Wanlockhead - WikiHQ

Wanlockhead is a village in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, nestling in the Lowther Hills and south of Leadhills at the head of the Mennock Pass, which forms part of the Southern Uplands. It is Scotland's highest village, the village centre being at an elevation of around above sea level.

History

Wanlockhead takes its name from the Wanlock Water, a stream which rises in the remote hollow which forms the setting of the village.

The village owes its existence to the lead and other mineral deposits found in the surrounding hills. These deposits were first exploited by the Romans, and from the 13th century they began to be worked again in the summer. The village was founded permanently in 1680 when the Duke of Buccleuch built a lead smelting plant and workers' cottages.

Lead, zinc, copper and silver were mined nearby, as well as some of the world's purest gold at 22.8 carats, which was used to make the Scottish Crown. Early gold miners included Cornelius de Vos, George Bowes, and Bevis Bulmer. Wanlockhead became known as "God's treasure house" from the richness of its mineral resources.

Geography

Climate

Wanlockhead has a moist oceanic climate (Cfb, according to the Köppen climate classification), with cool to chilly weather throughout the year, bordering on a subpolar oceanic climate (Cfc, according Köppen). This town has cool summers and chilly winters, with snowfalls. It is one of the coldest inhabited places in the United Kingdom.

Facilities

The village now features a lead mining museum and industrial equipment from the 18th century and is a popular tourist destination.

Wanlockhead is on the Southern Upland Way, a walking trail that traditionally starts at Portpatrick on the west coast, in Dumfries & Galloway, and finishes some away at Cockburnspath on the east coast, in the Scottish Borders.

The village is also the home of the highest pub in Scotland, the Wanlockhead Inn, which opened in 2003; an earlier pub on a track rising from the other side of the main road through the village was considerably higher, but closed in the late 1990s.

The village is the setting for the BBC television drama series Hope Springs.

Wanlockhead library

thumb|The old Wanlockhead Miners' Library, now the Museum of Lead Mining, Wanlockhead.

Wanlockhead Miners' Library is the second-oldest subscription library in Great Britain and was established on 1 November 1756 with 32 male members who mainly funded the purchase of the books, etc.; a contribution was also made by mining companies who were keen to encourage such acts of 'self-improvement' amongst the miners. The Duke of Buccleuch, as the land owner, was a major patron of the library. The library was essential in facilitating a level of educational achievement that allowed some miners and their children to escape the toil of mine work.

The school housed the library at first, but as the number of books increased, it became necessary in 1787 to move the library to a cottage given for this express purpose by the mine overseers. However the cottage was a small one and it was found to be necessary to construct a larger building. The number of books purchased through subscription eventually rose to over 2,000 and in 1851 a new library was built and survives to this day. In 1974 the Wanlockhead Museum Trust took over the running of the library.

The Miners' Library became a Recognised Collection of National Significance in October 2007.

Meadowfoot cemetery

This lies approximately from the village and dates from 1751. Before Wanlockhead had its own graveyard, coffins had to be transported along a typical corpse road the 8 miles (13 km) to the nearest graveyard, which was at Sanquhar. William Philip Minder who died on 2 April 1751 aged just 10 months was the first burial at the newly opened burial site.

References

Sources

External links

The Lordship & Barony of Kilmarnock - photographs of Wanlockhead
Lowther Hills Ski Centre