Leswalt
Encyclopedia
Leswalt is a name of unknown origins. Possible derivations for its name include llys gwellt (Welsh) meaning grass court or perhaps lios uillt (Gaelic) meaning fort of the glen - referring to Lochnaw Castle.
and Stranraer
to the south and Kirkcolm to the north. With its hilly terrain and meadows, which especially in the south are pastures which traditionally grazed black Galloway cattle
and also Cheviot sheep
, black-faced and mixed breeds. Once famed for goat whey and for fine Loch Ryan oysters, over on the Black Shore, the wild and rocky west coast facing the Irish Sea, Uchtred Agnew's pans produced salt in Leswalt for some 300 years from 1637. On the moor above Salt Pans Bay is an Iron Age fort, while Sir Andrew Agnew's monument on the Tor of Craigoch above Leswalt village tops a prehistoric hill fort and provides a fine view.
The inheritors in the 1800s were the Earl of Stair and the Agnews of Lochnaw and of Sheuchan, Lochnaw Castle's spectacularly located rectangular tower dating from around 1500. The island in Lochnaw, a loch which has been drained and refilled in its long lifespan, once held an earlier stronghold, taken and dismantled by Archibald the Grim in 1390. There is no town in the parish and Stranraer is the commercial center.
Leswalt Parish
Leswalt Parish is a small parish. In the past it belonged to the monks of Tongland. Its eight square miles lie in the Rhinns between PortpatrickPortpatrick
Portpatrick is a village hanging on to the extreme south-westerly tip of mainland Scotland, cut into a cleft in steep cliffs.Dating back historically some 500 years, and built adjacent to the ruins of nearby Dunskey Castle, its position on the Rhins of Galloway affords visitors views of the...
and Stranraer
Stranraer
Stranraer is a town in the southwest of Scotland. It lies in the west of Dumfries and Galloway and in the county of Wigtownshire.Stranraer lies on the shores of Loch Ryan on the northern side of the isthmus joining the Rhins of Galloway to the mainland...
to the south and Kirkcolm to the north. With its hilly terrain and meadows, which especially in the south are pastures which traditionally grazed black Galloway cattle
Galloway cattle
The Galloway is one of the world's longest established breeds of beef cattle, named after the Galloway region of Scotland, where it originated. It is now found in many parts of the world....
and also Cheviot sheep
Cheviot sheep
The Cheviot is a breed of white faced sheep which gets its name from a range of hills in north Northumberland and the Scottish Borders. It is still common in this area of the United Kingdom, but also in north west Scotland, Wales and the south west of England as well as more rarely in Australia,...
, black-faced and mixed breeds. Once famed for goat whey and for fine Loch Ryan oysters, over on the Black Shore, the wild and rocky west coast facing the Irish Sea, Uchtred Agnew's pans produced salt in Leswalt for some 300 years from 1637. On the moor above Salt Pans Bay is an Iron Age fort, while Sir Andrew Agnew's monument on the Tor of Craigoch above Leswalt village tops a prehistoric hill fort and provides a fine view.
The inheritors in the 1800s were the Earl of Stair and the Agnews of Lochnaw and of Sheuchan, Lochnaw Castle's spectacularly located rectangular tower dating from around 1500. The island in Lochnaw, a loch which has been drained and refilled in its long lifespan, once held an earlier stronghold, taken and dismantled by Archibald the Grim in 1390. There is no town in the parish and Stranraer is the commercial center.