New Abbey (Scottish Gaelic: An Abaid Ùr) is a village in the historical county of Kirkcudbrightshire in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It is 6 miles (10 km) south of Dumfries.[1] The summit of the prominent hill Criffel is 2.5 miles (4.0 km) to the south.
History
The village has a wealth of history including the ruined Cistercian abbey Sweetheart Abbey, founded by Lady Dervorguilla in 1273 in memory of her husband John Balliol. She kept his embalmed heart close to her for the rest of her life.[1] The monks named the abbey dulce cor ("sweet heart"). The village has a watermill, the New Abbey Corn Mill.[2] Loch Kindar has a crannog and the village has the remains of Kirk Kindar (this was the parish church until just after 1633 when it was transferred to the refectory of the suppressed Sweetheart Abbey) on an island located just outside the village.
New Abbey was one of five parishes from Kirkcudbrightshire included in the Nithsdale district of Dumfries and Galloway under the local government reforms of 1975 which abolished Kirkcudbrightshire as an administrative county. The parish has therefore been included in the Dumfrieslieutenancy area since 1975.[3][4][5]
Dougie Sharpe, Scottish League internationalist footballer and long time servant to Queen of the South from the club's days in Scotland's top division.[6]
