Moffat
Encyclopedia
Moffat is a former burgh
and spa town
in Dumfries and Galloway
, Scotland
, lying on the River Annan
, with a population of around 2,500. The most notable building in the town is the Moffat House Hotel, designed by John Adam
. The nearby Star Hotel, a mere 20 ft (6 m) wide, boasted a record in the Guinness Book of Records as the narrowest hotel in the world. Moffat also won the famous "Britain In Bloom" contest in 1996.
Moffat is also the home to the well known Moffat toffee
.
The Devil's Beef Tub
near Moffat was used by the members of Clan Moffat
and later the members of Clan Johnstone
to hoard cattle stolen in predatory raids. The town is held to be the ancestral seat of Clan Moffat.
town. The sulphurous waters of Moffat Spa were believed to have healing properties and during the Victorian era the high demand led to the water being piped down from the well to a specially built bath house in the town centre (now the Town Hall). Luxurious hotels sprang up to accommodate the increasing numbers of tourists. One such hotel opened during Moffat's heyday in 1878, Moffat's Hydropathic hotel was destroyed in a fire in 1921.
The old well was refurbished in the mid 1990s, and is still accessible by vehicle and foot. The water smells very strongly of sulphur, with deposits on the walls and well itself. At the grand reopening of the well people visiting it were encouraged to drink a glass of it.
The well is reached by following Haywood Road and climbing up Tank Wood (on the right at the top) - the path at the end was the original route to the well. When the water was first piped into town for the baths it was pumped uphill to a tank in the appropriately named Tank Wood, before travelling back downhill to the bath house.
Moffat was a notable market in the wool
trade, and this is commemorated with a statue of a ram by William Brodie
in the town's marketplace. The ram was presented to the town by William Colvin, a local businessman, in 1875. The ram is missing its ears, and has been since it was first presented.
Hugh Dowding
, commander of RAF Fighter Command
during the Battle of Britain
, was born in Moffat in 1882. D. E. Stevenson
(1892–1973) author and cousin to Robert Louis Stevenson
. William Carruthers
, botanist, was born in Moffat.
Moffat has spawned two full Scotland international footballers, James B Niven
and James Fraser
, and Indian-Scottish comedian Danny Bhoy
. Ivor Robson, the official starter for the Open golf tournament since 1975, lives in Moffat.
came for the waters and frequented the local bars.
The infamous murderer and alleged graverobber William Hare may have stayed in the Black Bull Hotel during his escape to Ireland after turning Kings evidence against William Burke. (Main article West Port murders
)
In 1935, the remains of the victims of the Lancaster murderer, Dr Buck Ruxton
, were found in a stream near The Devil's Beef Tub
. A landmark case in legal history, it was the first in which the murderer was successfully convicted using the type of highly sophisticated forensic techniques which are taken for granted in the 21st century. The bridge at the top is still used to this day - near the very top it is a switchback that is not quite wide enough for two vehicles to pass on. The area is colloquially known as "Ruxton's Dump".
The town attracts many tourists all year round, both as visitors and as walkers in the surrounding hills. Notable buildings include the Annandale Arms Hotel and Restaurant which recently was awarded 4 stars by Food Review Scotland as well as The Real Food Award by Scottish Hotel Awards 2009. Shops include the Moffat Toffee
Shop and The Edinburgh Woollen Mill, while its restaurants and cafes include The Bombay Cuisine, Claudio's, Arietes, The Rumblin' Tum, The Balmoral and the Buccleuch Arms Hotel and Restaurant. The Buccleuch has also been awarded Gold in Visitscotland's Green Tourism Business Scheme.
It also has a recreation park with a boating pond and a memorial to Air Chief Marshal Hugh Dowding.
There is an official Camping and Caravanning Club campsite (for tents, caravans and motorhomes) that is open all year as of 13 March 2008. This is situated next to the Hammerlands Centre - a combination garden centre, gift shop, restaurant, fish farm and children's play area with farmyard animals.
For walkers there is also the Gallow Hill, which has been used for hanging. Moffat is also situated only a few miles from the Southern Upland Way
where it passes through Beattock
, and the Sir Walter Scott Way
starts here.
North-East of Moffat is the Grey Mare's Tail
waterfall. This hanging-valley waterfall is 60m tall and lies within a nature reserve.
Moffat Academy website
http://www.moffat.dumgal.sch.uk/
Moffat RFC
caters for all ages from 6–8 years. The 1stXV which plays in The Scottish Rugby Union league structure and are currently in West Region Division 2. They are also known as "The Rams" after the statue in the High Street. The ground wholly owned by the club is situated at The Holm, Selkirk Road.
Moffat Golf Club was founded in 1884. In 1904, Ben Sayers of North Berwick was invited to design the present 18-hole course. Located high on Coats Hill overlooking the town it is some 670 feet above sea level.
Burgh
A burgh was an autonomous corporate entity in Scotland and Northern England, usually a town. This type of administrative division existed from the 12th century, when King David I created the first royal burghs. Burgh status was broadly analogous to borough status, found in the rest of the United...
and spa town
Spa town
A spa town is a town situated around a mineral spa . Patrons resorted to spas to "take the waters" for their purported health benefits. The word comes from the Belgian town Spa. In continental Europe a spa was known as a ville d'eau...
in 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
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, lying on the River Annan
River Annan
The River Annan is a river in southwest Scotland. It rises at the foot of Hart Fell, five miles north of Moffat. A second fork rises on Annanhead Hill and flows through the Devil's Beef Tub before joining at the Hart Fell fork north of Moffat.From there it flows past the town of Lockerbie, and...
, with a population of around 2,500. The most notable building in the town is the Moffat House Hotel, designed by John Adam
John Adam (architect)
John Adam was a Scottish architect. Born in Linktown of Abbotshall, now part of Kirkcaldy, Fife, he was the eldest son of architect and entrepreneur William Adam. His younger brothers Robert and James Adam also became architects.The Adam family moved to Edinburgh in 1728, as William Adam's career...
. The nearby Star Hotel, a mere 20 ft (6 m) wide, boasted a record in the Guinness Book of Records as the narrowest hotel in the world. Moffat also won the famous "Britain In Bloom" contest in 1996.
Moffat is also the home to the well known Moffat toffee
Moffat Toffee
Moffat toffee is not a traditional toffee but a boiled sweet made in the Scottish town of Moffat.The confection is notable for its tangy but sweet centre which gives the sweet its unusual flavour....
.
The Devil's Beef Tub
Devil's Beef Tub
The Devil's Beef Tub is a deep, dramatic hollow in the hills north of the Scottish town of Moffat. The 500-foot deep hollow is formed by four hills, Great Hill , Peat Knowe, Annanhead Hill, and Ericstane Hill. It is one of the two main sources of the River Annan; the other is from the...
near Moffat was used by the members of Clan Moffat
Clan Moffat
-Origins of the clan:The Moffats are an ancient Borders family who were influential and powerful as far back as the time of Sir William Wallace. The ancestor of the Moffats most likely gave their name to the town of Moffat in Dumfriesshire. The origin of the name itself is thought to be Norse...
and later the members of Clan Johnstone
Clan Johnstone
-Origin of the name:Clan Johnstone is a Lowland Scottish clan. They were involved in many battles on the Scottish borders.Johnstone comes from "John's toun", not "John's stone" or "John's son." Historically, "Johnston" has been an alternate spelling of the surname...
to hoard cattle stolen in predatory raids. The town is held to be the ancestral seat of Clan Moffat.
Early tourism as a spa town
During the 17th century Moffat began to grow from a small village into a popular spaSpa
The term spa is associated with water treatment which is also known as balneotherapy. Spa towns or spa resorts typically offer various health treatments. The belief in the curative powers of mineral waters goes back to prehistoric times. Such practices have been popular worldwide, but are...
town. The sulphurous waters of Moffat Spa were believed to have healing properties and during the Victorian era the high demand led to the water being piped down from the well to a specially built bath house in the town centre (now the Town Hall). Luxurious hotels sprang up to accommodate the increasing numbers of tourists. One such hotel opened during Moffat's heyday in 1878, Moffat's Hydropathic hotel was destroyed in a fire in 1921.
The old well was refurbished in the mid 1990s, and is still accessible by vehicle and foot. The water smells very strongly of sulphur, with deposits on the walls and well itself. At the grand reopening of the well people visiting it were encouraged to drink a glass of it.
The well is reached by following Haywood Road and climbing up Tank Wood (on the right at the top) - the path at the end was the original route to the well. When the water was first piped into town for the baths it was pumped uphill to a tank in the appropriately named Tank Wood, before travelling back downhill to the bath house.
Wool trade
Wool
Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and certain other animals, including cashmere from goats, mohair from goats, qiviut from muskoxen, vicuña, alpaca, camel from animals in the camel family, and angora from rabbits....
trade, and this is commemorated with a statue of a ram by William Brodie
William Brodie (sculptor)
William Brodie was a Scottish sculptor. He was the son of John Brodie, a Banff shipmaster, and elder brother of Alexander Brodie , another sculptor....
in the town's marketplace. The ram was presented to the town by William Colvin, a local businessman, in 1875. The ram is missing its ears, and has been since it was first presented.
Notable people
Air Chief MarshalAir Chief Marshal
Air chief marshal is a senior 4-star air-officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force...
Hugh Dowding
Hugh Dowding, 1st Baron Dowding
Air Chief Marshal Hugh Caswall Tremenheere Dowding, 1st Baron Dowding GCB, GCVO, CMG was a British officer in the Royal Air Force...
, commander of RAF Fighter Command
RAF Fighter Command
RAF Fighter Command was one of three functional commands of the Royal Air Force. It was formed in 1936 to allow more specialised control of fighter aircraft. It served throughout the Second World War, gaining recognition in the Battle of Britain. The Command continued until 17 November 1943, when...
during the Battle of Britain
Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain is the name given to the World War II air campaign waged by the German Air Force against the United Kingdom during the summer and autumn of 1940...
, was born in Moffat in 1882. D. E. Stevenson
D. E. Stevenson
D. E. Stevenson , Dorothy Emily Peploe was a Scottish author of more than 40 light romantic novels. Her father was the lighthouse engineer David Alan Stevenson, first cousin to the author Robert Louis Stevenson....
(1892–1973) author and cousin to Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson was a Scottish novelist, poet, essayist and travel writer. His best-known books include Treasure Island, Kidnapped, and Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde....
. William Carruthers
William Carruthers (botanist)
William C Carruthers was a Scottish botanist.Carruthers was keeper of the Botanical Department at the Natural History Museum from 1871 to 1895. He was consulting botanist to the Royal Agricultural Society ....
, botanist, was born in Moffat.
Moffat has spawned two full Scotland international footballers, James B Niven
James B Niven
James B. Niven was a Scottish international footballer.James B. Niven was one of two Scottish internationalists from Moffat. The other was James Fraser....
and James Fraser
James Fraser (footballer)
James Fraser was a Scottish international footballer.James Fraser was one of two internationalists from Moffat in Dumfries and Galloway . Fraser was a prominent forward in south of Scotland football but little is known about his life or playing career.He gained his one Scottish international cap...
, and Indian-Scottish comedian Danny Bhoy
Danny Bhoy
Danny Bhoy is an Indian-Scottish comedian who has performed in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and Canada...
. Ivor Robson, the official starter for the Open golf tournament since 1975, lives in Moffat.
Famous and infamous visitors
Robert BurnsRobert Burns
Robert Burns was a Scottish poet and a lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland, and is celebrated worldwide...
came for the waters and frequented the local bars.
The infamous murderer and alleged graverobber William Hare may have stayed in the Black Bull Hotel during his escape to Ireland after turning Kings evidence against William Burke. (Main article West Port murders
West Port murders
The Burke and Hare murders were serial murders perpetrated in Edinburgh, Scotland, from November 1827 to October 31, 1828. The killings were attributed to Irish immigrants William Burke and William Hare, who sold the corpses of their 17 victims to provide material for dissection...
)
In 1935, the remains of the victims of the Lancaster murderer, Dr Buck Ruxton
Buck Ruxton
Dr Buck Ruxton , also known as Buktyar Rustomji Ratanji Hakim, was a Parsi doctor and murderer, involved in one of the United Kingdom's most publicised murder cases of the 1930s, which gripped the nation at the time...
, were found in a stream near The Devil's Beef Tub
Devil's Beef Tub
The Devil's Beef Tub is a deep, dramatic hollow in the hills north of the Scottish town of Moffat. The 500-foot deep hollow is formed by four hills, Great Hill , Peat Knowe, Annanhead Hill, and Ericstane Hill. It is one of the two main sources of the River Annan; the other is from the...
. A landmark case in legal history, it was the first in which the murderer was successfully convicted using the type of highly sophisticated forensic techniques which are taken for granted in the 21st century. The bridge at the top is still used to this day - near the very top it is a switchback that is not quite wide enough for two vehicles to pass on. The area is colloquially known as "Ruxton's Dump".
Tourism
Moffat Toffee
Moffat toffee is not a traditional toffee but a boiled sweet made in the Scottish town of Moffat.The confection is notable for its tangy but sweet centre which gives the sweet its unusual flavour....
Shop and The Edinburgh Woollen Mill, while its restaurants and cafes include The Bombay Cuisine, Claudio's, Arietes, The Rumblin' Tum, The Balmoral and the Buccleuch Arms Hotel and Restaurant. The Buccleuch has also been awarded Gold in Visitscotland's Green Tourism Business Scheme.
It also has a recreation park with a boating pond and a memorial to Air Chief Marshal Hugh Dowding.
There is an official Camping and Caravanning Club campsite (for tents, caravans and motorhomes) that is open all year as of 13 March 2008. This is situated next to the Hammerlands Centre - a combination garden centre, gift shop, restaurant, fish farm and children's play area with farmyard animals.
For walkers there is also the Gallow Hill, which has been used for hanging. Moffat is also situated only a few miles from the Southern Upland Way
Southern Upland Way
Opened in 1984, the Southern Upland Way is a coast to coast walk in Scotland between Portpatrick in the west and Cockburnspath in the east....
where it passes through Beattock
Beattock
The village of Beattock is located in the southern lowlands of Scotland, and lies within the administrative area of Dumfries and Galloway. It is surrounded by the parish of Kirkpatrick Juxta. It was an important stabling point for horses in the olden days with a coach house at one end of the village...
, and the Sir Walter Scott Way
Sir Walter Scott Way
The Sir Walter Scott Way is a long distance path in the Scottish Borders of Scotland, in memory of Sir Walter Scott, of one of Scotland's greatest writers.-The Way:...
starts here.
North-East of Moffat is the Grey Mare's Tail
Grey Mare's Tail
Grey Mare's Tail is a hanging valley waterfall near to Moffat in southern Scotland. The fall is produced by the Tail Burn flowing from Loch Skeen cascading into the Moffat Water in the lower valley below....
waterfall. This hanging-valley waterfall is 60m tall and lies within a nature reserve.
Education
Moffat Academy teaches pupils of Nursery, Primary and Secondary School age, there are currently 301 pupils taught at the school. It has been in its current location in the north of the town since 1834. In February 2010 the school moved to a new site in the south-east of the town on Jeff Brown Drive.Moffat Academy website
http://www.moffat.dumgal.sch.uk/
Sport and recreation
Moffat RFC
Moffat Rugby Football Club are a rugby union side, currently playing in the West Division Two.The team is based in Moffat in south-west Scotland, and they play at Holm Park....
caters for all ages from 6–8 years. The 1stXV which plays in The Scottish Rugby Union league structure and are currently in West Region Division 2. They are also known as "The Rams" after the statue in the High Street. The ground wholly owned by the club is situated at The Holm, Selkirk Road.
Moffat Golf Club was founded in 1884. In 1904, Ben Sayers of North Berwick was invited to design the present 18-hole course. Located high on Coats Hill overlooking the town it is some 670 feet above sea level.