Places to visit
Little Dalton Kirk
A roofless kirk of the 13th century standing alone above the burn, one of only three pre Reformation churches left in any substance in eastern Dumfriesshire.
About a mile and a half north west of the village, on a low platform above the burn, stand the roofless walls of Little Dalton Kirk. Of the thirty nine churches that held parish status in eastern Dumfriesshire before the Reformation, it is one of only three that survive in any substance.
Excavation in the 1960s showed the church was built in the 13th century, possibly the 12th, and substantially rebuilt in the 15th. It was abandoned after 1633, though the burial ground stayed in use until 1788. It is the family burial ground of the Carruthers of Holmains, whose charter of Little Dalton and Holmains dates from 1375. The oldest legible stone is dated 1665.
The walls stand two to four metres high, T shaped in plan, with a round headed arch into the north aisle and three small windows still intact. It is a scheduled monument, SM12101, and Category B listed.
The best part of its recent story is that the site was consolidated and opened up in 2003 by an appeal that raised around £35,000, much of it given by Carruthers descendants scattered across the world. Their money paid for the fencing, the footpaths, the parking and the interpretation board that stands there now.