Historical Stewarton
Dane Love
Stewarton is a historical burgh, established as such in 1868, that originally comprised of Main Street and High Street and its crossroads, the Vennel and Rig Street. As the centuries passed, Avenue Street was added by Cunningham of Lainshaw as part of a redevelopment of the village, and the town grew a couple of ‘suburbs’ – Darlington and Kirkford. Describing the town in the 1790s, Rev Thomas Maxwell wrote that ‘the town of Stewartown may vie with any of its size in the west of Scotland, for beauty, regularity, and cleanness’.
Prehistoric man lived in the district, and remains from that time include the mound at Cairn Duff, south of the town. At one time Bronze Age urns and other artefacts were unearthed here. Near Kennox is the Hutt Knowe and on the moors towards Glasgow is the Black Law with an ancient mound on its summit.
The chief trade in Stewarton was the manufacture of bonnets. The bonnets were produced in different formats, and there was a considerable export trade carried out. When Sherpa Tenzing Nordgay reached the summit of Everest with Sir Edmund Hillary in 1953, he was wearing a Stewarton-made balaclava.
Just off the Dunlop Road are the remains of Corsehill Castle, now just a finger of masonry. It was originally erected in the 16th century by the Cunninghame family. Lainshaw House probably contains the remains of another old tower house within its masonry – it was divided into smaller properties in recent years. At the west end of the parish are the ruins of Auchenharvie Castle. Of Stewarton parish’s fourth castle, Robertland, only mounds remain, across the stream from the present Robertland House. Robertland House gained some fame in 1914 when it was destroyed by fire, set off by the Suffragettes as part of their campaign.
The old parish church of St Columba stands in its ancient kirkyard. The church building dates from 1696, the corbie-stepped gables an indication of its age.
Among the graves in the kirkyard is an obelisk commemorating Robert Burns, uncle of Burns the poet. Here also lies the mother of the noted industrialist, David Dale (1739-1806). He is famed as the developer of the mills at New Lanark. A memorial stone commemorates two workers who were killed during the construction of the Lainshaw Viaduct.
Stewarton played an important part in Scottish church history, for a dispute in the church resulted in the Disruption of 1843 when hundreds of ministers walked out of the Church of Scotland and established the Free Church. The present John Knox Church was erected by the congregation in 1841, a couple of years before the Disruption itself.
The railway reached Stewarton in 1871. To cross the valley of The Annick, George Cunninghame designed the fine Lainshaw Viaduct of ten arches, opened in August 1868.
Robert Kerr developed the Stewarton Hive around 1819, which is regarded by some beekeepers as the best design for bees, but which has never fully caught on, mainly due to it being more difficult to manufacture than the more common hive.
Along Stewarton’s commercial high street are some buildings of note, including the former Royal Bank of 1860, now the United Reformed Church, the former Bank of Scotland at the bottom of Avenue Square, and a series of typically-Ayrshire double-storey buildings. In Avenue Square is the former Cunninghame Institute of 1779 and the former Town House.
Those wishing to discover more about the history of Stewarton and its surroundings should head to Stewarton Museum, located in the Stewarton Area Centre.
Dane Love has written extensively on the history of Ayrshire. His most recent book is The Old Roadways of Ayrshire,
