In 1957 the Town Council’s plans for a new housing scheme on the farmlands at Barshare was their most ambitious to date. They employed well-known architect Professor Robert Hogg Matthew to design and build a million pound scheme of 550 houses. The scheme and houses were cutting edge for the time with tiled under-floor heating, wide use of pine built-in storage, modern kitchens, open plan internal stairs with ultra modern rendering, street lighting and furniture.
Built in the early 1950’s and named after Emrys Hughes, Keir Hardie’s son-in-law who married Nan Hardie. Emrys was a journalist and editor of the Socialist journal Forward. Hughes stood in the 1946 South Ayrshire by-election and was elected as the constituency’s MP, and re-elected in the general elections of 1950, 1951, 1955, 1959, 1964, and 1966. A left-winger, he was frequently at odds with the leadership of the Labour Party and twice had the whip withdrawn, between November 1954 and April 1955 (over German rearmament), and between March 1961 and May 1963 (over nuclear weapons). He was Provost of Cumnock from 1934-1935 and a member of the Town Council from 1927-1947.
Built in the early 1950’s and named after Robert Forbes, Burgh Surveyor and Sanitary Inspector, who came from Buckie to Cumnock as a fully qualified applicant with a certificate in Sanitary Sciences. He served the town for 41 years, from 1915 until 1956. After he died in 1963, he could have been named the “Architect of Cumnock”, as he had planned and built hundreds of the town’s houses.
Built in 1924 and named after Alexander Gemmell who was a local benefactor at the beginning of the 20th century. He was a native of Cumnock where he worked in the Royal Bank. He moved eventually to Bradford and to Barclay’s Bank where he held an important position. In 1916 he noted the 50th anniversary of the burgh by presenting a Provost’s Chain currently on view in the Baird Institute.
Opened in the late 18th century and named after the Glaisnock Water. The Gorbals bridge was built here in 1775. This is the other main street in the town and in days gone bye used to contain many of the town shops and bars.
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as remodelled in the mid 19th century, with the building of a new Parish Church and the demolition of old tenements on the north and east sides.
To the west of Bank Lane stood a large open space which by the 18th century had become known as the Tanyard, a name retained by a modern thoroughfare. The Tanyard was so called because of the tanning works on the site, which was an ideal one, being beside a ready supply of water (the Lugar). The Lugar Water could also function as a refuse tip for the noxious waste associated with the tanning process.
Previously known as Townfoot, the lower part of the street running from the Tanyard to the Pawn Steps, and Back Street, which ran parallel from The Square to Glaisnock Street. Before 1770, it was one of the main roads through the town as the Square was the site of a cemetery. Tower Street was renamed, before 1890, after the Blue Tower Inn which was built in 1666 and for many years was the principal inn in Cumnock.
Once known as the High Street, Townhead Street means quite simply “head or top of the town”. In the olden days it was the main centre in Cumnock for cotton weaving – the houses were single-storey, thatched with two main rooms, one of which held the handloom. Almost every house would have a handloom – some having as many as six. In 1791 Cumnock had 35 handlooms plus 39 muslin weavers and 7 stocking weavers. By 1811 there were 70 muslin weavers and by the 1820s over 120 looms were in operation.
Experience Cumnock History
Cumnock History Group are a constituted Voluntary Group who share an interest in the history and heritage of Cumnock and how the past has influenced the present.
The group emerged as a result of the Memory Bank workshops for Raising the Bar – the archaeological dig focused on the site of the old Tup Inn on Lugar Street earlier this year and run by archaeologists from Northlight Heritage
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All photos Cumnock History Group or by permission of East Ayrshire Council / East Ayrshire Leisure unless otherwise stated.
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