Ecclefechan is a small village in the south of Scotland in Dumfries and Galloway. The name is derived from the Brythonic for "small church".
Ecclefechan lay in the early Middle Ages within the British kingdom of Rheged. After Gaelic later spread in the area, the belief arose that the name derived from the 7th century St Fechin of Fore.
The village is known as "Fechan" to the local residents. It has two shops, one of which is no longer a post office, a hairdresser, a church, a doctors' surgery and a primary school "Hoddom Primary School". It also has three hotels: "The Ecclefechan Hotel" with its white-painted frontage is prominent on the High Street and the main junction in the village; the "Cressfield Hotel" which has an adjoining caravan park; "Kirkconnel Hall Hotel" which sits to the north.
Thomas Carlyle's birthplace "The Arched House" is a tourist attraction and has been maintained by the National Trust for Scotland since 1936.
Ecclefechan lies at the foot of a large Roman Fort, Burnswark, whose flat top dominates the horizon. Two miles from the village centre lies Hoddom Castle, a caravan and holiday park.
