Longforgan
Longforgan is a village and parish in the Carse of Gowrie, in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. It lies 5 miles (8.0 km) west of Dundee on the main A90 road.
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[edit] History
A record survives of Sir Patrick Gray, as Baron of Longforgan, holding a baronial court here in 1385 on the Longforgan or Hund Hill; a moot hill. The officials present were the same as those at of the sovereign's courts.[1] The village was created a burgh of barony in 1672.[2] Castle Huntly, established in the 14th century and developed in the 17th and 18th centuries, is located 0.5 miles (0.80 km) south-west of the village.[3] It is now an open prison.
[edit] Name
The name Longforgan may be derived from Scottish Gaelic lann, meaning "enclosure" or "church", or lòn, meaning "marsh", coupled with fothir grund, meaning a fertile field.[4]
[edit] Description
Main Street is one of the oldest parts of the village. It contains the oldest cottages in the village and the bowling club, police station, Architechts Office, primary school, coaching inn, church and general store. The 17th-century mercat cross is protected as a category A listed building.[5] Castle Road is another of the oldest streets in Longforgan, and as the name suggests, was the main road from the church down to Castle Huntly. Many of the houses are original whitewashed cottar houses used in the past by land workers on the estate. This 'bonny' road down to the Carse of Gowrie is now closed to through vehicle traffic.
The Eastbank area was developed in the 1960s, and Paterson was built in the 1970s, to accommodate the village's growing population, it is situated in the north of the village. Dorward Place was built in 1996 and is mostly sheltered housing and flats. Westbank was originally farms but was transformed into houses in around 2000. Rosamunde Pilcher Drive is located in this estate, and is named after the bestselling author Rosamunde Pilcher who lives in Longforgan.[2] Built in the 2000s, Mary Findlay Drive is the largest modern housing estate in Longforgan with around 60 houses and its own park. Worbey Place and McDonald Road are situated next to Helen McGregor Park in the east end of Longforgan. The park includes tennis courts, a football pitch, and a play area.
[edit] References
- ^ MacGeorge, Andrew (1880). location=Glasgow Old Glasgow. The Place and the People. Blackie & Son. p. 61. http://www.archive.org/details/oldglasgowplacep00macguoft location=Glasgow.
- ^ a b "Longforgan". Gazetteer for Scotland. http://www.scottish-places.info/towns/townfirst1267.html.
- ^ "Castle Huntly: Listed Building Report". Historic Scotland. http://hsewsf.sedsh.gov.uk/hslive/hsstart?P_HBNUM=12868.
- ^ "Longforgan". Domesday Maps. http://www.domesdaymaps.com/SPN-L.htm.
- ^ "Longforgan, Main Street, Market Cross: Listed Building Report". Historic Scotland. http://hsewsf.sedsh.gov.uk/hslive/hsstart?P_HBNUM=13283.
Coordinates: 56°27′26″N 3°07′24″W / 56.4572°N 3.1233°W
