| Kilbirnie | |
| Scottish Gaelic: Cill Bhraonaigh | |
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Kilbirnie
Kilbirnie shown within North Ayrshire |
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| Population | 7,280 |
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| OS grid reference | NS315545 |
| Council area | North Ayrshire |
| Lieutenancy area | Ayrshire and Arran |
| Country | Scotland |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | KILBIRNIE |
| Postcode district | KA25 |
| Dialling code | 01505 |
| Police | Strathclyde |
| Fire | Strathclyde |
| Ambulance | Scottish |
| EU Parliament | Scotland |
| UK Parliament | North Ayrshire and Arran |
| Scottish Parliament | Cunninghame North |
| List of places: UK • Scotland • | |
Kilbirnie (Gaelic Cill Bhraonaigh) 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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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.
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.
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 Kirk
"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.
Still maintains good attendance at their services and contains a statue of St Brigid inside the Church. 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.
Father Thomas P Lee, a young Irish priest, was sent in 1859 to be the resident priest in Kilbirnie. Somehow he raised the money and land to build his church and chose St. Brigid (devotion to the poor) to be the patron saint of the parish. Opened in 1862, the modest structure was a Gothic styled rectangular building with a gallery, porch, vestry, confessional and a related presbytery.
Due to an increasing post war population it was decided to renovate and enlarge the old church. The plan provided for an extension to the rear of the existing church, and when the work was completed there would be a new sanctuary and sacristy with accommodation for the altar boys. In front a new porch and baptistery were added to the old structure. The renovated and expanded church was opened in 1957. Conveniently the schoolmaster's house next door was also purchased to replace the more distant presbytery on Parkhouse Drive.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Brigid%27s_Church,_Kilbirnie"
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.
Although the date of the first meeting for the breaking of bread is given as 1889, the circumstances leading up to the commencement go back about seven years earlier, when what was then known as the Blue Ribbon Gospel Army—which had its headquarters in London—came to the village. Gospel meetings were begun in the Good Templars’ Hall (Now a carpet shop, once the DSS office) which was hired for the occasion. This new departure in religious services received a rather mixed reception, and from the start was met with opposition. Nevertheless, large numbers gathered to hear the itinerant preachers. On the night previous to the opening meeting there had been a theatrical performance in the hall, and the scenery was still in position on the Sunday night. Thus amid these surroundings the Gospel was preached to a crowded audience and a remarkable work was begun. Almost from the opening meeting the power of the Holy Spirit became manifest, and many who came to those services indifferent as to spiritual matters, but curious to know what was going on, had their consciences awakened and were led to "put their trust in the Saviour". Soon afterwards was known the assembly in Kilbirnie, which at that time had amongst its leaders such men as John Barclay and John Peebles.
At the close of the mission the young converts came together with the object, not only of continuing the Gospel testimony but for the study of the Scriptures. This spiritual exercise of soul led a number of them to the truth of believers’ baptism and the remembrance of the Lord’s Supper. Not all of those who up to that time had been united in the work of the Gospel, could see their way to sever a connection with the denominations to which they were still attached. This meant a separation which was keenly felt on either side. The first company that came together to remember the Lord numbered fifteen. It may have been observed in following the course of assembly life in Scotland, that a notable feature of Gospel activity has been the conducting of kitchen meetings during the winter months. And many a Gospel preacher whose name is familiar amongst us to-day, received his early training at those homely gatherings, where anxious souls were won for the Master, and where it was indeed a rare occasion that the Holy Spirit’s power could not be felt in a very real way. In the early days aggressive Gospel work, mainly in the kitchens of the working-class people, was an outstanding characteristic of Kilbirnie, and the remarkable development of the assembly and Sunday School is due in no small measure to this particular activity.
From Kilbirnie there went forth missionaries in the foreign field: James Clifford, Argentine; Matthew Brown, India; Dr. Robert Kennedy, West Indies; and Miss Maggie Barclay, Central Africa.
Kilbirnie brethren assembly was pivotal in the early history of the movement and produced a very well known missionary to Argentina called James (Jaime) Clifford. Born in Kilbirnie in 1872, he worked as a child in the coal mines. His oratory skill was such that the Independent Labour Party tried to recruit him as a potential MP, but he turned down the offer, choosing Christian mission life instead. He remained a defender of labour workers throughout his life. James Clifford first moved to Argentina in 1896 where he did pioneering work for the Brethren movement. During the first world war he lived in Britain and went back after the war to his missionary work in Tucuman in the north of Argentina. In the early 1930s he moved to Cordoba, Argentina for health reasons. He died in 1936. One of his sons Alejandro Clifford (1907–1980) was a Christian writer and editor in South America His other son Juan Clifford (1909–1992)was for many years the Manager for Northeast Argentina of the Argentine Bible Society.
Kilbirnie was the birthplace of James Clifford, whose Home-call, at the close of forty years’ service for the Lord in South America, removed a prominent figure from the great harvest field. The little but-and-ben in which he was reared, stood on the ground now occupied by the Kilbirnie Assembly Gospel Hall. Jamie was saved in the old Free Kirk during a special mission by the Ayrshire Christian Union. He was then in his early teens. Very early in his Christian experience Jamie manifested a keen desire to serve the Lord, and entered wholeheartedly into the many activities of the assembly. Of a genial and kind disposition, his life was characterised by a sincerity of purpose which marked him out as a chosen vessel, eminently suited for the great work to which in later years he was called.
The life work of James Clifford, across the measureless tracts ‘of the Argentine, which constituted his vast parish, is so well known that it is necessary only to make a passing reference here. From a fellow-labourer comes this testimony: “He was known and beloved from the Bolivian border in the north, right to Montevideo, one hundred miles beyond Buenos Aires up the River Plate: over a thousand miles! He had a knowledge of the Scriptures that enabled him always to minister and refresh and build up the saints, with such ministry as was invaluable.” James Clifford lived to see the fruitful results of his labours in a great ingathering of souls, and in the establishment of assemblies of Christian believers throughout the country.
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. Famous bands to play there included Gerry & 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.
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 . This location opened in October 1963 replacing the 1894 building on Avil's Hill. Secondary level Catholic pupils currently attend the new supersecondary 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.
The River Garnock 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.
Lying 2 miles (3 km) north of Kilbirnie on a promontory overlooking the wooded ravine of the River Garnock is Glengarnock Castle, a ruined 15th century keep. Ladyland Castle, mostly demolished, lay nearby and Ladyland House still survives as designed by David Hamilton.
On 1 August 2008, the River burst its banks and the local police station needed to be evacuated. Mill Road, Muirend Street, Kilbirnie Bowling Club, Radio City and the local Tesco were all affected by the flooding with waters reaching one metre deep in places.
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.
Kilbirnie is very much a town in transformation. After the closure of the steel works it became an unemployment blackspot.
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. A portion of the loch was filled in with waste slag etc. from the old steelworks, giving the loch shore in parts a very artificial nature.
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. The loch used to be known as Lochthankart and has its main source, the Maich Water, entering unusually at the same end as the Dubs Water which drains it.[2]
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.
Full Monumental Inscriptions can be found in the local library or else at the North Ayrshire Heritage Centre in Saltcoats.[3]
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.
There are three cemeteries in Kilbirnie. Oldest is the churchyard of the Auld Kirk which has many headstones dating from the mid 17th century 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 19th century 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.
Kilbirnie railway station was part of the Dalry and North Johnstone Line on the Glasgow and South Western Railway. The station opened on 1 June 1905, and closed to passengers on 27 June 1966. The station's island platform remains in place and intact; the trackbed is now part of the Sustrans National Cycle Route 7. Kilbirnie South railway station served Kilbirnie as part of the Lanarkshire and Ayrshire Railway (L&AR). The station opened 2 December 1889 as Kilbirnie. Upon the grouping of the L&AR into the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) in 1923, the station was renamed Kilbirnie South on 2 June 1924. The station closed to passengers and freight on 1 December 1930. A photograph of 1936 shows that the station remained intact but was already overgrown, however Nothing remains of the station today.
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