Kirkcudbright locals were angry when the Council abruptly shut down the River Dee bridge to vehicles on 24 March 2025. This website tracks a year’s worth of related social media posts. (Images can be enlarged by clicking on them and forwarded in the usual way)
There follows all previous articles describing Bridge History on this site.
Galloway as she came upstream. It originally consisted of five fixed spans and a sixth longer span which turned on a large cast iron cylinder filled with concrete. The swinging apparatus allowed the passage of ships to Tongland and could easily be operated by one man. Two plaques bearing the names of the contractors Messrs. Hopkins Gilkes and Co., Middlesbrough are now fastened to the railings in front of the Stewartry Museum. The cost of building the bridge was £10,000, about half of which was
raised by public subscription the other half coming from the Road Trustees.
The New Bridge 1865: poem posted by Jim Bell. ( 14/08/2025)
On the 21st April 1865 a meeting was convened on the urgency of taking steps to build a bridge across the river at Kirkcudbright. Following many discussions and meetings the estimate for building the bridge was £10,000 and a public appeal was launched in September to raise half the costs.
The Bridge. (14 August 2025)
A ballad, written by Rev. George Murray, Minister at Balmaclellan, was printed in 1866 in connection with a Bazaar, and dedicated ” to the ladies of the Stewartry, who, with kind hearts and willing hands, largely promoted the building of a bridge over the Dee at Kirkcudbright. ” The event raised £1901.
To access the poem click The Bridge
Acknowledgement to “Bridging the Dee at Kirkcudbright” by T R Collin for background information. Also where other verses can be found.
With thanks to Jim Bell for sending in the poem
Crossing the River Dee at Kirkcudbright: 8/01/2025
Following the posting of this letter on Facebook in December 2024, David R Collin thought we might be interested in an article written by him when he noticed the marked deterioration of its structural state in the early 1960s. (click to enlarge)
D R Collin’s article The Bridge over the Dee at Kirkcudbright
For further information about the crossing of the river from the ferry to the two bridges please refer to his book “Kirkcudbright an Alphabetical Guide to its History” or his Father’s “Bridging the Dee at Kirkcudbright”, T R Collin.
Thanks to David R Collin
Kirkcudbright Ferry: 29/03/2023
Prior to the first bridge there had been a ferry over the river for many years. Town Council Records show that a ferry existed in 1577. In 1868 the Ferry and Boatmen were still under the jurisdiction of the of the Town Council. It was quite a large affair being able to accommodate four horses and carts, or two carriages and one gig. It had a broad ramp at each end to 
enable vehicles to pass on or off, but these ramps were on hinges so that they could be raised to an upright position when the ferry was in transit. The ramps were lowered to a suitable position for landing. On one side of the deck there seems to have been a small hut for passengers, and on the other one for the boatman and his assistant. From this latter hut the boatman worked the winch which operated a chain by means of a pulley to draw the boat across the river. A working model of the ferry can be seen in the Museum.
Thanks to Isla for the photo.
“Bridging the Dee at Kirkcudbright” T R Collin.
Bridging the River Dee: 31/01/2023
Another photograph has been handed into the Swimming Pool shop, this time of the previous bridge over the river.
Before this bridge was built, people crossed over the Dee by ferry, which was proving to be frustrating as it was so inconvenient. After many years a design and estimate for building this bridge was accepted and in 1867 a tender was accepted for £9250 9s 8d.
The bridge had a swinging apparatus which allowed it to be opened for the passage upstream by vessels to Tongland.
“The opening ceremony, in 1868, was followed by a salvo of three guns from a battery of the Kirkcudbright Artillery stationed on the western bank of the river, and at the same time the popular steamer “The Countess of Galloway” rounded the bend of the river below the harbour, and fired several shots from her deck gun. This was followed by loud and enthusiastic cheers. The procession then paraded slowly across the bridge, each side of which was lined with chairs for which tickets had been issued to the ladies and their friends who had assisted at the Bazaar – to quote from a report at the time “Forming two such borders of beauty as never decked terrestrial garden”.
Having been badly damaged by the severe weather , especially in 1895, and having become not fit for purpose because of the increase in traffic, it was replaced in 1926. (Information from “Kirkcudbright An Alphabetical Guide to its History” D R Collin and Bridging the Dee at Kirkcudbright “T R Collin.