July 2018.<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-south-scotland-44793422 |title= Princess Royal opens Dumfries hospital and Kirkcudbright gallery|date=12 July 2018|newspaper=BBC| access-date=28 September 2021}}</ref>

[[Kirkcudbright war memorial|The war memorial]] dates from 1921 and was created by the sculptor [[George Henry Paulin]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Edwards|first= M |year=2006|title=Roll of Honour - Kirkcudbrightshire - Kircudbright|url=http://www.roll-of-honour.com/Kirkcudbrightshire/Kirkcudbright.html}}</ref>

=== Training area {{anchor|Kirkcudbright Training Area}} ===
Like many other remote areas during the Second World War, a {{convert|4700|acre|km2|adj=on}} area to the southeast of the town and extending to the coast of the [[Solway Firth]], was acquired by the Army in 1942, as a training area for the [[Normandy landings|D-Day]] invasion.<ref>{{cite web|title=Kirkcudbright Training Area|date=19 October 2022 |url=http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/AboutDefence/WhatWeDo/DefenceEstateandEnvironment/AccessRecreation/Scotland/KirkcudbrightTrainingArea.htm|publisher=[[Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)|Ministry of Defence]]}}
</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.secretscotland.org.uk/index.php/Secrets/KirkcudbrightTrainingArea|title=Secret Scotland - Kirkcudbright Training Area|website=www.secretscotland.org.uk}}</ref> The area remains in active use for live-firing exercises. Part of the training area is the [[Dundrennan Range]], a weapons development and testing range. The use of this range for the testing of [[depleted uranium]] shells has been controversial.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Call to stop uranium shell tests|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/1157417.stm|date=7 February 2001|publisher=[[BBC News]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Weapon test move comes under fire|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/south_of_scotland/7289584.stm|date=11 March 2008|work=[[BBC News]]}}</ref> The range also contains a surviving [[Tortoise heavy assault tank|A39 Tortoise]] heavy assault tank.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zpylCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA45|page=45|title=Super-heavy Tanks of World War II|first=Kenneth W.|last=Estes|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing| year=2014|isbn=978-1782003847}}</ref>

===Museums===
[[Broughton House]] is an 18th-century town house standing on the High Street. It was the home of Scots impressionist artist [[Edward Atkinson Hornel]] between 1901 and his death in 1933. [[National Trust for Scotland|The National Trust for Scotland]] maintain the house and its contents as a museum of Hornel's life and work.<ref>{{Historic Environment Scotland|num=GDL00075 |desc=Broughton House|access-date=7 March 2019}}</ref>

The [[Stewartry Museum]] was founded in 1879 and was at first based in the Town Hall until it became too small to house the collections.<ref>{{cite web|publisher=Museums Galleries Scotland |year=2015|title=The Stewartry Museum|url=http://www.museumsgalleriesscotland.org.uk/member/the-stewartry-museum}}</ref><ref>Dumfries and Galloway Council (2105) 'Dumfries and Galloway Council : The Stewartry Museum, Kirkcudbright', Dumfries and Galloway Council. Uniform Resource Locator: {{cite web |url=http://www.dumgal.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=3638 |title=Dumfries and Galloway Council : The Stewartry Museum, Kirkcudbright |access-date=2015-06-24 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150625194135/http://www.dumgal.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=3638 |archive-date=25 June 2015}}</ref> The collection moved to a purpose-built site. It contains the local and natural history of the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright. Britain's earliest surviving sporting trophy, the Siller Gun, is part of the collection.<ref>Bell, J (2015) [http://www.old-kirkcudbright.net/pages/siller.asp 'Kirkcudbright's Siller (Silver) Gun'], Kirkcudbright Community Website.{{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060927221915/http://www.old-kirkcudbright.net/pages/siller.asp |date=27 September 2006 }}. Old-kirkcudbright.net. Retrieved 22 June 2011.</ref>

The Tolbooth building is now used as an arts centre.<ref>[http://www.kirkcudbright.co.uk/galleries.asp Tolbooth Arts Centre]. Kirkcudbright.co.uk. Retrieved 22 June 2011.</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dumgal.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=3639 |title=Dumfries and Galloway Council : Tolbooth Art Centre, Kirkcudbright |access-date=2015-06-24 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150624182406/http://www.dumgal.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=3639 |archive-date=24 June 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|publisher=Visit Scotland |year=2015|title=Tolbooth Art Centre - Kirkcudbright |url=http://www.visitscotland.com/info/see-do/tolbooth-art-centre-p249601}}</ref>