Penpont is a small village in the region of 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...

, two miles west of Thornhill

Thornhill, Dumfries and Galloway

Thornhill is a town in the Mid Nithsdale area of Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, south of Sanquhar and north of Dumfries.A monument to the explorer Joseph Thomson , who lived in neighbouring Penpont and Gatelawbridge, can be found close to the school...

.

It is situated near the confluence of the Shinnel Water

Shinnel Water

Shinnel Water, also spelt Shinnell, is a river in the region of Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland.It rises in the Scaur hills hills of Tynron Parish in the Southern Uplands at an altitude of 460m, and flows 13 miles to join Scaur Water near Penpont, at an altitude of 70m...

 and Scaur Water

Scaur Water

Scaur Water is a river which rises near Polskeoch in the Scaur hills in the region of Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland.It flows from its source near Sanquhar in the Southern Uplands and joins the River Nith two miles southwest of Thornhill. The total length is...

 rivers in the foothills of the Southern Uplands, and has a population of roughly 400 people. The name means "bridge end", in the Old Welsh

Welsh language

Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...

 or Cumbric language, once spoken in Galloway

Galloway

Galloway is an area in southwestern Scotland. It usually refers to the former counties of Wigtownshire and Kirkcudbrightshire...

.

Penpont is notable as the birthplace of Joseph Thomson

Joseph Thomson (explorer)

Joseph Thomson was a Scottish geologist and explorer who played an important part in the Scramble for Africa. Thomson's Gazelle is named for him. Excelling as an explorer rather than an exact scientist, he avoided confrontations among his porters or with indigenous peoples, neither killing any...

, the geologist and explorer after whom Thomson's Gazelle

Thomson's Gazelle

The Thomson's gazelle is one of the best-known gazelles. It is named after explorer Joseph Thomson and, as a result, is sometimes referred to as a "tommie"...

 is named. The sculptor Andy Goldsworthy

Andy Goldsworthy

Andy Goldsworthy, OBE is a British sculptor, photographer and environmentalist producing site-specific sculpture and land art situated in natural and urban settings. He lives and works in Scotland.-Life and career:The son of F...

 has lived in the village for many years and retains a workshop there. Many of his works can be found in the surrounding countryside, including a pinecone-shaped sculpture at Stepends Farm made to celebrate the year 2000.

The parish

Parish

A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...

 church

Local church

A local church is a Christian congregation of members and clergy.Local church may also refer to:* Local churches , a Christian group based on the teachings of Watchman Nee and Witness Lee, and associated with the Living Stream Ministry publishing house.* Parish church, a local church united with...

 was built in 1867 in big-buttressed Gothic

Gothic architecture

Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....

 style. It contains a communion

Eucharist

The Eucharist , also called Holy Communion, the Sacrament of the Altar, the Blessed Sacrament, the Lord's Supper, and other names, is a Christian sacrament or ordinance...

 table in Art Nouveau

Art Nouveau

Art Nouveau is an international philosophy and style of art, architecture and applied art—especially the decorative arts—that were most popular during 1890–1910. The name "Art Nouveau" is French for "new art"...

 style dating from 1923.

There are several sites of archaeological interest nearby, including Bronze Age

Bronze Age

The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...

 forts on the hills Tynron Doon

Tynron Doon

Tynron Doon is a multivallate iron age hill fort outside the village of Tynron in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It was occupied on and off from the 1st millennium BC until the 16th century, when an L shaped tower house stood there. Tynron Doon lies at the southern end of the Scaur hills....

 and Grennan Hill

Grennan Hill

Grennan Hill is the site of an Iron Age hill fort outside Penpont in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland.-References:*...

 and a long cairn

Cairn

Cairn is a term used mainly in the English-speaking world for a man-made pile of stones. It comes from the or . Cairns are found all over the world in uplands, on moorland, on mountaintops, near waterways and on sea cliffs, and also in barren desert and tundra areas...

at Capenoch Loch dating from the 2nd or 3rd century.

The village of Penpont holds a week long festival known to the locals as the "Penpont Gala" every year, commencing the first week of July.