Map - Castle Douglas (Castle Douglas)

Castle Douglas (Caisteal Dhùghlais) is a town in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It lies in the lieutenancy area of Kirkcudbrightshire, in the eastern part of Galloway, between the towns of Dalbeattie and Gatehouse of Fleet. It is in the ecclesiastical parish of Kelton.

Castle Douglas is built next to Carlingwark Loch in which traces of prehistoric crannogs can be found, evidence of early inhabitation of the area. A large bronze cauldron containing about 100 metal objects was found in Carlingwark Loch near Fir Island about 1866. The hoard of tools of iron and bronze is probably Romano-Belgic of the late first or early second centuries AD and is likely to have been a votive offering. It is now in the National Museums of Scotland in Edinburgh. To the North of the town Glenlochar is the site of two successive Roman forts, the first being erected during the invasion of Agricola and the second during the Antonine period. They appear to have been for cavalry units and evidence has been found that a "vicus" grew up around them. They were abandoned completely by around 160 AD.

Nearby Threave Castle was a seat of the powerful "Black" Earls of Douglas. A small collection of cottages developed by the shores of Carlingwark, which was a source of marl. These cottages can still be seen on the Western approach to Castle Douglas and are known as The Buchan. The development of a military road through Galloway built by Major William Caulfeild passed through the Carlingwark area and improved transportation connections in the 18th century.

Traditionally Mary Queen of Scots is said to have lodged at the House of Fuffnock on the Crossmichael Road on her journey to Port Mary in 1568 after the Battle of Langside.

Castle Douglas was founded in 1792 by William Douglas, who claimed, but had no close connection with the ancient Douglases of Threave Castle. He had made his money in an 'American Trade' and created a planned town on the shores of Carlingwark Loch. The town's layout is based upon the grid plan pattern of streets as used in Edinburgh's New Town, built around the same time. Sir William Douglas also created a number of industries in Castle Douglas, including hand-woven cotton factories from which Cotton Street derives its name. The Torrs Pony-cap and Horns is an Iron Age bronze horned cap for a pony found in Torrs Loch at Castle Douglas in 1812. It was acquired by Joseph Train, FSA Scot., the local antiquarian and author who presented it to Sir Walter Scott for his collection of antiquities at Abbotsford House. It is now in the National Museums of Scotland in Edinburgh.

The completion of the Castle Douglas and Dumfries Railway in 1859 further improved the town's connections, and it soon developed into a major market town for the surrounding area. This is still true today and the 1900 hexagonal market building is in constant use. Although the railway was closed in 1965, the A75 trunk road was developed roughly following the lines of the original military road and passes through Castle Douglas. The many hotels and pubs which derived from coach stops are an indication of the town's importance as a stopping place for travellers.

Castle Douglas Town Hall was built in 1863 to the designs of Dumfries architect James Barbour.

The Clock Tower was built 1934-35 and stands at the corner of King St and St Andrews St and is a listed Category C building. It was designed by the architect William Forrest Valentine (1885-1957). The first tower, built by Sir William Douglas, was destroyed by fire in 1892 as was a second clock tower forty years later. A plaque records that in 1935 Henry J. Hewat of Paterson, New Jersey, USA, donated the present clock tower to the town. Capt Hewat was a native of Castle Douglas who had emigrated to the US in 1893.

Freeman Wills Croft set a key scene in his 1930 novel "Sir John Magill's Last Journey" at Castle Douglas Railway Station.

St John the Evangelist Catholic Church was built in 1867 by the London architect George Goldie and is Category B(S) listed building.