Dumfriesshire and Galloway Natural History and Antiquarian Society

Ann Hill Research Committee

The Research Committee

In 1984 the late Miss Ann Hill left a substantial bequest to the Society with the specific remit to carry out and publish research into the history and archaeology of Kirkpatrick Fleming parish in Annandale. The Council of the Society formed a committee under the chairmanship of John Gair to formulate recommendations and carry out the necessary research work to satisfy these requirements. As a consequence a very considerable archive of material on the parish has been collected. Some of these materials have been published as articles appearing within the Transactions. Others have been independently published — see list on the left.

Research work on the parish continues — the archives are currently being indexed and it is hoped to publish further material as time progresses.

Publications funded by the Ann Hill Research Bequest

The most significant work of the Committee was the commissioning of an archaeological, paleo-environmental and architectural survey of the parish under the guidance of Mr Roger Mercer, at that time on the staff of Edinburgh University and now Secretary of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. The results of the survey were published in 1997 as No.6 of the Ann Hill Research Bequest Publications:

Kirkpatrick Fleming, Dumfriesshire — An Anatomy of a Parish in South West Scotland

The main chapters cover the following:

• The Evolution of the Landscape over the last ten millennia based on pollen analysis and radio-carbon dates.
• Prehistoric, Roman and later archaeological sites including some unpublished cropmarks seen from the air, monuments and finds (with gazetteer).
• Post-mediaeval Settlement and Landscape
• Communications
• Extractive Industry
• The Buildings of the parish: with plans, photographs and drawings of Kirks, Towers (including those on the west bank of the River Kirtle), Cottages, Public Buildings, Farm Houses and Steadings (some with horsemills), Laird's and Middling Houses and, in detail, the building, growth and fortunes of two 'stately homes' Springkell and Mossknow with full commentary on the effects and cycles of agricultural boom and decline and change in farming practice on the buildings of a rural parish.

These are rounded off with a full discussion and conclusion by Mr Mercer himself.

The History and Archaeology of Kirkpatrick Fleming Parish
No.1	Ann Hill and her Family. A Memorial by D. Adamson (1986)
No.2*	Kirkpatrick Fleming Poorhouse by D.Adamson (1986)
No.3*	Kirkpatrick Fleming Miscellany    Mossknow Game Register 1875    Diary of J. Gordon Graham 1854 edited by D. Adamson and I.S. MacDonald (1987)
No.4*	Middlebie Presbytery Records by D. Adamson (1988)
No.5*	Kirkpatrick Fleming Miscellany    How Sir Patrick Maxwell worsted the Devil    Fergus Graham of Mossknow and the Murder at Kirkpatrick both by W.F. Cormack (1989)
No.6	Kirkpatrick Fleming, Dumfriesshire — An Anatomy of a Parish in South West Scotland by Roger Mercer and others (1997)
No.7*	The Tower-Houses of Kirtleside by Alastair M. T. Maxwell-Irving (1998)

Nos.1 to 5, and 7 are crown quarto in size with a 2-colour titled card cover. No.6 is A4 hardback with reprint in laminated soft cover. Publications marked * are reprinted from the Transactions.

Copyright © DGNHAS 2009–2011

Page last modified: 09 February 2011