Galston parish

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Galston Parish
East Ayrshire UK location map.svg
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Galston Parish
Location within East Ayrshire
Population6,500 (Census 2001)
Language English
OS grid reference NS569200
Council area
Lieutenancy area
Country Scotland
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Police Scotland
Fire Scottish
Ambulance Scottish
UK Parliament
Scottish Parliament
List of places
UK
Scotland
55°36′01″N4°22′47″W / 55.60037°N 4.3798°W / 55.60037; -4.3798

Galston Parish is situated in East Ayrshire, Scotland, some five to ten miles east of Kilmarnock and roughly encompasses the southern half of the Upper Irvine Valley (locally known as The Valley). The parish shares strong links with the parish of Loudoun, with which it shares a border along the River Irvine.

Contents

Etymology

The earliest reference to the name appears as Gallistoun. [1] The consensus is that the name combines the Gaelic word Gall (meaning stranger) and the Anglian word tun (meaning hamlet or enclosure). [1] [2] It is impossible to say who the strangers were, but it is generally accepted that they were Gaels, due to the profusion of Gaelic names in the area. [1] [2]

Geography

The parish covers an area of about 61.4 square kilometers (23.7 square miles) [3] and shares borders with six neighbouring parishes: Avondale (east), Kilmarnock (north-west), Loudoun (north), Mauchline (south-east), Riccarton (south-west) and Sorn (south). [3] Of these six parishes, Galston is most commonly linked with Loudoun, because the parishes share strong historical and social links, as well as public services.

Within the parish can be found the town of Galston, along with Greenholm and the village of Priestland. The most prominent buildings in the parish are Cessnock Castle and The Barr Castle. In modern times, Galston, Greenholm and Priestland are often said to be in Loudoun, but this is incorrect as all three lie south of the River Irvine, which marks the border between the two parishes. The mistake most likely stems from the fact that in modern times the name Galston is almost exclusively used to refer to the town, but Loudoun is still used to define an area.

Auchruglen Castle

The Castle and Lands of Auchruglen lay within the parish.

Further Study

Related Research Articles

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Ayrshire is a historic county and registration county, in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. The lieutenancy area of Ayrshire and Arran covers the entirety of the historic county as well as the island of Arran, formerly part of the historic county of Buteshire. Its principal towns include Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine and it borders the counties of Renfrewshire and Lanarkshire to the north-east, Dumfriesshire to the south-east, and Kirkcudbrightshire and Wigtownshire to the south. Like many other counties of Scotland, it currently has no administrative function, instead being sub-divided into the council areas of East Ayrshire, North Ayrshire and South Ayrshire. It has a population of approximately 366,800.

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Kilmarnock and Loudoun was one of nineteen local government districts in the Strathclyde region of Scotland from 1975 to 1996.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kyle and Carrick</span>

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Newmilns is a village in the burgh of Newmilns and Greenholm, in East Ayrshire, Scotland. It has a population of 3,057 people and lies on the A71, around seven miles east of Kilmarnock and twenty-five miles southwest of Glasgow. It is situated in a valley through which the River Irvine runs and, with the neighbouring towns of Darvel and Galston, forms an area known as the Upper Irvine Valley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Galston, East Ayrshire</span> Town in Scotland

Galston is a municipality in East Ayrshire, Scotland, which has a population of 5,001 (2001) and is at the heart of the civil parish of the same name. It is situated in wooded countryside four miles upriver from Kilmarnock and is one a group of the small towns located in the Irvine Valley between the towns of Hurlford and Newmilns. To the north of the town is the ruin of Loudoun Castle, the site of Loudoun Castle theme park from 1995 to 2010. In 1874 the population was 4,727.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Darvel</span> Town in Scotland

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Kilmarnock and Loudoun is a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP), using the first-past-the-post voting system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Loudoun Academy, Galston</span> Comprehensive school in Galston, East Ayrshire, Scotland

Loudoun Academy is a secondary school in the outskirts of Galston, East Ayrshire, in Scotland serving the Loudoun district which includes the Irvine Valley, Kilmarnock, and surrounding rural areas of East Ayrshire. The school was built in 1971. The current enrolment as of July 2022 was 926.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kilmarnock and Loudoun (Scottish Parliament constituency)</span> Region or constituency of the Scottish Parliament

Kilmarnock and Loudoun was a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood). It elected one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the plurality method of election.

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The River Irvine is a river that flows through southwest Scotland. Its watershed is on the Lanarkshire border of Ayrshire at an altitude of 810 feet (250 m) above sea-level, near Loudoun Hill, Drumclog, and 7 miles SW by W of Strathaven. It flows 29+12 mi (47.5 km) westward, dividing the old district of Cunninghame from that of Kyle, until it reaches the sea via Irvine Harbour in the form of the Firth of Clyde, and flows into Irvine Bay by the town of Irvine. It has many tributaries, some of which form parish, district and other boundaries.

Priestland is a village in East Ayrshire, Scotland. It has a population of 121 and lies on the A71, around two miles west of Loudoun Hill, ten miles east of Kilmarnock and twenty miles south of Glasgow. It is situated in a valley through which the River Irvine runs and alongside the burghs of Galston, Newmilns and Darvel, forms an area known as the Upper Irvine Valley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley (Scottish Parliament constituency)</span> Region or constituency of the Scottish Parliament

Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood) covering part of the council area of East Ayrshire. It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the plurality method of election. It is also one of nine constituencies in the South Scotland electoral region, which elects seven additional members, in addition to the nine constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Castle and Lands of Auchruglen</span> Scottish castle

The Castle and Lands of Auchruglen (NS5365436797) was a peel tower in the old district of Kyle held at different times by the Nesbitt and Campbell Clans and located near Newmilns, Parish of Galston, East Ayrshire, Scotland.

References

  1. 1 2 3 James Mair, Pictorial History of Galston: p. 1, 1988
  2. 1 2 Hugh Maxwell, Old Galston: pp. 3–4, 2001
  3. 1 2 "Overview of Parish of Loudoun". The Editors of The Gazetteer for Scotland. Retrieved 28 September 2012.