Kilbirnie
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Kilbirnie | |
  Kilbirnie shown within Scotland |
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| Population | 7,280 |
|---|---|
| OS grid reference | |
| Council area | North Ayrshire |
| Lieutenancy area | Ayrshire and Arran |
| Constituent country | Scotland |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | KILBIRNIE |
| Postcode district | KA25 |
| Dialling code | 01505 |
| Police | Strathclyde |
| Fire | Strathclyde |
| Ambulance | Scottish |
| European Parliament | Scotland |
| UK Parliament | North Ayrshire and Arran |
| Scottish Parliament | Cunninghame North |
| List of places: UK • Scotland | |
This page refers to the Scottish town. For the suburb of Wellington, New Zealand, see Kilbirnie, New Zealand.
Kilbirnie (Gaelic Cille Bhraonaidh) is a small town of 7280 (2001 census) inhabitants situated in North Ayrshire on the west coast of Scotland. Historically, the town built up around the flax and weaving industries before iron and steelmaking took over in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
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[edit] History
Kilbirnie derived its name from the parish church and the church obtained its name from the saint to whom it was dedicated; the celtic Cil, pronounced Kil, signifying a church, being prefixed to the name of the saint; St Birinie, or Birinus, is said to have been a bishop and confessor who converted the West Saxons. He died at Dorchester in 650 AD and was commemorated on the 3rd of December. In the vicinity of the church of Kilbirnie, a village has arisen during late times. In 1740, there were only three houses; but, by means of manufactures, it grew to be a village of 80 houses which were inhabited by about 300 people in 1791. In 1821, the village of Kilbirnie contained about 800 people, thanks to the impulse given to the locality by the Ayr and Glasgow railway, and the vicinity of numerous ironworks. Since Kilbirnie was not a large town before the 1840s, there is not much written history except for the farms in the area. However, documentation from the witch trials does name William Semple (or Sempill) as being arrested for being a witch. The documentation does not state if he was burned or not.
[edit] Industry
Glengarnock Steel Works opened its blast furnaces around 1841 which caused a massive influx of people from all over the country, as well as all over the world. Initially these works were owned by Merry & Cunninghame before being taken over by David Colville & Sons and eventually nationalised as part of British Steel and finally closed in 1985. The steelworks in Glengarnock provided employment mostly for the men of the community, whilst the W & J Knox Threadmills in Kilbirnie provided work mainly for women.
The entire collection of staff magazines from the Merry & Cunninghame to Colvilles days of the steelworks at Glengarnock have been preserved and are held at the Mitchell Library in Glasgow. This provides content such as spotlights on employees and departments, and contains photographs over 100 years old.
W & J Knox Threadmills were owned by the Knox family who were very prominent, not only in Ayrshire but in the South of England too, with their families becoming important members of society. Some of the mansion houses they built were: Moorpark (once home of Robert William Knox); Redheugh (once home of Hugh Knox); Knoxville (on Knoxville Road); and Place (home of Sir James Knox and Sir Charles and Lady Mathew, his son-in-law), which has since been demolished. The second of the three cemeteries in Kilbirnie contains an underground vault where the family are buried, next to the main Knox monument. These mills were famous for their nets, used by the British Army as well as the British Telecom Tower in London, for example. Numerous associations to the family can be found around the town. The Knox Institute which sits above shops at the bridge was donated by a member of the Knox family and housed Kilbirnie's first public library.
World War I veteran and hero General Mathew married into this family and lived at "Place". Who's Who editions of the period list many members of the family and give further information on knighthoods, etc.
[edit] Places of worship
Kilbirnie has a wide variety of places of worship within the Christian spectrum with one Brethren Assembly (and also one in Glengarnock), two Church of Scotland churches, Jehovah's Witnesses meeting room (Glengarnock), Salvation Army Citadel and a Roman Catholic church, as well as links to evangelical groups. The Mission Hall has been demolished in recent years.
The "Auld Kirk" is one of the oldest churches still in use both pre- and post-Reformation. The Kirk is a tourist attraction, containing the Crawfurd Gallery, as well as a mausoleum to the Crawfurd family in its grounds. Crawfurd Castle at "Place" remains in ruins. Robert Burns allegedly came to the blacksmiths near the Kirk. Opposite the church sits one of the oldest surviving farmhouses on the corner. A book is available on its history by John Lachland. It is from this site of the present church that Kilbirnie takes its name. Guided tours are run at specified times.
The Roman Catholic church, St Brigid's, still maintains good attendance at their services and contains a statue of St Brigid inside the Church. The numbers attending are declining and so the priest also serves a neighbouring parish. The number of Masses have been reduced since ten years ago. The Roman Catholic Primary School is known as "St Bridgets". It is unclear how the first priest, Father Thomas P Lee, raised enough money to build the church. Initially, it was intended to be built in the public park, across from what was the original Church House residence of the Priest. Father Lee was sent as a missionary priest from All Hallows College, Dublin and was initially based in Johnstone, as Kilbirnie fell within the archdiocese of Glasgow in those days.
The Brethren Assembly Gospel Hall was built in 1897. It is in one of the oldest parts of the town, Schoolwynd. It holds regular coffee mornings which give outsiders an opportunity to meet this now small but committed assembly, as well as regular Gospel Meetings. The Blue Ribbon Army, a women's temperance movement, visited Kilbirnie in the 1890s, bringing with them the Plymouth Brethren movement. They first worshipped in "Martin's Shed" at Bridge Street and later purchased the land on the present site.
[edit] James Clifford
Kilbirnie brethren assembly was pivotal in the early history of the movement and produced a very well known missionary to Argentina called Jamie Clifford. He was born in Kilbirnie, lived there during the first world war, and eventually ended up in Rosario, Santa Fe, as a missionary in the 1920s. His son Alejandro Clifford lived until 1980 and became an established Christian Author in South America. Clifford's oratory skill was such that the Independent Labour Party tried to recruit him as a potential MP, but he turned down the offer. He did, however, remain a defender of labour workers throughout his life.
[edit] Social history
Amongst many other old buildings in the Town, stands the "Walker Hall", a memorial hall dedicated to Dr Walker, one of the first physicians in the town. In the 1950s and 1960s this was very famous as a dance hall, coming second only to Glasgow Barrowlands itself.[citation needed] Famous bands to play there included Gerry and the Pacemakers and Bill Haley & His Comets. In the 1980s it housed a market roughly once a week, though these days it houses the town's Citizens Advice Bureau and is regularly the venue for meetings, concerts and wedding receptions.
Other sources of entertainment in the 1950s and 1960s included two cinemas, both of which have long since closed. One of these cinemas is now the home of Radio City. The Association which formed Radio City was set up in early 1998 to identify ways of providing both much needed local facilities and a use for the disused former cinema which occupies a prime site in Kilbirnie town centre. During the 1997 election campaign, MP Brian Wilson had met with a group of local teenagers who had stressed the need for local facilities, and, with the help of Largs architect Paddy Cronin, plans were developed to provide a Healthy Living Centre which would include fitness facilities, internet access, a healthy eating cafe and child care. Bids for funding were made to both private and National Lottery organisations. The original steering group included Allan Wilson, Jim Stevens, Greta Jennings (now chair of the Company), John Bell (now a local councillor and also treasurer of the Company), Douglas and Brian Johnstone, Derek Clarkson, Agnes Walsh, Ian Gemmill, Ken James, and George Stevens.
[edit] Education
Garnock Academy is a secondary school that was formed in 1971 by the amalgamation of Beith Academy, Dalry High School, Kilbirnie Central School and Speir's school (Beith). Initially the school operated from the four sites moving to the new building on School Road in September 1972. It is a non-denominational co-educational school serving Beith, Dalry, Gateside, Glengarnock, Kilbirnie and the surrounding area.
Moorpark Primary School, accessed from Milton Road by the students, was opened in 1978 to replace Ladyland School built in 1869 and Bridgend School built in 1893. The school is located east of its namesake Moorpark House and adjoining Garnock Academy.
The new Glengarnock Primary School, built on the site of the 1923 wooden expansion on Grahamstone Avenue, came into use in 1992 to replace the original 1863 sandstone building, formerly across the Garnock River on Main Street, Glengarnock.
Saint Bridget's Primary School on Hagthorne Avenue serves the needs of local Roman Catholic children, of which there are very few in the town. This location opened in October 1963 replacing the 1894 building on Avil's Hill. Secondary level catholic pupils currently attend the Kilwinning campus of St Mathews' Academy (formerly St Michael's) which is scheduled to be superseded by a new building in Saltcoats. Over time, the spelling of St Brigid seems to have been transformed to Saint Bridget.
Kilbirnie Central School had been used at different times for both primary and secondary education. The building, which opened in 1921, was demolished in 1992 and a new health centre opened on the site in 1994.
[edit] River Garnock
The River Garnock runs through the region. It flows from the base of the Hill of Stake in a southerly direction, traversing Kilbirnie and Glengarnock, and making its way to Irvine Harbour where it enters the sea. The source of the River Garnock is known locally as "Jacobs Well". Lying 2 miles (3 km) north of Kilbirnie on a promontory overlooking the river is Glengarnock Castle, a ruined 15th century keep.
[edit] Air crashes
The hills between Kilbirnie and Largs were often black spots for aircraft passing over and many crashed due to low fog. The actual crash sites are available to visit, with wreckage still visible and some of these now form part of Muirsheil country park.
During World War II, an enemy aircraft was shot down, and its remains can still be found to the north of Kilbirnie, on the hill.
[edit] Kilbirnie today
Kilbirnie is very much a town in transformation. After the closure of the steel works it became an unemployment blackspot, and, like most towns in the area, many old buildings are vanishing and being replaced with supermarkets such as Tesco. The main street is noticeably empty of shops, although a few of the old ones have survived, such as Duncan's Clothes in the main street, Dunnings Stores at the Cross and Wylie's Chemists located also in the main street.
Kilbirnie has very few local employers, and people generally travel out of the town for work.
Landmarks of interest include Kilbirnie Loch, a mile and a half long and nearly half a mile broad. It is a well-used local amenity catering for diverse sporting activities such as fishing, jet skiing and rugby (played on the playing fields at the loch shore edge). Part of the area around the Loch is sliding possibly due to the old mining shafts under the area or the activities which took place there with the steel manufacturing.
Kilbirnie itself does not have many hotels or places for guests to stay, although recently Moorpark House has reopened as a luxury hotel, and other tearooms and places to eat are opening. There are a number of bed and breakfast establishments in the area and tourists could also stay at Largs (a busy seaside resort close by) or in one of the rural guest houses nearby. The Milton Hotel, which once existed in Cochrane Street, burned down in the 1980s and has been redeveloped as social housing.
[edit] Kilbirnie loch gallery
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[edit] Genealogy
Kilbirnie does still attract a lot of people for visits. It is popular with genealogists trying to trace their family history although very limited records are actually held in the town itself. However, records of burials are kept by the cemetery superintendent and these date back to the times when the cemeteries were first used. These can be viewed upon request. The division of the Council who looks after cemeteries is based in Saltcoats. They have full records for North Ayrshire and there was a plan to produce all records on CD ROM but this was never carried out. Via Ayrshire roots, details of monumental inscriptions can be accessed in at least one of the cemeteries.
Since the town did not expand until the 1840s most families who lived in Kilbirnie had their roots elsewhere and came to Kilbirnie to find work, such as mining and the steelworks.
[edit] Cemeteries
There are three cemeteries in Kilbirnie. Oldest is the churchyard of the Auld Kirk which has many headstones dating from the mid 1600s including the Crawfurd Mausoleum. Some headstones are marked with a skull and cross bones, and are believed by some to denote graves of pirates but it is likely that this old symbol was appropriated by them to put fear into those visiting. The next graveyard extends to the south on Kirkland Road and has headstones from the mid 1800s onwards, reflecting names from the industrial period of the town, such as Doctor Walker and Sir James Knox. Further south beyond the former railway embankment is the newest cemetery which opened in 1950.
[edit] Local history, facts, traditions and natural phenomena
- Beneath the Walker Hall there are the remains of old stables and a tavern.
- "Martins Shed", a ruined building nearby the old supermarket, was a Brethren meeting place.
- "Templars Hall", now the carpet shop, was once the DSS Office and also was once a church.
- Behind the Main Street sits an old washhouse, used in the late 1800s, seen from Bank Street.
- Beneath the entire area lie old forgotten mineshafts.
- Before the Main Street, "Maypole Street" existed close by. Maybole Street still exists on the other side of the river from the Main Street.
- A social centre built on the shores of the Loch began to sink and had to be demolished.
- Before the present police station (soon to be replaced), there existed an older building at Bridgend. This became the Council Offices and latterly converted to flatted dwellings.
- A second war memorial exists on the walls of one of the old steelworks buildings still standing.
- A German plane crashed at Glengarnock during World War II.
- Explosions at the Nobel Explosives factory at Ardeer some miles away shook the windows and houses in Kilbirnie.
- Craighouse Square is reputed to be haunted by the ghosts of two people who committed suicide there, one an Italian immigrant who jumped from a window and one an ice cream seller who murdered his family there.
- Archaeological digs conducted in the 19th century have shown that the area was inhabited during the Bronze Age. This was ascertained from the revealing of a crannog with a connecting causeway, which emerged from the Kilbirnie Loch, under the downwards pressure exerted from the iron slag being dumped into the loch from the steelworks. Finds from around the area of the crannog include four hollowed-out canoes, inside one of which were two bronze vessels – one a three-legged pot, the other a lion shaped ewer.
- Kilbirnie Loch is famous amongst people who study weather for odd phenomena which occur there.
[edit] Sport
- Kilbirnie Ladeside F.C. is a member of the Scottish Junior Football Association.
- Kilbirnie Community Football Club has teams for boys and girls age groups.
- Garnock Rugby Club is a member of the Scottish Rugby Union.
- Kilbirnie Place Golf Club has short par 69 course.
[edit] References
Strawhorn, J. & Boyd, W. (1951) The third statistical account of Scotland: Ayrshire. Edinburgh: Oliver & Boyd.
"Un Hombre Muy bueno, La Vida De Jaimie Clifford" (AC Thomson)
