Travel Riccarton, East Ayrshire Map

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Riccarton, East Ayrshire history

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Riccarton became a Burgh of Barony in 1638, but its civic powers were never exercised. The village had a population of 1889, but by 1951 that had increased to between 7000 and 8000.

The Barony of Riccarton

The 109 merkland barony included 54 separate landholdings, including the coalheughs of Riccarton and all the buildings, orchards, woods, mills, and fishings (salmon and others) included . Also included the £17 lands of Kaimshill, Auchindinane and Hunthall .

The churches

A pre-reformation Riccarton parish church stood in the centre of the old burial ground . It was first noted, as a chapel, in 1229, sub-ordinate to the church of Dundonald . The last patrons were the Cuninghames of Caprington, whose impressive memorial still stands .

Local worthies and eccentrics

Gilbert de Grimsby was born at Riccarton and would have known William Wallace during his childhood . He was chosen by Edward I to carry the sacred banner of Saint John of Beverley at the Battle of Dunbar in 1296 . On hearing of William Wallace’s insurrection Gilbert deserted Edward and joined William’s rebellion .

The Seat of Judgement

The present 1823 parish church of Riccarton stands on a mound which is partly natural and partly artificial . It was formerly called “Seat of Judgement”, having been a court or moot hill where justice was administered by the old baron court .

Riccarton Castle and the Sir William Wallace connection

The name Wallace was spelled in various ways, such as ‘Waleys’, ‘Walensis’ or ‘Walays’ It is said that Wallace’s father was born in Riccarton .

Death at Riccarton’s Nether ford

At the Nether Ford on the Irvine near Riccarton, Robert the Bruce sent Sir James Douglas to intercept the English soldiers . The English were ambushed as they crossed the ford and sixty lay dead before the survivors fled .

Riccarton old bridge

Riccarton Bridge is an 18th-century 3-span, segmental arched bridge, with dressed stone arch rings, rubble spandrels and triangular cutwaters . The first recorded wheeled vehicles to be used in Ayrshire were carts offered gratis to labourers working on the Kilmarnock Bridge in 1726 .

The Toll Road

Riccarton parish was often in dispute with Kilmarnock to Cumnock committee over payment of so-called ‘conversion’ money for Toll Road maintenance . Even after recourse to law the committee still failed to obtain any money from the parish .

Riccarton mill and cottages

The mill wheel has gone and the building has been converted into a private house . One miller was named Goudie and his son was likewise a miller in Alloway until he took a lease on Burns’s Cottage .

Riccarton Institute

John Galloway, Esq. Esq., built an institute in New Street Riccarton for the use of the working-men in the locality . The building still survives as a Community Centre run by East Ayrshire Council .

Riccarton and Craigie railway station

The village had a railway station by this name on the Gatehead and Hurlford branch of the Glasgow and South Western Railway . It was a goods only station (no passengers) as the line never had a publicly advertised passenger service . Part of the line remains open to supply a petrol depot in Kilmarnock .

Bellfield Estate

Misses Buchanan, Elizabeth, Jane and Margaret gave Kilmarnock its 240 acres (0.97 km) of woodlands and gardens . The ladies were the daughters of George Buchanan, a Glasgow merchant, in around 1879 .

  

Riccarton, East Ayrshire map & travel guide with history & landmarks to explore

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Tourist Guide to Riccarton, East Ayrshire Map

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