Tongland

Tongland, gang

Tongland was a local nickname for the area of Calton, Glasgow controlled in the 1960s by a violent Scottish teenage gang called the Tongs.Tongland appears in Gillies MacKinnon's 1995 movie Small Faces, set in the 1960s...

 could also refer to a gang territory in Glasgow

Tongland is a small village

Village

A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...

 about 2 miles north of Kirkcudbright

Kirkcudbright

Kirkcudbright, is a town in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland.The town lies south of Castle Douglas and Dalbeattie, in the part of Dumfries and Galloway known as the Stewartry, at the mouth of the River Dee, some six miles from the sea...

, south west Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

. It lies on the west bank of the Dee

River Dee, Galloway

The River Dee, in south-west Scotland, flows from its source in Loch Dee amongst the Galloway Hills, firstly to Clatteringshaws Loch, then in to Loch Ken, where it joins the Water of Ken. From there, the Dee flows southwards to Kirkcudbright, and into Kirkcudbright Bay to reach the Solway. The...

 near its confluence with the Tarff Water.

History

Tongland Abbey

Tongland Abbey

Tungland or Tongland Abbey was a Premonstratensian monastic community located in Galloway. It was probably founded in 1218 by Alan, Lord of Galloway, although the church of Tongland had previously been granted to Dercongal Abbey by his grandfather Uchtred in the early 1160s. Few of its early abbots...

, a medieval Premonstratensian

Premonstratensian

The Order of Canons Regular of Prémontré, also known as the Premonstratensians, the Norbertines, or in Britain and Ireland as the White Canons , are a Catholic religious order of canons regular founded at Prémontré near Laon in 1120 by Saint Norbert, who later became Archbishop of Magdeburg...

 monastic community, existed here during the Middle Ages. The remains of this may still be seen together with a church, which is in a state of disrepair. The Dee is crossed shortly downriver by Tongland Bridge, a stone arch bridge constructed in 1806 by Thomas Telford

Thomas Telford

Thomas Telford FRS, FRSE was a Scottish civil engineer, architect and stonemason, and a noted road, bridge and canal builder.-Early career:...

.

Since the 1930s, Tongland has been the site of a hydro-electric

Hydroelectricity

Hydroelectricity is the term referring to electricity generated by hydropower; the production of electrical power through the use of the gravitational force of falling or flowing water. It is the most widely used form of renewable energy...

 power station, part of the Galloway Hydro Electric Scheme. The station is open to visitors during the summer months. Slightly earlier, between 1921 and 1922 'Galloway

Galloway (car)

Galloway was a British car maker founded in 1920 as a subsidiary company to Arrol-Johnston. It was based at first at Tongland, Kirkcudbrightshire, and from 1923 at Heathall, Dumfries. It closed in 1928.-History:...

' cars were made in Tongland in a First World War factory.

Since 2004, there have been several construction projects, with the site of a former garage now home to two new houses. There are also several more houses being constructed. In 2006, street lights were installed along the A711 which passes through the village.

Notable people

Joe Dobson, co-founder of Interflora

Interflora

Interflora is the most commonly used name for a group of organisations worldwide, providing florists with a brand under which flowers can be purchased and delivered to 140 countries, most with their own partnership, or unit.- History :...

was born in Tongland in 1875.