Stevenston

Stevenston is a town in North Ayrshire, Scotland. It is one of the 'Three Towns' along with Ardrossan and Saltcoats.

History

The town is named after Stephan Loccard or Lockhart, whose father obtained a grant of land from Richard de Morville, Lord Cunninghame and Constable of Scotland, around 1170. The town is first mentioned in a charter of c. 1240.

The town was the birthplace in 1768 of Miss Lesley Baillie. Robert Burns met her in 1792 and described her to a friend as "the most beautiful, most elegant woman in the world". She inspired one or two of his love poems, in which she is described as Bonnie Lesley. A memorial now stands in her memory and is situated between Sinclair Street and Glencairn Street.

The town became a coal mining centre until the pits were exhausted at the end of the 19th century. In the 20th century, the town was a major base for Nobel Industries and later ICI, whose Ardeer site employed many thousands of workers producing explosives and chemicals. ICI added a nylon plant in the 1960s which had a short lived production life, and a nitric acid plant. The closure of these facilities, along with the general decline in ICI's presence in the town has had a devastating long term effect on the town's economy. The site is now owned by Inabata, a Japanese trading firm, and operates as Nobel Enterprises. The energetic technologies side of the business is now owned by Chemring Ltd, with the nitrocellulose manufacture retained under Nobel Enterprises.

In 1840 Stevenston received its first railway station, Stevenston, on the line travelling from Ardrossan to Glasgow. In 1888 a second railway station, Stevenston Moorpark was opened on the new Lanarkshire and Ayrshire Railway, however this line had a short life span, and the station closed in 1932. At one point a third railway station, Ardeer Platform, was in operation just south of the town serving the Nobel factory, however it closed in 1966. The first station is still in operation today.

To the north of the town sits the ruin of Kerelaw Castle, with a history spanning over 800 years. Nearby was Kerelaw House, once home to the family of Alexander Hamilton and later the family of Kenneth Campbell VC RAFVR, however the house was demolished in the early 1970s.

To the south of Stevenston, on the border of the Nobel Plant, sits the South African Pavilion. Known locally as Africa House, this building was once part of the Empire Exhibition, Scotland 1938 in Bellahouston Park, Glasgow. The pavilion was rebuilt at Ardeer after the end of the exhibition and served as the staff restaurant for many years. The building now lays derelict and in disrepair, having suffered vandalism and extensive fire damage.

On 8 September 2007 a major fire was reported at the Nobel site when 1500-1700 tons of nitrocellulose, stored in an open area, caught fire. There was little property damage and no serious injuries.

The regeneration of Irvine Bay includes the development of Stevenston Business Centre on the site of the Grange Bingo Hall.

Schools

• Ardeer Primary School 1982+
• Glencairn Primary School 1971+
• Hayocks Primary School, opened on 27 August 1964, serves the Hayocks area
• Auchenharvie Academy 1971+

Famous residents

• Gordon Smith, footballer
• Des Browne former Secretary of State for Defence and Secretary of State for Scotland

Local Amenities

Eglinton Country Park is close to Stevenston and is also linked to it via the Sustrans cycle path.

See also

• The Lands of Ashgrove, previously known as Ashenyards.

References

• McSherry, R. & M. (1998). Old Stevenston, Stenlake Publishing, Catrine.

External links

• the3towns.com
• ICI
• Threetowners.com
• Irvine Bay Regeneration
•  Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). "Stevenston". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.