Brow, Dumfries and Galloway
Brow
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 The Brow Well |
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 Brow
Brow shown within Dumfries and Galloway
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| OS grid reference | NY085675 |
| Council area | |
| Lieutenancy area | |
| Country | Scotland |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | DUMFRIES |
| Postcode district | DG1 |
| Dialling code | 01387 |
| Police | Scottish |
| Fire | Scottish |
| Ambulance | Scottish |
| EU Parliament | Scotland |
| UK Parliament | |
| Scottish Parliament | |
Brow is a hamlet on the B725 lying around 3 km from Ruthwell in the Parish of that name on the Solway Firth between Dumfries and Annan in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. The Raffles Burn runs through the site, marked on maps as the Brow Burn it flows into the Solway Firth at Lochar Bay.
The name may refer to the situation of the site that 'faces or confronts' the Lochar Water and the Solway Firth. The hamlet in 1747 consisted of four or more buildings on a minor road between Ruthwell and Caerlaverock. A ford in the 1800s ran across the sands and the Lochar Water from near Brow to Blackshaw Point. The Raffles or Brow Burn runs through the site after passing near to Clarencefield where it once powered a saw mill and then through the Brow Plantation to run through the sand banks at Lochar Bay where at low tide it joins the Lochar Water.
Used as a staging post by drovers taking their cattle to England for sale, the hamlet had at Burns' time around a dozen houses. One of which was small inn that although run by the Davidsons, husband and wife, was owned by James Morpeth and survived until 1863 when it was demolished. Brow had a minor reputation as a poor mans spa with its Chalybeate well and sea bathing in the Solway Firth a hundred metres or so away down a narrow lane. The farm of Stanhope is located on the other side of the burn with a ford existing in the 19th century.
Herman Molls map circa 1745 does not mark 'Brow' in this position, but locates a 'Brow' on the other side of the Lochar Water on Blackshaw Point as does Blaeu's map, based on Timothy Ponts map of circa 1600.
John Thomson's map of 1832 indicates a group of three buildings and a minerla well. In 1856 a group of buildings existed with a small building close to the well and a path leading down to a ford across the Brow Burn that led to Stanhope Farm.
The hamlet had a small cottage that acted as an inn of sorts, mainly used by drovers and those visiting the well seeking a cure. The inn, situated between two other cottages, lay on the eastern side of the Raffles or Brow Burn and was demolished in 1863 when the road was widened. Robert Burns stayed at this hostelry whilst taking the waters from Brow Well and immersing himself up to the armpits in the waters of the Solway Firth.
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Wikipedia