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Kirkpatrick Macmillan Bridge – Devorgilla Bridge loop from Troqueer

Routes

Hiking trails & Routes

Kirkpatrick Macmillan Bridge – Devorgilla Bridge loop from Troqueer

Moderate

5.0

(1)

hikers

Kirkpatrick Macmillan Bridge – Devorgilla Bridge loop from Troqueer

02:10

8.41km

40m

Hiking

Moderate hike. Good fitness required. Easily-accessible paths. Suitable for all skill levels. The starting point of the route is accessible with public transport.

Last updated: February 20, 2026

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378 m

Millennium Milepost 352

Highlight • Monument

The milepost sculpture you have selected was designed by Iain McColl.

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1.92 km

River Nith

Highlight • River

As Scotland's seventh-longest river, the Nith flows for over 70 miles before emptying into the Solway Firth.

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1.95 km

Kirkpatrick Macmillan Bridge

Highlight • Cycleway

The bridge over the Nith just south of Dumfries town center on NCN route 7 built in honour of Kirkpatrick Macmillan, inventor of the pedal bike.

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3.24 km

The weir in Dumfries, also known as the Whitesands Caul, is a historic stone weir that spans the River Nith. It is a prominent feature of the town, located between the Devorgilla Bridge and the suspension bridge.

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3.44 km

Devorgilla Bridge

Highlight • Bridge

One of the oldest standing bridges in Scotland crosses the River Nith in Dumfries. Devorgilla Bridge is also sometimes known as Devorgilla's Bridge or the Old Bridge and is named after Devorgilla, Lady of Galloway, the mother of King John Balliol.

All the land to the west of the River Nith traditionally formed part of Galloway, which only truly became part of Scotland during Alexander II's reign in the 1230s. Dumfries was therefore a frontier town for much of its early history and had grown up on the east side of a ford that provided the lowest crossing point of the River Nith. By 1186 the town was sufficiently well established to be made a Royal Burgh.

According to some sources the first bridge was built across the River Nith at Dumfries during the 1260s by Devorgilla, Lady of Galloway. No trace of this bridge has ever been found, and if it existed at all it seems very likely that it was made of wood.

There is rather more evidence for the immediate predecessor of the bridge you see today. Construction began on a stone bridge in about 1430, and a papal indulgence of 1432 recorded the Pope's approval for a call for subscribers to pay for the completion of the bridge. This bridge survived for a little under two centuries before being partially destroyed in a major flood in 1620 or 1621. Once more accounts differ, but it seems that the east half of the bridge was swept away and what was left might well have been severely damaged.

undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/dumfries/devorgillabridge/index.html

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