Thomas Carlyle’s Birthplace

Childhood home of one of Britain’s most influential thinkers

Planning Your Visit

Planning your visit

Dogs are not permitted in the house.

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

If you’d like to speak to us we can be contacted by telephone: 01576 300050.

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 tour

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

The name Ecclefechan is believed to be derived from Brythonic language meaning ‘Little Church’ with the origins of the village dating back to around 1180.

Now a quaint, quiet countryside village, it was very different during Thomas’s childhood. The large hotel, previously a coaching inn, and wide streets were made to support the stagecoaches that would stop in the village from 1788 on a 403-mile journey linking Glasgow and London. Three coaches per week would stop in the village to rest during the six-day journey.

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 Thomas 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.

Large print

Large-print factsheets are available.

Parking

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

Self-guided trail

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.

Touch tours

Touch tours are available – please book in advance.