Population 194 Country Scotland Post town Biggar Dialling code 01721 | OS grid reference NT0753139017 Sovereign state United Kingdom Postcode district ML12 Council area Scottish Borders | |
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Scottish parliament Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale UK parliament constituency Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale Lieutenancy areas Scottish Borders, Tweeddale | ||
Skirling is a parish, community council area and village in Peeblesshire in the Scottish Borders situated 2½ miles east of Biggar in Lanarkshire. Biggar Water, a tributary the River Tweed forms the southern boundary of the parish with the parish of Broughton, Glenholm and Kilbucho. It is also bounded by that parish on the east, namely the Broughton part of it. On the north it is bounded by the parish Kirkurd in Peeblesshire. Spittal Burn forms most of its western boundary with Lanarkshire.
Map of Skirling, Biggar, UK
The parish lies in the Southern Uplands. Its village is 690 ft above sea level. Its length, north to south, is 3 miles and it is 2 miles at most wide. The highest point in the parish is Broomy Law, 1399 ft, on the north-west boundary. At its northernmost point the parish is met by 5 other parishes (boundary stone at site).
The earliest known record of Skirling by name dates from the reign of King Robert Bruce, who granted the barony of Scrawline to John Monfode. The barony of Skirling was possessed by the Cockburn family c.1370 - 1621 and during the 18th and 19th centuries by the Carmichael family. Thomas Gibson-Carmichael was raised to peerage of the United Kingdom in 1912 as Baron Carmichael of Skirling, but this title became extinct on his death in 1926. He commissioned the building of Skirling House in 1905.
The earliest record of a church is in 1275, sited near the present war memorial. The present building was rebuilt in 1720 and was much altered in 1891. It has a pleasant bell tower with a sundial, the bell dating from 1748. Ironwork on the graveyard gates is by Thomas Hadden and the Carmichael family plot is flanked by two charming angel sculptures. The church is now a member of the linked "Parishes of Upper Tweeddale", whichis made up of four neighbouring Parishes.
The Skirling Community Council area is the same as the civil parish. The council has 6 members.
The village of Skirling has a central position in the parish. It originally consisted of five small farms on the valley floor of Skirling Burn, forming a roughly linear shaped settlement. The village is a conservation area, which includes the parish church, the old Free church, Skirling House, along with many 1 - 2 story buildings made from traditional materials. Just south-west of the village is the site of Skirling Castle, demolished 1568.
The civil parish has a population of 194 (in 2011) and its area is 3,423 acres.