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The Wells of the Rees

Recommended by

Our view

"Take this strenuous walk along the Southern Upland Way in search of the past"

Walk directions

Go through a gate in the wall and head up a grassy path alongside a wall. At the top, turn left and head west along the Southern Upland Way (SUW) on a well-surfaced forest road. Pass Loch Derry, on your right, in just under a mile (1.6km) and then continue on the forest road, passing a signpost on the left to Linn's Tomb.

Follow the road as it curves to the right, then, following the SUW markerpost, turn left, leave the road and head uphill. It's a steep climb from here, on a well trodden path with waymarkers.

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Location

Nearest postcode:

Additional information

Terrain - Forest roads, forest track, very rough ground

Landscape - Hills, forest and loch

Dog friendliness - Keep on lead near livestock

Parking - Near Derry farm

Toilets en route - None on route

Walks in Dumfries & Galloway Dog-friendly walks in Dumfries & Galloway

About the walk

Sitting 'on the hillside at the back of the sheiling called Kilgallioch' wrote Davie Bell, 'are three dome-shaped structures of great antiquity'. These were the Wells o' the Rees, the rees in question being sheep pens surrounding the wells. A Determined Effort Davie Bell, popularly known as 'The... Highwayman', rode his bicycle all over the roughest parts of south-west Scotland in the 1930s and '40s and chronicled his exploits in a weekly column in the Ayrshire Post. He was intrigued by the Wells o' the Rees and mounted several expeditions in search of them. Although he came close, time and again he was defeated by thick bracken and an almost featureless landscape. Today, the waymarked Southern Upland Way (SUW) takes walkers to within 100yds (91m) of the wells and a signpost points them out. But when Davie Bell was roaming these moors, often on his bicycle, but sometimes on foot, there were no long-distance footpaths or signposts. Many paths and tracks would have criss-crossed the moor but they were the tracks used by herdsmen and farmers to reach their remote steadings. Davie eventually found the wells after getting directions from the farmer's wife at Kilgallioch. He described them as 'three piles of stones… skilfully constructed, with each well having a canopy and the shape of the whole like that of a beehive'. Made of flat stones and oval in shape they were 'streamlined into the hillside, with a recess over the well for a utensil'. Sixty years later the people are gone but the wells remain. This part of Galloway was sparsely populated before the forestry came, but when trees replaced sheep, shepherds and their families abandoned their lonely sheilings to ruin and decay. With the opening of the SUW, walkers trudge this wild landscape once again. These latter-day pilgrims, follow in the footsteps of early Christians on their way to Whithorn. Although locals told Davie Bell the wells were built by the Romans, it seems more likely that they were made for the pilgrims. According to the Revd C H Dick in his Highways and Byways of Galloway and Carrick, the wells may have been part of the ancient church and graveyard of Kilgallioch, which was near by, although he walked across the moors from New Luce in 1916 and saw nothing in the way of ruins. The pilgrims' route to Whithorn was also the path followed by lepers on their way from Glenluce Abbey to the leper colony 1.5 miles (2.4km) north of Loch Derry at Libberland.

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About the area

Dumfries and Galloway is a wonderfully undiscovered corner of Scotland – a romantic land of wooded glens, high hills and exposed moorland, haunted by its colourful past and the ghosts of those who fell in fierce and bloody battles. Heading west from Gretna Green you soon reach Dumfries, straddling the River Nith, where you may see red-breasted mergansers in summer.

Route details

Difficulty:

Hard

Gradient:

Challenging

Distance:

6.75 miles (10.9kms)

Ascent:

558ft (170m)

If you like this walk, you can try more routes in the area.

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The Wells of the Rees

Recommended by

Our view

"Take this strenuous walk along the Southern Upland Way in search of the past"

Walk details

Difficulty:

Hard

Gradient:

Challenging

Distance:

6.75 miles (10.9kms)

Ascent:

558ft (170m)

Walk directions

1 of 7

Follow the road as it curves to the right, then, following the SUW markerpost, turn left, leave the road and head uphill. It's a steep climb from here, on a well trodden path with waymarkers.

2 of 7

Cross over a forest road and then continue on the uphill path heading towards the summit of Craig Airie Fell. You'll reach the summit at a trig point.

3 of 7

Follow SUW way markers down from the trig point. Considerable forestry operations are ongoing in this area and the path through the forest is subject to change. But keep following the waymarkers until eventually you reach another waymarker near the bottom. Turn right here and keep going ahead until you reach a cairn on your left.

4 of 7

Keep straight ahead following the waymarkers to a sign pointing left to the Wells of the Rees. Turn left and head downhill, across a dry-stone wall and then a gap in another wall. In winter you will find the wells easily but in summer, when the bracken is thick, you'll have to poke about a bit. The first two wells are on your right as you come through the gap and the other is off to the left.

5 of 7

Retrace your steps from here to the signpost and turn right. Retrace your steps along the SUW to the cairn. Go up over the cairn and down a rough muddy path to reach a forest road. Follow the road until shortly before a T-junction, you find a grassy path crossing the road. Turn down to the right and at the bottom turn right again onto the forest road.

6 of 7

Continue to the signpost for Linn’s Tomb on the right. Go through the gate and follow a rough path to visit the tomb. Then retrace your steps to the road, turn right and return to Derry farm and the start.

7 of 7

Location

Starting point

Nearest postcode:

Additional information

Terrain - Forest roads, forest track, very rough ground

Landscape - Hills, forest and loch

Dog friendliness - Keep on lead near livestock

Parking - Near Derry farm

Toilets en route - None on route

Walks in Dumfries & Galloway Dog-friendly walks in Dumfries & Galloway

About the walk

Been on this walk?

Send us photos or a comment about this route. Or recommend a route of your own.

Find out more

Walking in Safety

Read our tips to look after yourself and the environment when following this walk.

Learn more

Get an AA guide

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Been on this walk?

Send us photos or a comment about this route. Or recommend a route of your own.

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Walking in Safety

Read our tips to look after yourself and the environment when following this walk.

Learn more

Get an AA guide

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Learn more

About the area

Dumfries & Galloway

The Wells of the Rees

Been on this walk?

Walking in Safety

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The Wells of the Rees

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