Come To Kirkcudbright

Morag Fleming explores galleries, museums and cafés in this historic town in Dumfries and Galloway.

KIRKCUDBRIGHT has been the Artists' Town since the 1800s when it became a popular place for artists to exhibit led by the local Faed family.

This reputation was consolidated when the Glasgow Boys group began to favour Kirkcudbright in terms of inspiration and exhibition.

These artists taught and encouraged others so the momentum continued and continues, indeed, to this day.

It certainly has a lot of art going on, but there is more to the town as well, as I am about to find out.

It is bonnie, for sure. Sitting pretty at the top of the Dee Estuary around Harbour Square, the painted houses and wide streets make this a very pleasant place to be.

It's small and compact and everything is within - walking distance, with plenty of cafés and watering holes to have a rest in, as well as shaded church grounds to explore on a hot day.

I start with Kirkcudbright Galleries. Housed in what used to be the town hall, there are three floors of exhibition space.

I visit a temporary exhibition of the Glasgow Boys and Glasgow Girls, and with such a varied array of styles the explanations next to each painting, detailing connections to the area, are extremely interesting.

The ground floor houses a permanent exhibition explaining how this came to be the Artists' Town, and the top floor has a mixture of exhibits by up-and-coming talent.

The Stewartry Museum is just along the road from the galleries and holds a hotchpotch of archaeological finds in the area, from prehistoric to mediaeval to Victorian times, as well as displays such as farming through the ages.

Another museum is housed in the Tolbooth, which used to be the prison and held various Covenanters as well as John Paul Jones, who led attacks on this area on behalf of the American Navy, and Elspeth McEwen, who was burned as a witch.