The picturesque village of Parton is found a few miles north of Crossmichael on the A713. The houses, originally built to provide housing for quarry workers who manned the slate quarry behind the village. The houses were rebuilt around the turn of the century into their present form and subsequently modernised in the 1970s. Ruins of the old kirk in the churchyard of Parton are the burial place of one of the most brilliant scientists in all history. James Clerk Maxwell of Glenlair (1831-1879), is credited amongst many other things, with producing the first ever colour photograph. For more information see www.glenlair.org.uk

The memorial to James Clerk Maxwell stands at the front of the church at Parton.