CAIRN HILL, CAIRNHILL

Place-name:	Cairn Hill
	a cairn on a hill
	S. or SSE. cairn ‘pile of loose stones’ + SSE. hill ‘hill’
Place-name:	Cairnhill
	(farm named after the hill)
	Place-Name: Cairn Hill
Blaeu Coila (1654):	N/A
OS Name Books (1855-57):	Cairn Hill, Cairnhill
Other names:	Cairnhill Housing Development, Cairnhill Primary School, Temple Brae Various Street names
Location:	Ordnance Survey (1895)

Early Forms

Cairnhill (1812)

Cairn Hill

Scots or SSE cairn ‘loose pile of stones’ + SSE hill ‘hill‘

The entry in the Ayrshire Ordnance Survey Names Book (1855-57) for Cairn Hill reads –

A ridge of arable land slightly elevated on Cairnhill farm to which it gives name. There is no account of a Cairn having been near it,

‘There is no account of a cairn‘ in this entry of 1877-57 which is still the case to this day. Typically, Scots or Standard Scottish English cairn ‘pyramid of stones’ refers to 1. a grave marker 2. a route or way marker [1].

The extent of the ‘ridge of arable land’ some 90 years later can be seen in the following aerial photograph (1946). The new housing development to the north and east can also be seen.

 

Cairnhill

from Place-Name: Cairn Hill

a farm house situate on rising ground South of Couplegate

The place-name Couplegate has a number of variations including Couplagate (as in Map 1 above) both originating from Couplaligate [2], however the area is known locally as The Coupla.

The name Cairnhill, or any variant of that, does not appear in the 17th /18th century maps that are commonly views for early forms of place-names, e.g. Blaeu (1654), Roy (1752-55) or Armstrong (1775). The name Braehead appears on John Ainslie’s map of 1820 at a location close to where Cairnhill would have stood and although there is a modern-day named brae in the vicinity (i.e. Temple Brae -see below) this is possibly the farm of Braehead which lies to the west, on the banks of the River Nith has been misplaced.

It appears in the form Cornhill in Thomson’s Atlas 1832 (Imprint 1828). This is not an early form of the name but rather has been transcribed incorrectly, in the same way that Castle Mains appears as Castle ruins!

The lands of Cairnhill formed part of the Castle Mains estate, also known as Castlemains and Meiklemains. A comparison of the lands that made up the estate in 1836 and 1855 is shown below. It may be the case that Mid Park was later renamed Cairnhill and that Park (1855) is Laigh Park (see Map 3 below).

Cess Roll: 1836 Proprietor: Honeyman Carmichael Esq. (Scotland’s Places)	Valuation Rolls: 1855 Proprietor: Michael Thomson Carmichael (Scotland’s People)	OS Name Books: 1855-57 (Scotland’s Places)
Meiklemains	Castlemains	Castle Mains
	Cairnhill	Cairnhill
Mid and Laigh Park	Park	Laigh Park
North Dalhanna	Little Dalhanna	Little Dalhanna
Rottenyard	Rottenyard	Rottenyard
Polquheys	Polquhaise	Polquheys
	Waterside	Waterside
	Muirfoot	Muirfoot
	Afton Bridgend	Afton Bridgend

Families living at Cairnhill

1. William Houston & Elizabeth Stevenson (ca.1810- 812)

The earliest reference to Cairnhill farm, thus far uncovered, is found in the Old Parish Records of New Cumnock is the baptism of ‘Jean (born 19th June) L. Daughter of William Houston and Elizabeth Stevenson, in Cairnhill‘, on the 5th July 1812.

N.B. A younger brother, Joseph, was baptised on 25th March 1810, however the place of birth was given as Fauldhead, which presumably is Fauldhead in the neighbouring parish of Kirkconnel and recorded in the Old Parish Records of New Cumnock. By the 1851 Census he was living with his wife and family in East Kilbride and later settled in Queensland, Australia.

2.1. William Caldwell and Elizabeth Jamieson (ca.1815-1861)

Beith-born William Caldwell married Riccarton-born Elizabeth Jamieson had 4 children ( 1 at Mauchline and 3 at Sorn) before settling at New Cumnock. Here they had 7 other children (1815-1830) the first of whom was baptised on Aug 27, 1815 – ‘Steel, born on the 18th), L.S. to William Caldwell and Elizabeth Jamieson, in Cairnhill‘.

Steel would later emigrate to Australia and died there in 1892 at his residence of Cairn Hill, Bland, New South Wales. His brother Alexander also settled in New South Wales while sister Mary moved to Canada. He paid a return visit to New Cumnock in the summer of 1881 to meet up with his brother then farming at Rottenyard on the Castlemains estate [3].

William Caldwell passed away at Cairnhill in 1843, and his widow Elizabeth managed the farm of 55 acres with son George, taking on the role of farm foreman, and his wife, Old Cumnock-born Mary McKerrow and children living at Cairnhill.

2.2. George Caldwell and Mary McKerrow (ca.1861-1869)

By the 1861 Census, George had taken over the responsibility of farming Cairnhill and the family had expanded to 6 children. However, by 1869, he and his family, including his elderly mother, moved to farm the 200 acres at Rottenyard, also on the Castle Mains estate.

3. John Steel and Mary Millar (ca.1869-1874)

In 1861 Census Galston-born John Steel and his wife Sanquhar-born Mary Millar and there 3 young children, all born at New Cumnock, were living at Old Coalburn where Johh worked as an agricultural labourer. By the 1871 Census, John was the farmer of 60 acres at Cairnhill and the family had now expanded to 7 children. Three years later the family had settled in Kirkinner, Wigtownshire.

4. Robert Somerville & Janet McMichael (ca.1874-1885)

Robert Somerville was born in Ireland and found work as a merchant in Norwich, England. On 2nd January 1861 he married Jane McMichael at Nether Westland farm, home of her late father William McMichael and Janet Craig. The couple settled in Norwich and raised a family of five before returning to New Cumnock where a daughter Alice was born at Cairnhill on June 1874.

The month before, Robert Somerville, Cairnhill won 1st prize at the New Cumnock Cattle Show in ‘Two-year-old bull category‘ [4]. Interestingly the 1874 and 1875-76 Valuation Rolls revealed Robert Somerville, along with George McMichael, presumably his brother-in-law, as tenants of Cairnhill. The pair also tenanted Littlemark in 1874 before Somerville was the sole tenant in 1875/76. At the time of the 1881 Census Robert Somerville’s occupation was recorded as ‘Farmer 235 Acres Arable Employing 1 Girl‘.

In March 1885, the Somerville family relocated to Mansfield Mains on the Mansfield estate [5] –

NEW CUMNOCK – A LOVE DARG. – Mr Robert Somerville of Cairnhill, who succeeds the late Mr John Picken on the farm of Mansfield Mains, was on Monday last given a friendly day’s ploughing. Forty-four ploughs were on the ground, and a considerable area of soil turned over in a skilful manner. The weather being fine a large number of onlookers were present, who, along with the ploughmen, were liberally entertained during the day.

Ayr Observer, Friday 13 March 1885

Nevertheless the 1885-86 Valuation Rolls recognised Somerville as the tenant of both Cairnhill and Mansfield Mains and indeed in the 1895 Valuation Rolls ‘Robert Somerville, Mansfield Mains‘ is listed as the tenant of Cairnhill. However, before this time James Houston and Isabella Weir and their family had taken residence at Cairnhill.

5.1. James Houston and Isabella Weir (ca. 1888-1903)

James Houston was born in March 1840 at Mossback, a small steading near High Polquheys on the Castlemains estate, the sixth child of George Houston and Janet Gilchrist. The family later moved to Mansfield Cottage where three other children were born. Tragically in November 1851, George Houston along with a fellow miner was killed by a rock-fall at Mansfield Colliery [6].

In 1861 James married Harriet Anderson and together they had two children but sadly she died from consumption in December 1865. Six years later James married Kirkconnel-born Isabella Weir, dairymaid at a farm in Ochiltree. The couple settled at Langholm, Dumfriesshire where James worked as a dairyman, before relocating to Hillhead, Kirkconnel,for a number of years where five of their seven children were born. Their next child, Alexander was born at Street on the Mansfield estate, New Cumnock, less than 2 miles west of Hillhead.

The family then moved to Cairnhill where tragically 2-year-old Alexander passed away in April 1888. In late January 1891 a daughter Isabella Weir Houston, named after her mother, was born at Cairnhill, however tragedy struck again when her mother died a few days later. By the 1901 Census James Houston was now designated as farmer at Cairnhill, rather than dairyman with his elder children serving as dairy maid, ploughman, and housekeeper respectively. A few years later Houston moved across the other side of the Afton Water to farm at Laight, on the Knockshinnoch estate and passed away there in 1906, aged 65 years.

(N.B. no connection with with 1. William Houston has been established thus far)

6. James Wight and Margaret Brackenridge (ca. 1904-1920)

James Wight was born at Pathhead, New Cumnock and later lived at nearby Pathbrae and worked as a mineral borer. In 1896 he married Kilwinning-born Margaret Breckenridge who was working as a dairymaid at Waterside on the Castlemains estate while James was now working as a ploughman. The following year a daughter Maggie was born at High Polquheys on the Castlemains estate, where James now worked as a dairyman. By the time of 1901 Census the family were living at Pathhead with James now operating as a carter. A few years later the family were on the move with James now the farmer at Cairnill (presumably soon after the departure of James Houston) and it here a son Robert was born in April 1905. The Wight family continued to farm Cairnhill until 1920 when James retired and settled at his own house and garden at Afton Bridgend.

7. Janet Robertson, John C. Robertson and Mrs Margaret Reid (ca. 1921-1930)

The 1921 Census have John C. Robertson, farmer (51), his sister Janet (60) and his brother-in-law John Reid, farm manager (55) at Cairnhill. The Valuation Rolls of 1925 record John, Janet and their sister Margaret (Mrs John Reid) as the joint proprietors of Cairnhill, severing the links with the Castlemains estate. The Robertson siblings were the children of Matthew Robertson and Agnes Connel of Taiglum farm, Old Cumnock.

Appearing for the first time in the Valuation Rolls was the Hut at Cairnhill, which was owned and occupied by James McConkie, the son-in-law of Margaret Reid, who was married to her daughter Agnes.

In 1929, Janet Robertson died at Cairnhill and this may have precipitated the Robertson’s family decision to sell the farm. Her brother John died at Dumfries in July 1936, and since the will was dated August 1925, he is referred to as John Connell Robertson, Cairnhill.

5.2. James Houston and Flora Cameron (ca. 1930 –

In November 1904, James Houston, son of the above 5.1 James Houston now the farmer at Laight, married Flora Cameron, at Laight. Flora was the daughter of Peter Cameron, farm labourer, Laight and Janet Caldwell the daughter of the above 2.1. William Caldwell and Elizabeth Jamieson and sister of 2.2. George Caldwell and born at Cairnhill.

Two years later his widowed father passed away at Laight. James continued to farm at Laight, where together he and Flora had four children – James, Janet, Isabella (who sadly passed away a few days old) and George. In 1928 the Laight farm was to be let and the present occupier James Houston had declared his intention not to make an offer [7] and instead he moved to Cairnhill.

In the 1930 Valuation Rolls James Houston, farmer is recorded as the proprietor of Cairnhill while he and his son James Houston, junior are recognised as the tenants while Flora Houston (nee Cameron) was now living in the birthplace of her mother.

It should also be noted that James McConkie, son-in-law of 7. Margaret Reid was now the proprietor and tenant of the Hut, Cairnhill. By the 1935 Valuations Rolls, James Houston owned the Hut while James junior was the tenant, in the same year a daughter Flora Cameron Houston was born.

During this period James Houston gained a reputation for growing prize-winning potatoes. In October 1931 at the Ayrshire Agricultural Association show at Rugby Park, Kilmarnock, he won the potato Championship and Silver Medal along with five other awards [8].

Also in April of that year he had won first prizes at the New Cumnock Cattle Show on Castle Mains Holm in the bull section in the categories of ‘two-year old’ and ‘bull stirk’ categories [9] .

James Houston would go on to win the potato Championship and Silver Medal* in 1933, 1934, 1935 (his neighbour John Murray, Laight was runner-up) and 1936, before finishing runner-up in 1937 by a single point [10]. His potatoes were also regualr prize winners at the Royal Caledonian Horicultural Society Autumn Show at Edinburgh [11].

*N.B. as yet the record of the 1932 event has not been found).

James Houston, aged 61 years, passed away at Cairnhill farm in February 1940. In the Valuation Rolls of that year his widow Flora Houston was listed as the Proprietor of Cairnhill farm and the Hut, while his son John (no longer labelled Junior) was recorded as the tenant in both these properties. Flora later settled in Mauchline and passed away in 1954 at East Hillhead farm, Mauchline. This is an appropriate point to conclude the research into the owners and tenants in Cairnhill farm.

Flora Cameron McFadzean (nee Houston) provided these photos of Cairnhill farmhouse for use in the Cumnock History Group ‘Ploughing up Our Past’ and other family photos including the potato Championship and Silver Medal her father James won in 1935.

N.B. there may well have been other owners / tenants through the years that have slipped between publication of Valuation Rolls , Census Records etc.

Cairnhill Housing Development & Primary School

As discussed above the aerial photograph shows the extent of the new housing development at the Coupla in 1946 while further plans were afoot to complete this phase of the development. The next phases were new housing developments at Afton Bridgend and Cairn Hill* in preparation for the relocation of housing from the ‘mining communities‘ of Connel Park, Craigbank and Burnfoot, earmarked for demolition.

*The Cairn Hill development adopted the name of the farm, i.e. Cairnhill rather than that of the hill.

The extent of all the developments by 1953 is shown below and Cairnhill farmhouse is slowly being surrounded by houses.

Cairnhill Primary School

The relocation of the housing of the ‘mining communities‘ would also see the demise of the Bank School that served these communities and the need for a new primary school in the vicinity of the Cairnhill housing development.

By February 1957 a proposed site of 5,157 acres at Cairnhill was considered generally satisfactory by the Scottish Education Department for the purpose of erecting a new primary school [13] and by the end of the year the site had been valued at £3,300 on the understanding that the Housing Committee of Ayrshire County Council will be responsible for the cost of the roads which amounted to £2,630 [14]. The school rolls at that time were New Cumnock Junior Secondary (600), Bank (470) and Dalleagles (24) [15].

The Opening Ceremony of Cairnhill Primary School took place on 30th May 1960. The Rev. D. C. McPherson, Martyrs’ Parish church welcomed the large turnout to the new school [16].

Representatives of the New Cumnock community pictured above at the opening of the school are (left to right) – The Rev. Glyn Morgan, Mr Sam Turnbull, Mr Frank Guthrie, Rev. S.M. Walker, Mr Geo. Paterson, Mr Victor Campbell, Miss J. Guthrie, Dr. William Edgar, Mr J. Watson, Mr. W. Pearson (headmaster), Mr T. Swan, Mr Ferguson, Mr J.I. Wallace (Depute Director of Education), Mr G. Caldwell, Mr E. McDermid, Rev. D.C. Macpherson, Mr J. Finlayson, Mr T. C. Hunter, Mrs Pearson, Mr. D Walker, County Councillor James Mason and Mr Allan Davidson (deputising for Mr. J. Miller, JS School

The beautiful, new, two storey primary school with a staff of sixteen and facilities for 600 pupils, was thronged with people for the dedication service. This was held in the large assembly room, the platform party occupying the capacious stage, which also housed P.T. equipment, and the pupils, parents and staff being seated in the assembly room proper, which can be sub-divided by partitions into a dining room and general purposes room.

Cumnock Chronicle Friday 3rd June 1960

Cairn Hill described as ‘a ridge of arable land slightly elevated on Cairnhill farm in the Ordnance Survey Name Book (1855-57) had undergone a remarkable transformation in 1961 the landscape looked as follows –

A host of new street names were required most of which reflect names from the landscape of the parish of New Cumnock.

AFTON BRIDGEND	Origin of name
Afton Bridgend	named originally applied to the ‘village’ that developed between the east end of the bridge over the Afton Water and the Reformed Presbyterian Church, i.e. the east end of the other ‘village’ Couplagate. (The name was later applied to the street that stretched from the Shilling Hill to the far west of Couplagate!)
Blackwood Drive	Blackwood farm
Castlemains Avenue	Castlemains farm
Glebe Street	Overlooking the glebe on the other side of Afton Water, where the glebe was originally lands assigned to the parish minister in addition to their stipend.
Greenhead Road	Greenhead, the name was taken from the former row known as Greenhead that was demolished and replaced by new houses named Mason Avenue
Holm Road	After the holm, i.e. low-lying land near the Afton Water, on the Castle Mains estate
Mason Avenue	named after local councillor James Mason (see Greenhead above).
Nithsdale Drive	named after the view of the nearby River Nith and its valley or dale.
Westland Drive	Westland farm

COUPLA	Origin of name
Afton Bridgend	east end of Afton Bridgend
Cairnhill Place	Cairnhill farm, named prior to house building on Cairn Hill!
Glenafton Drive	Glen Afton
Hamilton Drive	possibly named after a council official?
Lime Road	marking the route from New Cumnock-Dumfries road to the now obsolete limekilns on High Park lands
Stellhead Avenue	Stellhead Rig, to the south of the Big Coupla

CAIRNHILL	Origin of name
Ardnith Avenue	named after the now demolished Ardnith House, the house assigned to the manager of the Lanemark Coal Company.
Ashmark Avenue	Ashmark farm
Blarene Drive	Blarene Hill (which was named from the now obsolete farm of Blarene)
Burnton Place	Burnton farm
Connel View	view over Afton Water towards Connel Burn and Connel Park
Dalhanna Drive	Dalhanna farm
Farden Avenue	Farden farm
Greenbraes Drive	Possibly an homage to Robert Burns poem Afton Water ‘Flow Gently Sweet Afton among thy Greenbraes‘. N.B. There is also a reference to a now obsolete Greenbraes farm in the Old Parish Records, location unknown.
Greenhill Avenue	Greenhill farm, now gone.
High Park Avenue	High Park farm, the site of Cairnhill farm lies under the wee cul-de-sac of the avenue.
Lanehead Terrace	Lanehead farm
Lochbrowan Crescent	Lochbrowan farm
Milray Avenue	Milray Hill
Mounthope Terrace	Mounthope cottage on Mansfield estate of Stuart-Menteth, Baronets of Closeburn and Mansfield. Mounthope is a borrowed name from the Closeburn estate.
Redree Place	Redree hill
West Park Avenue	West Park farm (previously Laigh Park)

In 1968 the Knockshinnoch Castle Colliery closed (as did Fauldhead Pit in the neighbouring parish of Kirkconnel) and the Bank Pit followed suit the following year. Many of the miners transferred to Barony Pit, Auchinleck and Killoch Colliery, Ochiltree. In 1970 the Secondary section of the New Cumnock Junior Secondary School closed and the school was later renamed Castle Primary. Pupils from Castle Primary and Cairnhill Primary would now continue their Secondary education at Cumnock Academy. The 1980s and the UK Government’s Plan for Coal brought turmoil to the industry culminating in the Miners’ Strike of 1984 and ultimately pit closures a huge number of jobs lost. The population of New Cumnock gradually declined and in 2012 Cairnhill Primary School was closed and the pupils transferred to Castle Primary which was renamed New Cumnock Primary School.

Cairnhill Primary School was demolished and so too were many empty houses particularly those built on the Cairn Hill, its ‘summit‘ now reverting to its former self.

Hidden Reminders

Today there are hidden reminders of the path that once made its way from Afton Bridgend to Cairnhill farm. It begins at the bottom of a steep slope running some 70 yards south and then takes a sharp turn east and continues 120 yards or so before heading south-east for about 350 yards up the lower slopes of Cairn Hill to Cairnhill farm.

Temple Brae

The steep slope is known as the Temple Brae named after the nearby Free Church (originally a Reformed Presbyterian Church and later a United Free Church) which at a much later time served as a Masonic Temple for a period. Of course, the tarmac and the railings are relatively new features but the stone* on the foreground surely belongs to the period when this was probably bettern known as the Cairnhill path! The stone was possibly a gatepost, there is a hole drilled on the top of the stone and another of the path-facing side. This may mark the boundary between Cairnhill lands and those of Afton Bridgend.

*My nickname for the stone when growing up was the Gudgick Stane since a small gooseberry bush grew (and still does) against the stone. The gooseberry came to nothing as they were eaten before they ever ripened.

Looking further up the hill the path turns to the left at the next set of cross bars.

The Short-Cut

My family lived at No. 19 Dalhanna Drive (from 1965-2020) which was at the northern extremity of the Cairnhill Housing Development and for some reason deemed in the catchment area of New Cumnock Junior Secondary School rather than Cairnhill Primary School. As such, my route to and from school was via the ‘Short-Cut’ through the ‘spare grun‘ behind the houses.

St. Margaret’s R.C. Primary School was built there in 1970s covering the far-end of the short-cut while the remainder from the school to the Temple Brae was paved. The school was demolished in 1988 with the children transferring to St. John’s in Cumnock.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

References

[1] Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. |cairn

[2] New Cumnock Place-Name | Coupla, Couplagate, Couplaligate

[3] British Newspaper Archive | Ardrossan & Saltcoats Herald, Saturday 20 August 1881

[4] British Newspaper Archive |North British Agriculturist, Wednesday 27 May 1874

[5] British Newspaper Archive | Ayr Observer, Friday 13 March 1885

[6] New Cumnock History | Mining Fatalities

[7] British Newspaper Archive | The Scotsman, Saturday 08 September 1928

[8] British Newspaper Archive | Daily Record, Friday 23 October 1931

[9] British Newspaper Archive | The Scotsman, Monday 13 April 1931

[10] British Newspaper Archive | The Scotsman 20 Oct 1933, 19 Oct 1934, 25 Oct 1935, 23 Oct 1936, 22 Oct 1937.

[11] British Newspaper Archive | The Scotsman 13 Sep 1934, 11 Sep 1935, 9 Sep 1937

[12] Cumnock History Group, ‘Ploughing Up Our Past’ | Cairnhill

[13] Cumnock Chronicle , Friday 1 March 1957

[14] Cumnock Chronicle , Friday 27 December 1957

[15] Cumnock Chronicle , Friday 6 September 1957

[16] Cumnock Chronicle , Friday 3rd June 1960

Maps

Reproduced with the Permission of National Library of Scotland

https://maps.nls.uk/

Map 1: Ordnance Survey Maps – Six-inch 1st edition, Scotland, 1843-1882 (1857)| Cairn Hill, Cairnhill

Map 2: Ordnance Survey Air Photo Mosaics, 1944-1950 (1946) | Cairn Hill, Cairnhill

Map 3: John Ainslie, Map of the environs of Glasgow, Paisley, Ayr, etc. (1820) | ‘Brahead‘ Signet Library maps. CC-BY-NC-SA (Signet). These maps are re-useable for non-commercial purposes under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC-BY-NC-SA) licence

Map 4: John Thomson’s Atlas of Scotland, Northern Part of Ayrshire. Southern Part,1832 (Imprint 1828) |Cornhill

Map 5: Ordnance Survey, One-inch to the mile maps of Scotland, 2nd Edition – 1885-1900 (1895) | Castlemains estate

Map 6: Ordnance Survey, 1:25,000 maps of Great Britain – 1945-1973 (1957) | Cairn Hill, Cairnhill

Map 7: Ordnance Survey National Grid maps, 1944-1973 (1961) | Cairnhill housing

Map 8: Ordnance Survey Maps – 25 inch 2nd and later editions, Scotland, 1892-1949 (1895) |Cairnhill path

Ordnance Survey Name Books

By Permission of Scotland’s Places

scotlandsplaces.gov.uk

Ayrshire OS Name Books (1855-57) Vol. 49|Cairn Hill

Ayrshire OS Name Books (1855-57) Vol. 49| Cairnhill