Ayr Central Conservation Area Character Appraisal - South Ayrshire ...

Ayr Central Conservation Area Character Appraisal
Part One
DEVELOPMENT HISTORY
Prehistoric
It is likely that the area now covered by the town was
occupied in the prehistoric period. No in situ prehistoric
remains have been recovered during excavations but
several stray finds, such as a stone axe from Alloway
Street and a fragment of cannel coal bangle from King
Street in Newton, provide general evidence for activity.
The title ‘Ayr’ is usually taken to be derived from a very
early Indo-European word for river.
Mediaeval
William the Lion built a new castle at Ayr in 1197 and a
royal burgh was founded shortly after. Presumably this
increased the king’s control over an area that was very
much part of Scotland’s western frontier. The castle
provided protection to the natural harbour at the Ayr’s
mouth. The Ayr could be forded immediately upriver
from the harbour and this meant that several land routes
converged here. The town was to develop into the
west coast’s pre-eminent port and it was foreign trade,
primarily with Ireland, that stimulated early growth.
There may have been an existing settlement prior to the
founding of the burgh and some excavations on High
Street have uncovered 12th century pottery. It has been
suggested that the earliest part of the town was located
around Sandgate, but excavations have yet to find any
firm evidence. The site of the original parish church of St
John’s has been excavated and architectural fragments
recovered suggest it too was built around the time of
the castle.
The town seems to have developed fairly rapidly with
High Street becoming its main axis. Development
presumably spread down from the junction with
Sandgate and at least by the 14th century there were
properties to the south of Carrick Street. Even further
south recent excavations at Kyle Street found remains
of a 13th to 14th century tannery. During this period
documents record that a large proportion of exports
from the town were hides.
Reproduced by permission of the
Trustees of the National Library of
Scotland
First pictogram of Ayr from
Joan Blaeu’s 1654 Atlas (Kyle), probably
based on late 16th century maps by
Timothy Pont. The kirk, gateways and
bridge are evident.
© National Library of Scotland. Licensor
www.scran.ac.uk.
‘Auld Brig from the Black Bull, Newton’
by George Hutton, 1789, showing the old
gatehouse.
Reproduced by permission of the
Trustees of the National Library of
Scotland.
St John’s Kirk, from John Slezer’s ‘The
Prospect of the Town of Air from the
East’ in ‘Theatrum Scotiae’, 1693.
Reproduced by permission of the Trustees of the National Library of Scotland.
‘The Town of Aire, from ye House of Newtowne’ in John Slezer’s ‘Theatrum Scotiae, 1693.
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