Lugton
Encyclopedia
Lugton is a small village or hamlet in East Ayrshire
, Scotland
with a population of 80 people. The A736 road runs through on its way from Glasgow
, 15 miles (24.1 km) to the north, to Irvine
in North Ayrshire
. Uplawmoor
is the first settlement on this 'Lochlibo Road' to the north and Burnhouse is to the south. The settlement lies on the Lugton Water which forms the boundary between East Ayrshire and East Renfrewshire
as well as that of the parishes of Dunlop
and Beith
.
's map of 1604. Some of the Lugton area farms are indicated, with Waterlands, Duniflett, Biggart, Roshead (Ramshead), and Knokmend (Knockmade). A Waterland Mill is shown. Armstrong's map of 1775, does not show Lugton or its farms and the only road passes Lochlibo from Glasgow and heads up through the Caldwell estate to Paisley. Thomson's 1820 map marks a 'Keepers Cottage' which may have been on the main entrance drive running to the main road. The Paraffin Lamp Inn is not marked on the 1860 OS, however it is present on the 1895 edition. It appears to have been called the 'Paraffin Lamp' for many years, prior to which it was a private dwelling with outbuildings. It had a piggery and smokehouse and when it became an inn the dwelling house continued its use as a private home. The old site of Halket Loch
lies not far away, once located near the various Halket Farms and that of Lochridgehills Farm.
The Glasgow by Lugton, to Kilmarnock, Irvine and Ayr turnpike was completed in 1820 at the cost of £18,000. The Tollhouse on the Kilmarnock road stood opposite the stationmaster's house for Lugton station, the other still stands at the back of the site of the old Lugton Inn. It was later used as a smithy and is now a private dwelling. The nearby milestone read Beith 4 3/4; Ayr 22 3/4; Glasgow 14; and Irvine 11 1/4 miles.
The name 'Turnpike' originated from the original 'gate' used being just a simple wooden bar attached at one end to a hinge on the supporting post. The hinge allowed it to 'open' or 'turn' This bar looked like the 'pike' used as a weapon in the army at that time and therefore we get 'turnpike'. The term was also used by the military for barriers set up on roads specifically to prevent the passage of horses. In addition to providing better surfaces and more direct routes, the turnpikes settled the confusion of the different lengths given to miles, which varied from 4,854 to nearly 7000 feet (2,133.6 m). Long miles, short miles, Scotch or Scot's miles (5,928 ft), Irish miles (6,720 ft), etc. all existed. 5280 feet (1,609.3 m) seems to have been an average! Another important point is that when these new toll roads were constructed the Turnpike Trusts went to a great deal of trouble to improve the route of the new road and these changes could be quite considerable as the old roads tended to go from farm to farm, hardly the shortest route. The tolls on roads were abolished in 1878 to be replaced by a road 'assessment', which was taken over by the County Council in 1889.
Most milestones are no longer in-situ and often the only remaining clue is an otherwise unexplained 'kink' in the line of a hedgerow. The milestones were buried during the Second World War so as not to provide assistance to invading troops, German spies, etc. This seems to have happened all over Scotland, however Fife was more fortunate than Ayrshire, for the stones were taken into storage and put back in place after the war had finished.
', his home. He later became bankrupt and the estate was sequestered. A brickworks was later established near Netherton farm at Horners Corner in the Castlewat plantation to use up the blaes bing produced in the mining of the iron ore, which had ceased in around 1900, but it in turn closed in 1921. It was run by the Reid family. A lime works had existed near Lugton as far back as 1829: it is shown on Aitken's map of Cunninghgame. A modern lime works was more recently established at the top of the belt of limestone, now worked out, by Reid of Halket and later sold to R. Howie & Sons in 1947. Limestone is now brought to the site from elsewhere and the finished lime
is used by farmers
, in tarmacadam, previously in the maunfacture of Pig iron
, etc. It had been used as 'Davy Dust' to help settle the coal dust in the mines.
A large number of small limestone quarries ware marked on the 1860 OS with several limekiln
s. Waterland corn mill on the Lugton Water is still marked on the 1895 map, with Tree Well nearby. Highgate wauk mill still survives as a dwelling (2007).
A creamery was opened in 1919, dispatching milk to Glasgow by train and making cheese which was matured at the manager's house; also known as "Jeely Jocks" when jams were made from turnips and other vegetables during the first world war. It closed in 1919. Lugton Garage was run by Angie and Angus Robertson.
station was on the Glasgow, Barrhead and Kilmarnock Joint Railway
's line, opening in 1871 and closed to passengers in 1966. The best known porter at Lugton station was local lady Peggy Speirs of Burnside Cottages. The Lanarkshire and Ayrshire Railway
's Lugton station
opened in 1903 and its line ran to Ardrossan from Glasgow. The station closed 4 July 1932.
A live railway emergency exercise at Lugton in Ayrshire in 2000 played a vital part in the ongoing process of protecting Scotland’s rail passengers. The exercise simulated a collision between two passenger trains carrying 270 passengers. The aim was to test the emergency services’ response and management co-ordination by replicating real accident conditions as closely as possible. Strathclyde police co-ordinated the exercise in conjunction with the rail industry in Scotland, the British Transport Police, Civil Police, Scottish Ambulance Service, Fire Brigade, local authorities and Government emergency planning co-ordinators.
The old castle of Caldwell sat on a knoll of the sloping hill-side to the south-west of Lochlibo. Only one tower remained as a prominent landmark after the times of the Covenanters and today's (2007) surviving tower is this same remnant. A new mansion house was built around 1712 by William Mure on the lands of Ramshead, however the present Robert Adam
designed house was built by his son, William 'Baron Mure' about 200 yards (182.9 m) lower down from the original. Caldwell House was the Mure family home until 1909.
In about 1770 half a dozen bronze bucklers (small shields) were dug out of a moss on Lugton ridge. They were found about 7 feet (2.1 m) down and were arranged in a circle. One was preserved, measuring nearly 27 inches (685.8 mm) in diameter, with a semi-globular 'umbo' or 'boss' being just over 4 inches (101.6 mm) in diameter. It is highly ornamented, with twenty nine concentric rings with intervening ribs.
, 2 and a half miles north by west of Irvine
town. It contains fresh-water and sea-trout and the occasional salmon. Pont refers to it as the 'Ludgar' or 'Lugdurr' Loch Libo in the 14th century was referred to as Loch le Bog Syde in a charter, meaning the Bogside Loch.
The Duniflat burn joins the Lugton Water from the East Ayrshire side close to the North Biggart bridge near where the Bells burn from Bells Bog on the East Renfrewshire side also has its confluence.
The village is celebrated in the songs of folk music group Nyah Fearties
, whose members hail from Lugton.
Near the hamlet is Lugton quarry, which features in many geology textbooks for its marine fossils preserved in the Carboniferous rock.
James Richmond, aged 46, was killed when he was struck by a railway locomotive on 1 October 1870 on the line near the Lugton Viaduct.
The Lugton Ridges were part of the Barony of Giffen
in the Parish of Beith. One of these ridges also had the name of Deepstone.
Halket or Hawkhead Loch, now drained, covered about 10 acres (40,468.6 m²) and was drained in the 1840s. It is shown on the early maps of Ayrshire, such as Timothy Pont
's map of 1604. Above it in 1820 was a dwelling with the unlikely name of 'Lions Den', possibly a corruption of 'Linn' as the farm of Linnhead is in the vicinity.
East Ayrshire
East Ayrshire is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders on to North Ayrshire, East Renfrewshire, South Lanarkshire, South Ayrshire and Dumfries and Galloway...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
with a population of 80 people. The A736 road runs through on its way from Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
, 15 miles (24.1 km) to the north, to Irvine
Irvine, North Ayrshire
Irvine is a new town on the coast of the Firth of Clyde in North Ayrshire, Scotland. According to 2007 population estimates, the town is home to 39,527 inhabitants, making it the biggest settlement in North Ayrshire....
in North Ayrshire
North Ayrshire
North Ayrshire is one of 32 council areas in Scotland with a population of roughly 136,000 people. It is located in the south-west region of Scotland, and borders the areas of Inverclyde to the north, Renfrewshire to the north-east and East Ayrshire and South Ayrshire to the East and South...
. Uplawmoor
Uplawmoor
Uplawmoor is a village in East Renfrewshire, Scotland. Population 590 .Historic Uplawmoor, associated for centuries with the Barony of Caldwell and the Mure family, is still a vibrant community today, although now bereft of many of the services once to be found there...
is the first settlement on this 'Lochlibo Road' to the north and Burnhouse is to the south. The settlement lies on the Lugton Water which forms the boundary between East Ayrshire and East Renfrewshire
East Renfrewshire
East Renfrewshire is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. Until 1975 it formed part of the county of Renfrewshire for local government purposes along with the modern council areas of Renfrewshire and Inverclyde...
as well as that of the parishes of Dunlop
Dunlop, East Ayrshire
Dunlop is a village and parish in East Ayrshire, Scotland. It lies on the A735, north-east of Stewarton, seven miles from Kilmarnock. The road runs on to Lugton and the B706 enters the village from Beith.-The village:...
and Beith
Beith
Beith is a small town situated in the Garnock Valley in North Ayrshire, Scotland approximately 20-miles south-west of Glasgow. The town is situated on the crest of a hill and was known originally as the "Hill o' Beith" after its Court Hill.-History:-Name:Beith's name is thought to emanate from...
.
History
In the 1830s the village consisted of only four houses: the hotel or inn, the smithy, and two toll houses. In 1845 the New Statistical Account records six other houses where spiritous liquors were sold. The road up from Uplawmoor was called the Lochlibo Road on the 1860s OS. The Lugton Inn was sadly destroyed by fire in the early 2000s. The name 'Lugton' is not marked on Timothy PontTimothy Pont
Timothy Pont was a Scottish topographer, the first to produce a detailed map of Scotland. Pont's maps are among the earliest surviving to show a European country in minute detail, from an actual survey.-Life:...
's map of 1604. Some of the Lugton area farms are indicated, with Waterlands, Duniflett, Biggart, Roshead (Ramshead), and Knokmend (Knockmade). A Waterland Mill is shown. Armstrong's map of 1775, does not show Lugton or its farms and the only road passes Lochlibo from Glasgow and heads up through the Caldwell estate to Paisley. Thomson's 1820 map marks a 'Keepers Cottage' which may have been on the main entrance drive running to the main road. The Paraffin Lamp Inn is not marked on the 1860 OS, however it is present on the 1895 edition. It appears to have been called the 'Paraffin Lamp' for many years, prior to which it was a private dwelling with outbuildings. It had a piggery and smokehouse and when it became an inn the dwelling house continued its use as a private home. The old site of Halket Loch
Halket Loch
Halket Loch , also known as Halkhead or Halketh, was situated in the mid-Ayrshire clayland near Lugton. It is visible as a surface depression in pastureland, sometimes partially flooded, situated in a low lying area close to farms and dwellings of East, North and Middle Halket and Craighead in the...
lies not far away, once located near the various Halket Farms and that of Lochridgehills Farm.
Turnpike
Lugton was on two toll roads or turnpikes; one going to Kilmarnock and Ayr and the other to Irvine.The Glasgow by Lugton, to Kilmarnock, Irvine and Ayr turnpike was completed in 1820 at the cost of £18,000. The Tollhouse on the Kilmarnock road stood opposite the stationmaster's house for Lugton station, the other still stands at the back of the site of the old Lugton Inn. It was later used as a smithy and is now a private dwelling. The nearby milestone read Beith 4 3/4; Ayr 22 3/4; Glasgow 14; and Irvine 11 1/4 miles.
| Etymology |
| Lugton comes from Ludgar or Lugdurr and Ton. A Toun or Ton was a farm and its outbuildings. The termination Durr is supposed by some to be of Celtic origin and may refer to 'black' or 'water'. |
The name 'Turnpike' originated from the original 'gate' used being just a simple wooden bar attached at one end to a hinge on the supporting post. The hinge allowed it to 'open' or 'turn' This bar looked like the 'pike' used as a weapon in the army at that time and therefore we get 'turnpike'. The term was also used by the military for barriers set up on roads specifically to prevent the passage of horses. In addition to providing better surfaces and more direct routes, the turnpikes settled the confusion of the different lengths given to miles, which varied from 4,854 to nearly 7000 feet (2,133.6 m). Long miles, short miles, Scotch or Scot's miles (5,928 ft), Irish miles (6,720 ft), etc. all existed. 5280 feet (1,609.3 m) seems to have been an average! Another important point is that when these new toll roads were constructed the Turnpike Trusts went to a great deal of trouble to improve the route of the new road and these changes could be quite considerable as the old roads tended to go from farm to farm, hardly the shortest route. The tolls on roads were abolished in 1878 to be replaced by a road 'assessment', which was taken over by the County Council in 1889.
Most milestones are no longer in-situ and often the only remaining clue is an otherwise unexplained 'kink' in the line of a hedgerow. The milestones were buried during the Second World War so as not to provide assistance to invading troops, German spies, etc. This seems to have happened all over Scotland, however Fife was more fortunate than Ayrshire, for the stones were taken into storage and put back in place after the war had finished.
Economy
In around 1850 iron ore deposits were found nearby and Messrs. Merry & Cunninghame, Ironmasters, built a row of houses for 200 people. John Cunninghame, at one point the sole proprietor, developed his business by taking loans out against the 'Lands of ChapeltounChapeltoun
Chapeltoun is an estate on the banks of the Annick Water in East Ayrshire, Scotland. This is a rural area famous for its milk and cheese production and the Ayrshire or Dunlop breed of cattle.-Templeton and the Knights Templar:...
', his home. He later became bankrupt and the estate was sequestered. A brickworks was later established near Netherton farm at Horners Corner in the Castlewat plantation to use up the blaes bing produced in the mining of the iron ore, which had ceased in around 1900, but it in turn closed in 1921. It was run by the Reid family. A lime works had existed near Lugton as far back as 1829: it is shown on Aitken's map of Cunninghgame. A modern lime works was more recently established at the top of the belt of limestone, now worked out, by Reid of Halket and later sold to R. Howie & Sons in 1947. Limestone is now brought to the site from elsewhere and the finished lime
Lime (mineral)
Lime is a general term for calcium-containing inorganic materials, in which carbonates, oxides and hydroxides predominate. Strictly speaking, lime is calcium oxide or calcium hydroxide. It is also the name for a single mineral of the CaO composition, occurring very rarely...
is used by farmers
Agricultural lime
Agricultural lime, also called aglime, agricultural limestone, garden lime or liming, is a soil additive made from pulverized limestone or chalk. The primary active component is calcium carbonate...
, in tarmacadam, previously in the maunfacture of Pig iron
Pig iron
Pig iron is the intermediate product of smelting iron ore with a high-carbon fuel such as coke, usually with limestone as a flux. Charcoal and anthracite have also been used as fuel...
, etc. It had been used as 'Davy Dust' to help settle the coal dust in the mines.
A large number of small limestone quarries ware marked on the 1860 OS with several limekiln
Limekiln
A lime kiln is used to produce quicklime through the calcination of limestone . The chemical equation for this reaction is...
s. Waterland corn mill on the Lugton Water is still marked on the 1895 map, with Tree Well nearby. Highgate wauk mill still survives as a dwelling (2007).
A creamery was opened in 1919, dispatching milk to Glasgow by train and making cheese which was matured at the manager's house; also known as "Jeely Jocks" when jams were made from turnips and other vegetables during the first world war. It closed in 1919. Lugton Garage was run by Angie and Angus Robertson.
Transport
It was once served by two railway stations, both of which are now closed. Lugton railway stationLugton railway station
Lugton railway station was a railway station serving the hamlet of Lugton, East Ayrshire, Scotland. The station was originally part of the Glasgow, Barrhead and Kilmarnock Joint Railway.-History:...
station was on the Glasgow, Barrhead and Kilmarnock Joint Railway
Glasgow, Barrhead and Kilmarnock Joint Railway
The Glasgow, Barrhead and Kilmarnock Joint Railway was a railway co-owned by Caledonian Railway and Glasgow and South Western Railway and was an amalgation of two different lines: the Glasgow, Barrhead and Neilston Direct Railway and the Glasgow and Kilmarnock Joint Railway.-Glasgow, Barrhead and...
's line, opening in 1871 and closed to passengers in 1966. The best known porter at Lugton station was local lady Peggy Speirs of Burnside Cottages. The Lanarkshire and Ayrshire Railway
Lanarkshire and Ayrshire Railway
The Lanarkshire and Ayrshire Railway was a railway company in Scotland built in the late 19th century that provided services between Ardrossan and Glasgow, with branches to Irvine and Kilbirnie. The line was operated by the Caledonian Railway with an aim to compete with the Glasgow and South...
's Lugton station
Lugton High railway station
Lugton High railway station was a railway station serving the hamlet of Lugton, East Ayrshire, Scotland as part of the Lanarkshire and Ayrshire Railway.- History :The station opened on 1 May 1903 and was simply known as Lugton...
opened in 1903 and its line ran to Ardrossan from Glasgow. The station closed 4 July 1932.
A live railway emergency exercise at Lugton in Ayrshire in 2000 played a vital part in the ongoing process of protecting Scotland’s rail passengers. The exercise simulated a collision between two passenger trains carrying 270 passengers. The aim was to test the emergency services’ response and management co-ordination by replicating real accident conditions as closely as possible. Strathclyde police co-ordinated the exercise in conjunction with the rail industry in Scotland, the British Transport Police, Civil Police, Scottish Ambulance Service, Fire Brigade, local authorities and Government emergency planning co-ordinators.
'Lugton Hall' or Church
A small mission hall or church, also serving as a public hall, used to exist near the railway bridge until the 1980s, having been moved from its previous site near the old brickworks. It had two commodious ante-rooms, electric power and even central heating as early as 1935. Services were held fortnightly. The Lugton Discussion Society also held its meetings here. The building, a typical 'kit build' corrugated iron structure, survived until the 1990s, having gone out of use in the 1960s. The site is now occupied by a private dwelling. The Lugton Hall had been gifted to Lugton by Lady Mure of Caldwell and.Caldwell mansion, estate and castle
Robert Adam
Robert Adam was a Scottish neoclassical architect, interior designer and furniture designer. He was the son of William Adam , Scotland's foremost architect of the time, and trained under him...
designed house was built by his son, William 'Baron Mure' about 200 yards (182.9 m) lower down from the original. Caldwell House was the Mure family home until 1909.
Antiquities
The Lugton Water
This rivulet runs 14 miles (22.5 km) from Loch Libo (395 feet above sea-level) through Neilston, Beith, Dunlop, Stewarton, and Kilwinning parishes, until having passed through Eglinton Country Park it runs into the GarnockRiver Garnock
The River Garnock, the smallest of Ayrshire's six principal rivers, has its source on the southerly side of the Hill of Stake in the heart of the Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park. About a mile and a half south of this starting point the untested stream tumbles over the Spout of Garnock, the highest...
, 2 and a half miles north by west of Irvine
Irvine, North Ayrshire
Irvine is a new town on the coast of the Firth of Clyde in North Ayrshire, Scotland. According to 2007 population estimates, the town is home to 39,527 inhabitants, making it the biggest settlement in North Ayrshire....
town. It contains fresh-water and sea-trout and the occasional salmon. Pont refers to it as the 'Ludgar' or 'Lugdurr' Loch Libo in the 14th century was referred to as Loch le Bog Syde in a charter, meaning the Bogside Loch.
The Duniflat burn joins the Lugton Water from the East Ayrshire side close to the North Biggart bridge near where the Bells burn from Bells Bog on the East Renfrewshire side also has its confluence.
Lugton traditions and local history
A local tradition was that an underground passage ran from the inn to Caldwell House, however a search by owners in the cellars never revealed any signs of a hidden passage.The village is celebrated in the songs of folk music group Nyah Fearties
Nyah Fearties
Nyah Fearties were a music band from the village of Lugton, Scotland, that created a near-unique brand of anarchic modern folk between 1982 and 1995....
, whose members hail from Lugton.
Near the hamlet is Lugton quarry, which features in many geology textbooks for its marine fossils preserved in the Carboniferous rock.
James Richmond, aged 46, was killed when he was struck by a railway locomotive on 1 October 1870 on the line near the Lugton Viaduct.
The Lugton Ridges were part of the Barony of Giffen
Barony and Castle of Giffen
The Barony of Giffen and its associated 15th-century castle were in the parish of Beith in the former District of Cunninghame, now North Ayrshire. The site may be spelled Giffen or Giffin and lay within the Lordship of Giffin, which included the Baronies of Giffen, Trearne, Hessilhead, Broadstone,...
in the Parish of Beith. One of these ridges also had the name of Deepstone.
Halket or Hawkhead Loch, now drained, covered about 10 acres (40,468.6 m²) and was drained in the 1840s. It is shown on the early maps of Ayrshire, such as Timothy Pont
Timothy Pont
Timothy Pont was a Scottish topographer, the first to produce a detailed map of Scotland. Pont's maps are among the earliest surviving to show a European country in minute detail, from an actual survey.-Life:...
's map of 1604. Above it in 1820 was a dwelling with the unlikely name of 'Lions Den', possibly a corruption of 'Linn' as the farm of Linnhead is in the vicinity.
External links
- Maps at the National Library of Scotland
- 1860 OS Maps
- Places called Lugton
- A Researcher's Guide to Local History terminology