Thomas Carlyle’s Birthplace

Planning your visit

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We are having issues with our phone lines and are working to correct this. In the meantime, please email any queries to carlylesbirthplace@nts.org.uk

Getting here

Thomas Carlyle’s Birthplace is in Ecclefechan, 5½ miles south-east of Lockerbie and 6 miles north-west of Gretna Green.

Address Thomas Carlyle’s Birthplace Arched House High Street Lockerbie, Ecclefechan Dumfries and Galloway DG11 3DG

Ecclefechan is just off the A74(M) - leave at junction 19 and follow the B7076.

Contact information

Telephone: 01576 300050

Get directions

Provided by Google Maps

Opening times

Birthplace: Current period 28 Mar–28 Sep, daily, 10.00–14.00 29 Sep–31 Dec, closed

Entry prices

Birthplace

Adult: £5.00
Family: £10.00
One adult family: £8.00
Concession: £4.00

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Members go free

At all Trust places, admission is free for members.

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Planning your visit

Dogs are not permitted in the house.

For more information about planning your visit please see our frequently asked questions.

Facilities & access

There is rough paving between the parking spaces on the road and the cottage.
There is one step into the main room on the ground floor, and a steep flight of stairs up to two rooms on the second floor.

We have an ongoing programme of accessible content development. Detailed accessibility guides for the most visited Trust places are available on our Accessibility pages as well as links to useful resources.

We’d love you to visit the Euan’s Guide website to review the accessibility of Trust places and tell us (and others) what’s good and where we need to do better.

Guided tours of the house last for 25 minutes, and the maximum capacity of groups is 15.

Cradle to Grave tour, daily at 1.30pm

This village tour covers Carlyle’s life in the village, from his birthplace to his burial site. The tour moves up the High Street, describing what Carlyle would have seen and experienced as a boy. At the top of the Haggs Hill we reach the Carlyle Memorial Statue, placed on the spot where his mother is said to have waved him off as he started his 84-mile walk to university. From here the tour heads down towards Carlyle’s grave, taking in the fields and hills and noting the start of the route that Carlyle would walk to and from school every week. From the Carlyle family burial site, the tour then makes its way back to the Arched House.

Enjoy tea or coffee and some famous Ecclefechan tart in our tearoom.

Large-print factsheets are available.

Pay & Display parking is available on the road, within 50m of the property.

What the Arched House lacks in size, it makes up for in cultural significance – it’s fascinating to see where this hugely influential man grew up.

Many of Carlyle’s belongings are still in situ, along with domestic items of the time, providing an authentic glimpse into Victorian life and a fascinating insight into Thomas Carlyle’s early years. There are also many photos and reproductions of paintings of Carlyle and his wife Jane, a famous 19th-century literary couple.

Factsheets in each room, along with knowledgeable and enthusiastic staff, add insight to your visit.

After your visit, enjoy a wander round the pretty village of Ecclefechan and absorb the atmosphere that nurtured the ‘Sage of Ecclefechan’. There’s a great view from the top of the village, where there’s a replica of Boehm’s statue of Carlyle on the Embankment in London.

Toilet

Touch tours are available – please book in advance.