The earliest records of Urr occur in the charters of Holm Cultran, an abbey in Cumberland, which owned lands in the parish of Kirkgunzeon adjacent to Urr. In these a Hugo of Hurr and his son Thomas appear as witnesses to charters. Records also show the lordship of Urr in the possession of Walter de Berkeley (died ca 1194) who was Chamberlain to King William I.

Two witnesses to a Balliol of Urr Charter of 1262 were described as burgesses of Urr. In the Ragmans Rolls, declaring allegiance to Edward I in 1269, Hughe de Urre del Counte de Dumfres appears. His lands were later given to Henry de Percy who had been appointed Keeper of Galloway.

George Black, in his "Surnames of Scotland", tells us of Hugh de Hur who was a member of an assize court in the Marches of Grange of Kircwynni and the land of Culven in 1289. Hugo of Hurr, possibly the same family, was witness to a charter by the Kirkconnel family in Kirkgunzeon. And Hugh de Ur was a juror on an enquiry as to the priveleges claimed by Robert de Brus, Earl of Carrick, in 1304.

What these references indicate is that an area of land called Urr had already been defined and made a barony by the mid 1200s.

A map by Chatelain & Guerdeville, dated 1720, in the Museum of Scotland shows the village of Orr just south of Dumfries. A search of the 1841, 1851 and 1881 Censuses, however, shows few Orrs in the area; in 1881 there was only one family of Urr/Orr then in Kirkcudbright, being a dwelling at Auldon Bank, Troqueer.

It is especially interesting as the two sons of the house, both born in Maxwelltown, are named differently - James M. Orr aged 5 yrs and his brother Thomas Alexander Urr aged 3 years, demonstrating how easily the change of name occurs.

The Motte of Urr is said to be the most extensive motte and bailey castle in Scotland and may well have been built on the site of an earlier Anglo Saxon fort. Excavation at the top showed that the topmost two metres had been added after a 12th century fire had destroyed timber fences and houses.

There was a rectangular wooden tower or blockhouse in the middle of the motte and a timber palisade with foxholes or pits around the edge for archers to fire down through the slits or embrasures. There is evidence of rebuilding and new foxholes added after the fire. Coins and pottery indicate that there had been occupants until the 14th century.