Everything about Ayrshire totally explained
» For the cattle originating from Ayrshire, see Ayrshire Cattle.
Ayrshire (
Gaelic:
Siorrachd Inbhir Àir, ) is a county of south-west
Scotland, located on the shores of the
Firth of Clyde. Its principal
towns include
Ayr,
Kilmarnock and
Irvine. The town of
Troon (pop. 20,000) on the coast has hosted the
British Open Golf Championship twice in the last seven years, eight times in total, including the most recent one in 2004. Approximately 200,000 visitors come to Troon during this period.
Ayrshire, under the name the
County of Ayr, is a
registration county. The electoral and valuation area named Ayrshire covers the three council areas of
South Ayrshire,
East Ayrshire and
North Ayrshire, therefore including the
Isle of Arran,
Great Cumbrae and
Little Cumbrae. The three islands were part of the
County of Bute until
1975 and are not always included when the term
Ayrshire is applied to the region. The same area is known as
Ayrshire and Arran in other contexts.
Ayrshire is one of the most agriculturally fertile regions of Scotland. Potatoes are grown in fields near the coast, using seaweed-based fertiliser, and in addition the region produces pork products, other root vegetables, cattle (see below) and summer berries such as strawberries are grown abundantly.
The area used to be heavily industrialised, with
steel making,
coal mining and in Kilmarnock numerous examples of
production-line manufacturing, most famously
Johnnie Walker whisky. In more recent history,
Digital Equipment had a large manufacturing plant near Ayr from about 1976 until the company was taken over by
Compaq in 1998. Some supplier companies grew up to service this site and the more distant
IBM plant at
Greenock in
Renfrewshire. Scotland's aviation industry has long been based in and around
Prestwick and its
international airport, and although aircraft manufacture ceased at the former
British Aerospace plant in 1998, a significant number of aviation companies are still based on the Prestwick site. However, unemployment in the region(excluding the more
rural South Ayrshire) remains high, above the national average.
The area became part of the kingdom of Scotland during the
11th century. In
1263, the Scots successfully drove off a group of
Norwegian Vikings in a skirmish known as the
Battle of Largs.
A notable historic building in Ayrshire is Turnberry Castle, which dates from the
13th century or earlier, and which may have been the birthplace of
Robert the Bruce.
The historic
shire or
sheriffdom of Ayr was divided into three districts or
bailieries which later made up the
county of Ayrshire. The three districts were:
The
Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889 established a uniform system of
county councils in Scotland and realigned the boundaries of many of Scotland’s counties.
Glasgow Prestwick International Airport, serving
Glasgow, is located in Ayrshire. It has a niche in
rock history as the only place in Britain visited by
Elvis Presley, on his way home from Army service in Germany in 1960.
Local government
» See also Local government of Scotland
Ayr
county council was created in 1890, under the
Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889. In 1930 the
Local Government (Scotland) Act 1929 was implemented. This re-designated the
Burghs into
Large Burghs and
Small Burghs. This new categorisation influenced the level of autonomy that the Burghs enjoyed from the county council. The act also abolished the
Parish as a unit of local government in Scotland. In Ayrshire in excess of 30 Parishes were consolidated into ten
District Councils.
In May 1975 the county council was abolished and its functions transferred to
Strathclyde Regional Council. The county area was divided between four new districts within the two-tier
Strathclyde region:
Cumnock and Doon Valley,
Cunninghame,
Kilmarnock and Loudoun and
Kyle and Carrick. The Cunninghame district was larger than the pre-1975 district: it included the
Isle of Arran,
Great Cumbrae and
Little Cumbrae, which had been administered previously as part of the
County of Bute.
In 1996 the two-tier system of
regions and districts was abolished and Ayrshire was divided between the
unitary council areas of
East Ayrshire,
South Ayrshire, and
North Ayrshire. North Ayrshire includes the Isle of Arran, and the Cumbrae islands.
Parliamentary constituencies
There was an
Ayrshire constituency of the
House of Commons of the
Parliament of Great Britain from 1708 to 1801 and of the
Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 until 1868, when the constituency was divided into
Ayrshire North and
Ayshire South.
During the whole of the 1708 to 1868 period, and until 1950, the
burghs of
Ayr and
Irvine were
parliamentary burghs, represented as components of
Ayr Burghs. In 1832
Kilmarnock became a parliamentary burgh, to be represented as a component of
Kilmarnock Burghs until 1918. Ayr Burghs and Kilmarnock Burghs were
districts of burghs, and quite different in character from later Ayr and Kilmarnock constituencies.
From 1918 to 1983 Ayrshire and
Buteshire were treated as if a single area for purposes of parliamentary representation, with their combined area being divided into different constituencies at different times. Scottish local government counties were abolished in 1975, in favour of
regions and districts, but the next reform of constituency boundaries wasn't until 1983.
Constituencies covering Ayrshire may be listed by periods as below, but the story is somewhat more complicated than the lists may imply: until 1918, Ayr Burghs and Kilmarnock Burghs included burghs lying outside both Ayrshire and Buteshire; a particular constituency name may represent different boundaries in different periods; in 1974, there were boundary changes without the creation of any new constituency names.
Towns and villages in Ayrshire
Rivers in Ayrshire
The main rivers flowing to the Clyde coast are, from north to south, the following:
Interesting places
Some notable people born in Ayrshire
Hew Ainslie (1792-1878), poet
Sir Thomas Brisbane (1773-1860), Scottish soldier and colonial administrator, after whom the city of Brisbane is named.
Kris Boyd Scottish football.
John Boyd Orr (1880-1971), Nobel Peace Prize winner
Robert the Bruce (1274-1329), possibly at Turnberry Castle.
Robert Burns (1759-1796), poet, in Alloway;
Kenneth Campbell (1917-1941), RAF pilot, pothsumous recipient of the Victoria Cross, born in Ardrossan.
Robert Craufurd (1764-1812), British Major-General;
Thomas Craig (1855-1900), noted professor of mathematics, editor, and author.
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