Ruthwell

{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2018}}

{{Use British English|date=November 2014}}

{{Infobox UK place

| country = Scotland

| official_name = Ruthwell

| gaelic_name = Ruadhail

| scots_name = Rival[http://www.scots-online.org/dictionary/read.asp?letter=R&CurPage=30 The Online Scots Dictionary]

| os_grid_reference = NY099674

| coordinates = {{coord|54.9934|-3.4076|display=inline,title}}

| population =

| unitary_scotland = Dumfries and Galloway

| lieutenancy_scotland = Dumfries

| post_town = DUMFRIES

| postcode_district = DG1

| postcode_area = DG

| dial_code = 01387

| constituency_westminster = Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale

| constituency_scottish_parliament = Dumfriesshire

| static_image_name = Ruthwell Church - from the south.jpg

| static_image_caption = Ruthwell Church

}}

Ruthwell is a village and parish on the Solway Firth between Dumfries and Annan in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. In 2022 the combined population of Ruthwell and nearby Clarencefield was 400.{{Cite web |date=2022 |website=www.dumgal.gov.uk/ |url=https://www.dumgal.gov.uk/media/19876/Ward-10-Profile-Annandale-South/pdf/0037-22-Ward-10-Annandale-South-profile_.pdf?m=1653495392097 |access-date=8 June 2024 |title=Annandale South - Ward 10 Profile}}

Thomas Randolph, Earl of Moray, gave Ruthwell to his nephew, Sir William Murray, confirmed to Sir John Murray, of Cockpool, in 1509 by King James VI. He was later given the title Earl of Annandale: their landownings in Ruthwell passed by inheritance to Lord Stormont in 1658, and after 1792 to the Earls of Mansfield.{{cite web |title=Ruthven - Ruthwell Pages 443-445 A Topographical Dictionary of Scotland. Originally published by S Lewis, London, 1846. |url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/topographical-dict/scotland/pp443-445 |website=British History Online}}

Ruthwell's most famous inhabitant was the Rev. Henry Duncan. He was a minister, author, antiquarian, geologist, publisher, philanthropist, artist and businessman. In 1810 Dr Duncan opened the world's first commercial savings bank, Ruthwell Savings Bank, paying interest on its investors' modest savings. The Savings Bank Museum tells the story of early home savings in Britain. The museum is on the site of the Ruthwell Savings Bank.{{cite news |last=Collins |first=Francesca |date=30 November 2021 |title=New owners prevent closure of world's first savings bank museum |url=https://www.museumsassociation.org/museums-journal/news/2021/11/new-owners-prevent-closure-of-worlds-first-savings-bank-museum/ |work=Museums Journal |publisher=Museums Association|access-date=3 December 2021}}

In 1818, Duncan restored the Ruthwell Cross, one of the finest Anglo-Saxon crosses in the United Kingdom, now in Ruthwell church, which had been broken up in the Scottish Reformation. This cross is remarkable for its sculpture and inscriptions in Latin and Old English, some in Anglo-Saxon runes, which include excerpts from The Dream of the Rood, an Old English poem. After the Disruption of 1843 in the Church of Scotland, Dr. Duncan became one of the founding ministers of the Free Church of Scotland.

During his youth, Robert Murray M'Cheyne spent summer holidays at Clarence Cottage in the hamlet of Clarencefield near Ruthwell, the home of his maternal aunt. During these visits he would often call to see "Uncle" Henry Duncan at the manse. M'Cheyne's parents were born in this part of Scotland.

File:Brow Well Ruthwell Parish - geograph.org.uk - 527110.jpg

The Brow Well is situated {{nowrap|3 km}} west of the village of Ruthwell. This well, stained reddish by the high levels of iron salts in the water, is the place where Scottish poet Robert Burns hoped to cure his final illness by drinking the iron-rich water.

The village was once served by Ruthwell railway station.

File:Ruthwell Savings Bank Museum.jpg