Penpont


nor with Penpont Manor House, Powys
Penpont is a village about west of Thornhill in Dumfriesshire, in the Dumfries and Galloway region of Scotland. It is near the confluence of the Shinnel Water and Scaur Water rivers in the foothills of the Southern Uplands. It has a population of about 400 people.

Archaeology

There are several archaeological sites nearby, including Late Bronze Age hill forts on Tynron Doon and Grennan Hill and a long cairn at Capenoch Loch dating from the 2nd or 3rd century.

History

The toponym Penpont means "bridge-head" in the Cumbric language once spoken in the region.
The A702 road passes through Penpont. West of Thornhill it crosses the River Nith on a two-arched stone bridge in Penpont parish. It was built in the 1760s after the presbytery of Penpont raised £680 toward the cost. Work started about 1774, but in 1776 the bridge collapsed. The bridge was completed in 1778 and strengthened in 1930–31. It is a Category A listed building.
Penpont's Church of Scotland parish church is a Gothic Revival building completed in 1867. It is a Category B listed building. It has an Art Nouveau Communion table made in 1923.
Penpont's war memorial was made by Glasgow sculptor William Kellock Brown and installed in 1920. It is a bronze statue of an infantryman, with his rifle pointing downwards, his hands resting on the butt and his head slightly bowed.

Notable people