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Interesting Facts
- Caelaverock Castle is located just nine miles south of Dumfries. The unusual triangular shape, a full moat, and its beautiful green surroundings make it one of the most memorable in all of Scotland.
- Won't you be my sweetheart? Dulce Cor lies just south of Dumfries. The Sweetheart Abbey hides a romantic story behind its beautiful ruined red walls. The abbey was founded in 1273 by Lady Dervorgilla after her husband, John Balliol, was killed by Robert the Bruce. Lady Dervorgilla kept the embalmed heart of her husband close to her until her death at the age of ninety. Both were then buried in the church, which became known as Dulce Cor, or "sweetheart."
- Threave Gardens is where the National Trust for Scotland trains young gardeners. The "budding" gardeners experience every type of terrain found in Scotland. Spring at Threave Gardens is especially beautiful – 200 types of daffodils bloom each year!
- Dumfries and Galloway is a vast region that is ninety miles from east to west and forty miles from north to south. Dumfries, a lively and red sandstone town, became the local seat of government for the new Unitary Council of Dumfries and Galloway in April 1996.
- Dumfries is situated on the River Nith at the head of the long Nith Estuary and was originally known as the "fort or bridge in the scrub," or Dum Phraes. It was in the early eighteenth century that the word evolved into Dumfries.
- In 1836, a camera obscura was opened inside a stone windmill. Located in a darkened room, the camera allows views of the town to be projected on a round horizontal screen. The Dumfries and Galloway museum is also located in the windmill and displays numerous artifacts depicting the history of the region.
- The poet Robert Burns worked and spent the last years of his life in Dumfries. Although Burns was quite destitute when he died, he was reburied in the grand Mausoleum built by public effort after his death.
- Gracefield Arts Center for South West Scotland is only a ten-minute walk from the town center. It is the region's leading art gallery and houses a collection of important Scottish paintings.
- Dumfries is the land of James Barrie, the author of Peter Pan. The city is now home to some 150,000 residents and was recently named as the town with the best quality of life in the United Kingdom.
- If you're bored in Dumfries, it's nobody's fault but your own! Despite the fact that the city marches to the beat of a slow and relaxed drum, there are plenty of activities to do. Thirty-one golf courses and five salmon and sea trout rivers provide just part of the fun.
