Old Photograph Crawick Scotland

Old photograph of Crawick by Sanquhar north of Dumfries, Scotland. The village of Crawick had once been known as a haven for witches. One story is that the parish minister’s cows began making milk that would not churn. He sent one of his servants to tie a branch from a rowan tree over the doorway of the witch’s house in Crawick, which ended the curse. Work came in the village came in the form of a carpet factory, along the Crawick Water. At first, it consisted of a few separate looms, but by the 1830s, there was a large factory, boasting 54 looms at its height. The carpets made here were world renowned for their durability and orders came from as far away as South America. A large proportion of their total production was shipped to Valparaíso, Chile. The location along the Crawick River was also the home of John Rigg’s forge. In the late 18th century, he had been persuaded to move here from Dalston in Cumbria, England, to supply tools for the coalfields. He made a damhead opposite the village of Crawick and used the water to power his factory. The water separated the parishes of Sanquhar and Kirkconnel, and although the forge was on the Kirkconnel side, Sanquhar always laid claim to it. The forge produced shovels and other tools into the 20th century. Between 1885 and 1916, Crawick even had its own post office, known as Crawick Bridge; it also had gas powered street lights two years before the rest of the town of Sanquhar. All of this came to a sad end when one of the owners of the factory died, and the others squabbled. By 1860, the factory was shut down. Many of the weavers moved to larger cities to keep their trade. The forge, and the nearby colliery, kept people employed until the 20th century. During the period just before World War II many people moved away, and the little hamlet was all but deserted. Only a few homes stand there now, the occupants little aware of the industries that once thrived there.



All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.

View the most recent Tour Scotland photographs.