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Cumnock

Cumnock is a small industrial town which was granted its burgh charter in 1509. In the middle of its square stands Cumnock Old Parish Church, built in the mid-1800s. It’s a foursquare building that seems to sprout transepts, apses and porches in all directions.

Two miles west of the town, at Lugar, is Bello Mill (private), birthplace in 1754 of William Murdoch, discoverer of gas lighting and, believe it or not, the man who invented the wooden top hat. He conducted his gas experiments in a cave on the banks of the Lugar Water upstream from Bello.

The superb Dumfries House, one mile west of Cumnock, was designed for the 5th Earl of Dumfries in the mid-1700s by the brothers John, Robert and James Adam. It is one of their finest creations but for almost 250 years the house was not open to the public. Then in 2007, it was put up for auction by its former racing driver owner, the aristocrat and sportsman Johnny Bute. There was a real danger that the house’s priceless collection of Chippendale furniture would be dispersed. Fortunately, the house was saved by a consortium of charities, trusts and the Scottish Executive, led by the Prince of Wales whose Charities Foundation provided almost half of the £45 million asking price.

Visitors can now join guided tours of this imposing Palladian mansion which sits in nearly 2000 acres of countryside.

 At the north end of Cumnock is the house that James Keir Hardie, the founder of the Scottish Labour Party, built for himself. Though born in Lanarkshire, he considered himself to be a Cumnock man. He was first of all MP for West Ham in London, and later for Merthyr Tydfil in Wales. His bust can be found outside the Town Hall.