The Port of Dumfries
The port of Dumfries included Dumfries, Carsethorn, Kingholm
Quay, Kelton and Glencaple. At one time it stretched as far east as
the River Annan and as far west as the River Urr. Much of the
shipping to and from the port was local coastal trade, and the farm
produce of the area, cattle, sheep, pigs, potatoes and barley, was
the main export.
Shipping from the port of Dumfries increased greatly in the
early 1700s when the town made links with the new British colonies
in North America. By the 1740s there was so much tobacco imported
from Virginia passing through Dumfries that the town was called
"The Scottish Liverpool".
Coal from the coal mines of Cumberland was one of the greatest
items of trade into Dumfries and continued to be so until the
1940s. Lime was another import, particularly after the improvements
in farming of the late 1700s which required great quantities of
lime to be spread on the fields. Timber was imported from the
Baltic, Norway and Sweden.
Brandy, wine, dried fruits and silk came into Dumfries from
France and Spain. These, together with tobacco, were the main
interests of smugglers in the 1700s, but controlling the practice
was a hopeless task.
Emigration to Australia, New Zealand, the USA and particularly
to Canada became the main trade from the port of Dumfries in the
1800s. Newspaper advertisements show emigrant ships sailing
regularly from Glencaple and Carsethorn. Ships also sailed to
Canada to trade goods with the settlers from Scotland and return
with cargoes of timber.
Shipping in the port of Dumfries reached its peak in the 1840s,
mostly with coastal trade, although there were several large ships
crossing to Canada.
The cost of keeping the channel of the River Nith clear for
shipping was becoming expensive. When the railway reached Dumfries
in 1850 a slow decline in the port began. The First World War
brought the port to a standstill and by the end of the Second World
War all shipping had ceased.
Harbours and Landing Places
Carsethorn and Carse Bay
The first mention of this being used as a harbour occurs in 1562,
with a ship loading for a voyage to La Rochelle and Bordeaux in
France. Although a road was built between Carsethorn and Dumfries
in the 1660s, the village itself did not grow up until twenty years
later. Large warehouses were built there as the trade of the port
was expanded.
By the 1790s large ships sailing from the Baltic off-loaded
their cargoes of timber here and many of the houses in the village
were inns for travellers. In the 1840s a wooden pier served the
steam ships trading with Liverpool and Glasgow.
Kirkbean Pow
This was the quarantine area for the port.
New Abbey Pow
Since the Middle Ages the New Abbey Pow was used as a landing
place by ships trading with the Abbey. The firm of James Kingan and
Sons continued to use Bog Quay right up into the 1920s.
Kirkconnell
A pier almost 500m long is shown on maps of the 1850s. This
was used to ship supplies into Kirkconnell House.
Greenmerse
Mooring posts along the riverbank can be seen on maps of the
1850s.
Laghall
A stone quay was built on the west bank of the Nith, opposite
Kingholm in 1823.
Dumfries
The banks of the River Nith from the Whitesands to the fields at
Kingholm were all part of the port. Stone walls were built along
the river banks where it ran through the town and quays were built
at Dockfoot and Castledykes. Improvements to the river made by the
Nith Navigation Commission in the early 1800s meant that large
ships could be loaded right in the centre of the town beside the
markets.
Kingholm
This had always been used as a landing place and a road was built
along the river bank between Kingholm and Dumfries in 1707. The
harbour itself was built in the early 1800s.
Kelton
Again, mooring posts are shown on maps of the 1850s and Kelton had
a thriving ship building industry.
Glencaple
The first quay was built here in 1746 on land given to the town by
William Maxwell, Earl of Nithsdale. The harbour was re-built as
part of the improvements to the port of Dumfries undertaken in the
early 1800s. This harbour was intended to accommodate the very
largest ships, those that could not navigate any further up the
river. Glencaple was another important centre for ship
building.