Archaeology Notes

Event ID 728892

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Archaeology Notes

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/728892

NX97NE 66 9726 7608

(Name: NX 9726 7608) Site of The Deanery (NR)

and St Thomas's Chapel (NR)

OS 1:1056 map (1852)

The site of old buildings which at present are occupied by a range of shops. They appear to have been taken down about the time of the Reformation, and a prison or tolbooth built on the site. This tolbooth was later demolished, and a new one built farther north (Midsteeple: NX97NE 14). A council chamber was then built on this site; after alterations and repairs, it still stands, now used as shops. The arched vaults of the Deanery are said to be still used as cellars belonging to the shops. The small chapel of St Thomas adjoined the Deanery.

Name Book 1850

The earliest known chapel in Dumfries was that dedicated to St Thomas Becket, whose revenues were gifted to Kelso Abbey in 1183 x 1188. The chapel was located between High Street and Queensberry Street.

G W S Barrow 1971; SBS Dumfries 1977.