Eaglesfield is a small town in south east Dumfriesshire

Dumfriesshire

Dumfriesshire or the County of Dumfries is a registration county of Scotland. The lieutenancy area of Dumfries has similar boundaries.Until 1975 it was a county. Its county town was Dumfries...

 (Dumfries and Galloway

Dumfries and Galloway

Dumfries and Galloway is one of 32 unitary council areas of Scotland. It was one of the nine administrative 'regions' of mainland Scotland created in 1975 by the Local Government etc. Act 1973...

), Scotland. It is not far from the English Border

Anglo-Scottish border

The Anglo-Scottish border is the official border and mark of entry between Scotland and England. It runs for 154 km between the River Tweed on the east coast and the Solway Firth in the west. It is Scotland's only land border...

.

History

Eaglesfield is of ancient origin, and Blacket Tower is the former seat of an old Borders family. There is some debate about the origin of the first element of the name which may derive from the Celtic word for a church, eglwys in modern Welsh, or eaglais in modern Scottish Gaelic.

Many of the buildings in the town are of recent construction, from the 19th and 20th centuries. The town is a good example of a linear settlement, as most of it is in and around a single road.