Craigie and Barnweill
1846
CRAIGIE and BARNWEILL, a parish, in the district of Kyle, county of Ayr, 4
miles (S.) from Kilmarnock; containing 779 inhabitants. Craigie was
disjoined from the parish of Riccarton in 1647, and in 1673, it received an
augmentation by the annexation of the suppressed parish of Barnweill, the
larger part of the stipend of which, however, was transferred to the
minister of the newly-erected parish of Stair. The parish is about seven
miles long, and one and a half broad. The scenery is pleasingly varied; the
hills near the church rise about 500 feet above the level of the sea, and
are covered with verdure to the summit, excepting where a craggy rock
occasionally protrudes. The views presented from the heights are extensive
and beautiful, and the lands are ornamented with several lochs, some of
which, however, are partly in adjoining parishes; Loch Brown covers nearly
100 acres, and is about half in this parish, the remaining part being in
those of Mauchline and Tarbolton. The parish comprises 6300 acres, almost
entirely under cultivation. The principal kind of grain raised, and nearly
the only kind, is oats; the pastures are extensive; several tracts are under
rye-grass and meadow-grass, and the remainder of the green crops consist of
beans, potatoes, and a few turnips. The farms average about ninety acres,
and besides a tolerable proportion of sheep, of a mixed breed, between 700
and 800 milch cows are kept, and upwards of 400 young cows and calves; the
milk is chiefly used for cheese, and the stock sold at Kilmarnock. The
parish contains a corn-mill, turned by the waters of one of the lochs.
Various improvements have taken place in agriculture, but that which has
been most beneficial is furrow-draining, which has been carried to a great
extent; the farm-houses are substantial and well fitted-up, and about half
of them are slate. The plantations cover 170 acres. Three limestone
quarries, and a tile-work, lately erected, are in operation; and coal of
several kinds was formerly wrought. The rateable annual value of the parish
is £8058.
There are three mansions, named Cairnhill, Barnweill, and Underwood, the
first of which consists of an ancient tower still strong, and in very good
repair, with a modern portion attached. Barnweill is a neat residence, built
towards the latter part of the last century; and Underwood, a commodious
house, was erected about the same time. The parish is in the presbytery of
Ayr and synod of Glasgow and Ayr, and in the patronage of James Campbell,
Esq., of Craigie; the minister's stipend is £247, with a manse, and a glebe
of five acres, valued at £10 per annum. The church, formerly called the kirk
in the forest, is a neat plain edifice, built in 1776, and will accommodate
600 persons. The parochial school affords instruction in the usual branches,
and in the classics, practical mathematics, and book-keeping; the master has
a salary of £34, with a house, and £18 fees. The ruins of the church of
Barnweill are still standing, and also those of Craigie Castle, a very
ancient building, at one time inhabited by the Wallaces of Craigie, a
collateral branch of the family of Sir William Wallace, the Scottish
patriot. There are several artificial mounds called "law hills," on which
culprits are supposed to have been formerly tried.
From: A Topographical
Dictionary of Scotland (1846)
and .co.uk