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Newmilns

Newmilns is a small lace making and weaving town in the Irvine Valley, which was granted its charter in 1490, making it the oldest inland burgh in Ayrshire. The small crow-stepped Town House, or Tolbooth, dates from 1739, and behind the Loudoun Arms, which itself dates from the 18th century, is Newmilns Tower (private), an impressive early 16th century tower house built by Sir Hugh Campbell, Earl of Loudoun. Sir Hugh was perhaps the most tragic member of the Campbell of Loudon family. After being involved in the murder of a member of the powerful Kennedy family during an ongoing feud, his wife and nine children were killed when the Kennedys besieged Loudoun Castle, a few miles away.

The Lady Flora Institute, built in 1877 as a girl’s school, commemorates the tragic Lady Flora Hastings, a lady-in-waiting to Queen Victoria (see Galston above). The institute is now private housing.

During the American Civil War, the weavers of Newmilns sent a message of support to Abraham Lincoln, and he in turn sent back an American flag. This was subsequently lost, but in 1949 the American Embassy gave the town a replacement, which is now housed in the early 19th century Parish Church in the main street.