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High Street, Tolbooth, Market Cross and WellHigh Street, Tolbooth, Market Cross and Well · Photo: LornaMCampbell · CC BY-SA 4.0
–Not graded
History of Kirkcudbright · Historic Environment Scotland

188 listed buildings, 5 of them in the top category

On the Historic Environment Scotland list, all of them stand inside Kirkcudbright’s locality, 584 for every 10,000 residents. It also has 2 scheduled monuments. We have photos of 22 of its listed buildings and 1 old view of the town.

5Category A69Category B1893old map2scheduled monuments42on High Street
Listed buildings
188
584 per 10,000 residents
Category A
5
national importance
Category B
69
regional importance
Scheduled monuments
2
1 garden or designed landscape
In pictures

Kirkcudbright in 26 photos and old views

Tap a photo to step through them full screen.

12 High Street, With 10 High Street, Broughton House and Walls to Castle Dykes12 High Street, With 10 High Street, Broughton House and Walls to Castle DykesCategory A listedMaclellan's CastleMaclellan's CastleScheduled monumentCastlebank, Harbour Cottage GalleryCastlebank, Harbour Cottage GalleryCategory B listedSt Cuthbert's Street, Greyfriars Church (Episcopal Church)St Cuthbert's Street, Greyfriars Church (Episcopal Church)Category B listedSt Mary`S Street, Johnston`S Free SchoolSt Mary`S Street, Johnston`S Free SchoolCategory B listed+21See all photos

Photos from Wikimedia Commons and Geograph, copied to our own server, each credited to its photographer with its licence; names open the building’s page or its official list entry.

Through time

Kirkcudbright from 1890 to 1893

An old map and 1 old photo or postcard, in date order. All public domain, made before 1950.

The Doughs, Tongland, Kirkcudbright, Scotlandc. 1890
VictorianThe Doughs, Tongland, Kirkcudbright, ScotlandPhoto: Photochrom Print Collection · Public domain
Admiralty Chart No 1826 Formby Point to Kirkcudbright, Published 1893c. 1893
Old mapAdmiralty Chart No 1826 Formby Point to Kirkcudbright, Published 1893Map: United Kingdom Hydrographic Office · Public domain

Public domain, from Wikimedia Commons, copied to our own server. Each credit opens the image’s page with its full description and history.

The map

Where Kirkcudbright’s history is

Every Category A and B building, monument and historic park.

Broughton House, garden or designed landscapeKirkcudbright Castle, scheduled monumentMaclellan's Castle, scheduled monumentCastle Street, Masonic Arms, Category BCastlebank, Harbour Cottage Gallery, Category BEllenbank, Category BFormer Kirkcudbright Sheriff Court, including public library, railings and gatepier, High Street, Kirkcudbright, Category BHigh Street, Cannonwalls, Category BHigh Street, Selkirk Arms Hotel and Close and 127 High Street, Category BHigh Street, Stewartry District Council Offices, Category BMillburn Street, Former Cornmill, Category BOakley House, St Mary Street, Kirkcudbright, Category BSt Cuthbert's Street, Greyfriars Church (Episcopal Church), Category BSt Mary`S Street, Johnston`S Free School, Category BSt Mary`S Street, Kircudbright Parish Church, Category BSt Mary`S Street, St Mary`S Church, Category BSt Mary`S Street, Town Hall, Category BSt Mary`S Wynd and 60 High Street, Anchorage, Category B1 High Street, Category B1 and 3 Castle Bank, Kirkcudbright, Category B1-9 (Odd Nos) Castle Gardens, Category B10 AND12 Union Street, Category B10 St Mary`S Place, Saddler's Croft, Category B104 High Street, Category B105 High Street, Category B106 and 108 High Street, Category B110 High Street, Category B118 High Street, Category B14 and 14A High Street, Category B14 and 16 Union Street, Category B15 and 17 St Mary`S Street, Bank of Scotland and Manager`S House, Category B16 Castle Street, Castle Guest House, Category B16 High Street, Category B17, 19 and 21 High Street, Category B18 High Street, Category B19 and 21 St Mary`S Street, Category B2 Castle Street, Category B2 High Street, Moatwell, Category B2 St Mary`S Place, Category B2 Union Street, Category B21 Castle Street, Category B22 Castle Street, Category B23 Castle Street, Category B23 and 25 High Street, Category B23 and 25 St Mary`S Street, Category B27 St Mary`S Street, Category B27 and 29 High Street, Category B29 and 31 St Mary`S Street, Category B3, 5 High Street and Gazebo, Category B30 and 32 St Mary`S Street, Category B31 Castle Street, Category B36 High Street, Category B37 Castle Street, Category B39 Castle Street, Category B4 High Street, Category B41, 43 Castle Street, Category B44 High Street, Greengate Close, Category B46 High Street, Greengate House, Category B48 and 48A High Street, Category B49, 51 Castle Street, Category B53 Castle Street, Category B54 and 56 High Street, The Rectory, Category B62 High Street, Tolbooth Gallery and Steeple Close, Category B64 High Street (Milroys House) and the Cottage, Steeple Close, 64A High Street, Category B7 Castle Street, Category B7, 9 High Street, Category B76-82 (Even) High Street (82 in Police Close), Category B84 High Street, Category B9 and 11 Castle Street, Category B9, 11 and 13 St Mary`S Street, Category B94 High Street, Category B96 and 98 High Street, Category BHigh Street, Tolbooth, Market Cross and Well, Category A12 High Street, With 10 High Street, Broughton House and Walls to Castle Dykes, Category A66 (Wynd End) W. Side of Close, 68 E. Side of Close and 70 High Street, Category A74 High Street and Cannon`S Close, Category A8 High Street, Blair House and Summer House and Walls to Castle Dykes., Category A
Category ACategory BScheduled monumentPark or garden400 m from 12 High Street, With 10 High Street, Broughton House and Walls to Castle Dykes
5 of 5Category A buildings stand within 400 m of 12 High Street, With 10 High Street, Broughton House and Walls to Castle Dykes, a five-minute walk. So do 176 of the 188 listed buildings.

Hover a dot for its name; tap one with a photo to open it.

188 listed buildings by grade
5 Category A69 Category B114 Category C

Historic Environment Scotland lists buildings in three categories: Category A for buildings of national or international importance (about 7.5% of listed buildings), Category B for buildings of regional importance (about 50%), and Category C for buildings of local importance (about 43%). Listing protects the whole building, inside and out.

Every entry on Historic Environment Scotland’s designations whose point lies inside the NRS 2022 locality boundary. One list entry can cover a terrace or a group of buildings.

Category A

The 5 Category A listed buildings in Kirkcudbright

Buildings of national or international importance, about 7.5% of all listed buildings; 5 of these stand within 400 m of 12 High Street, With 10 High Street, Broughton House and Walls to Castle Dykes. 3 are photographed. Each opens its own page, with the official list entry.

Category B

The 69 Category B listed buildings in Kirkcudbright

Buildings of regional importance. 19 are photographed.

House · listed 1971EllenbankPhoto: Richard Sutcliffe · CC BY-SA 2.0
Show the other 57
Historic streets

High Street has the most listed buildings

Streets by the listed entries with an address on them. One entry can be a whole terrace, so long rows count once.

High Street42 listed · 20 II*
17, 19 and 21 High Street7, 9 High Street84 High Street
Castle Street32 listed · 12 II*
21 Castle Street
St Cuthbert`S Street21 listed
Union Street18 listed · 3 II*
St Mary`S Street11 listed · 6 II*
Townend5 listed
Church Place3 listed
Millburn Street3 listed
St Mary`S Place3 listed · 1 II*

Of the 188 entries, 158 are named by a street address; the rest are named buildings such as churches, halls and bridges.

What’s protected

Most of Kirkcudbright’s listed buildings are homes

Every listed building sorted by what its list name says it is.

Houses, terraces & villas172
Public & civic buildings9
Churches, chapels & priories3
Inns, shops & warehouses2
Memorials, crosses & tombs2

172 entries (91%) are houses, terraces and villas. 3 are churches, chapels and priories.

Buildings are sorted by words in each entry’s name (church, gate, inn, memorial…): the list’s open data has no building type. An entry named only by its address counts as a house.

Category C

114 Category C listed buildings

This category covers buildings of local importance. Open any building to read its official list entry.

All 114 Category C listed buildings, A to Z
Castle MainsCastle Street, War Memorial, 1ST and 2ND World WarsCastlebank, Harbour CottageMillburn Street, Millburn HouseSt Cuthbert`S Street WellSt Cuthbert`S Street, The Commercial HotelSt Mary`S Street, Atkinson`S PlaceSt Mary`S Street, Church HallSt Mary`S Street, MuseumSt Mary`S Street, Selkirk MemorialSt Mary`S Wynd, Kirkcudbright Academy and Cochran Memorial Gymnasium1 Castle Street and 2 St Cuthbert`S Close1 St Mary`S Place1 Union Street1 and 2 St Cuthbert`S Place, The Steam Packet Inn1 and 3 Castle Street10 and 12 St Cuthbert`S Street100A, B and C High Street103 High Street109 and 111 High Street11 Church Place11 and 13 St Cuthbert`S Street11 and 13 Union Street116 High Street, Gordon House Hotel12 Castle Street122 High Street129 High Street13 and 15 Church Place134 and 136 High Street138 High Street14 Castle Street14 St Cuthbert`S Street140 High Street142 High Street15 Castle Street15 St Cuthbert`S Street15 St Mary`S Place, Townend15 and 17 Millburn Street15, 17 and 19 Union Street15A High Street and 1 Gordon Place16 and 18 St Cuthbert`S Street, Solway Tide17 Castle Street17 St Mary`S Place, Townend17 and 19 St Cuthbert`S Street19 Millburn Street19 St Mary`S Place, Townend2 St Cuthbert`S Street20 and 22 St Cuthbert`S Street20 and 22 Union Street21 St Cuthbert`S Street21 Union Street21, 23 and 25 St Mary`S Place, Townend23 St Cuthbert`S Street23 Union Street24 Union Street24, 26 Castle Street25 Castle Street25 Union Street26 Union Street27 Castle Street27 St Cuthbert`S Street28 and 30 St Cuthbert`S Street28, 30 Castle Street29 Castle Street3 Union Street3 and 3A St Cuthbert`S Street3, 5, 7 and 9 Church Place30 Union Street31 St Mary`S Place, Townend32 Castle Street32 and 32A St Cuthbert`S Street33 Castle Street33 High Street34 High Street34 St Cuthbert`S Street34, 34A and 36 Castle Street34, 36, 38 and 40 St Mary`S Street35 Castle Street35 and 37 St Mary`S Street, Royal Bank of Scotland and Royal Hotel36 St Cuthbert`S Street37 High Street38 St Cuthbert`S Street39, 41 and 43 High Street4 St Mary`S Place4 Union Street4 and 6 St Cuthbert`S Street40 and 40A St Cuthbert`S Street45 and 45A High Street46, 48 Castle Street47 Castle Street47 St Mary`S Street49 St Mary`S Street5 Castle Street50 St Cuthbert`S Street50, 52 Castle Street51 St Mary`S Street52 High Street53, 55 and 57 St Mary`S Street55 Castle Street (Through Cobbled Pend)57, 59 Castle Street57, 59 and 61 High Street6 High Street6 and 8 Union Street6, 8 Castle Street63 High Street67A and 67B High Street7 Union Street77 High Street8 St Cuthbert`S Street81 High Street83 High Street9 Millburn Street9 St Cuthbert`S Street9 Union Street
Conservation areas

1 conservation area covers 17% of Kirkcudbright

Areas the council protects as a whole: demolition and changes to how buildings look need consent, and trees are protected.

Kirkcudbright 197027 ha
27 hain conservation areas, of 162 ha inside the locality.

185 of the 188 listed buildings stand in one.

Historic Environment Scotland’s conservation areas layer, supplied by councils (incomplete in places, so a page fact, never graded). Hectares are the part of each area inside the locality.

How the list grew

More than half of Kirkcudbright’s listed buildings were added in one year, 1981

The year each building now on the list was first listed.

1981 · 1241971 · 56
19501960197019801990200020102020

The first 6 entries were listed in 1967, 2 of the 5 Category A buildings among them. 124 came in 1981, as Scotland’s list was resurveyed from the 1970s. Only 0 have been added in the last 15 years.

Monuments & landscapes

Monuments, parks and gardens

Designations that overlap the town by a tenth of their area or half a hectare.

2 scheduled monuments

Nationally important archaeological sites and monuments, protected by law; work on them needs consent from Historic Environment Scotland.

Kirkcudbright CastleSecular: castle
Maclellan's Castle
Maclellan's CastleSecular: castle

1 garden or designed landscape

Broughton House
Broughton HouseGarden and designed landscape
Born here

17 notable people born in Kirkcudbright before 1900

Their lives on one timeline, earliest first.

John Hall
Alexander Cannon
Thomas Gordon
Edward Telfair
Robert Lenox
Alexander Manson
David S. Kennedy
Samuel Anderson
James Mackie
John McClure
Marriott Edgar
Murray McNeel Caird Urquhart
Cecil Coles
Bert MacLachlan
Laurie York Erskine
John Gordon
Fred McLachlan
155016001650170017501800185019001950
Edward Telfair
Edward Telfair1735–1807 · American politician (1735-1807)
CC
Cecil Coles1888–1918 · British composer
John McClure
John McClure1837–1920 · Scottish officer of the Imperial Chinese Navy (1837-1920)
Marriott Edgar
Marriott Edgar1880–1951 · British poet
TG
Thomas Gordon1691–1750 · Scottish writer and Commonwealthman (1691–1750)
JM
James Mackie1821–1867 · 1821 - 1868 (Mr)
LE
Laurie York Erskine1894–1976 · American journalist (1894-1976)
JG
John Gordon1899–1964 · Scottish footballer (1899-1964)

Everyone born in Kirkcudbright → Birthplaces from Wikidata; portraits from Wikimedia Commons.

Towns its size

Kirkcudbright has the 6th most Category A buildings of 178 towns its size

Scottish towns of 1,000–8,000 people, by Category A listed buildings.

Banff11
Kelso10
Jedburgh8
Rothesay7
Brechin6
Anstruther5
Kirkcudbright5
Campbeltown5
Biggar5
Inverkeithing5
Keith4
Selkirk3
#1 of 178for listed buildings per resident (584 per 10,000). Kirkcudbright, Banff and Anstruther lead.

Only Banff, Kelso, Jedburgh, Rothesay and Brechin have more. Kirkcudbright is level with Anstruther, Campbeltown, Biggar and Inverkeithing. The typical town its size has 0.

Neighbours

Listed buildings in the places around Kirkcudbright

TownPeopleListedCategory AHistory
Kirkcudbright3,2191885—
Castle Douglas4,061211—
Dalbeattie4,134160—
In brief

Kirkcudbright in brief

Kirkcudbright has 188 listed buildings, 5 of them in the top category, including High Street, Tolbooth, Market Cross and Well. Only 5 of the 178 towns nearest its size have more Category A buildings. On High Street alone there are 42 listed buildings. A conservation area has protected part of it since 1970.

Most entries on the list, 91%, are houses, terraces and villas. Of the 17 people born here before 1900, the best known include Edward Telfair (1735), Cecil Coles (1888) and John McClure (1837). The big year was 1981, when 124 of the 188 went on the list. The rest is about typical: it also has 2 scheduled monuments.

Questions about Kirkcudbright’s history

How many listed buildings are there in Kirkcudbright?

Historic Environment Scotland lists 188 buildings inside Kirkcudbright’s locality: 5 Category A, 69 Category B and 114 Category C.

What are the Category A listed buildings in Kirkcudbright?

5, including High Street, Tolbooth, Market Cross and Well, 12 High Street, With 10 High Street, Broughton House and Walls to Castle Dykes, 66 (Wynd End) W. Side of Close, 68 E. Side of Close and 70 High Street, 74 High Street and Cannon`S Close and 8 High Street, Blair House and Summer House and Walls to Castle Dykes..

Which street in Kirkcudbright has the most listed buildings?

High Street (42), Castle Street (32) and St Cuthbert`S Street (21) have the most listed entries named by an address. One entry can be a whole terrace.

Are there scheduled monuments in Kirkcudbright?

Yes, 2 scheduled monuments, including Kirkcudbright Castle and Maclellan's Castle.

How many conservation areas are there in Kirkcudbright?

1, covering about 27 hectares of the town. The largest is Kirkcudbright.

When were Kirkcudbright’s buildings listed?

The first in 1967; the most, 124, in 1981.

Are there old photos of Kirkcudbright?

Yes: 1 public-domain photo or postcard from 1890 to 1890, and an old map from 1893, all on this page.

Who was born in Kirkcudbright?

Among people born before 1900: Edward Telfair (1735), Cecil Coles (1888), John McClure (1837), Marriott Edgar (1880) and Thomas Gordon (1691).

Kirkcudbright has no History Grade.

Listed buildings, scheduled monuments, gardens and designed landscapes, battlefields, conservation areas and World Heritage Sites: Historic Environment Scotland, Open Government Licence v3.0. Check an entry on Historic Environment Scotland’s portal before relying on it.

Sources: Historic Environment Scotland designations (listed buildings, scheduled monuments, gardens and designed landscapes, battlefields, World Heritage Sites), October 2026, inside the NRS 2022 locality boundary · Historic Environment Scotland conservation areas (compiled from councils; October 2026). All under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.