Greenhills, North Ayrshire

Greenhills
Greenhills
	The village mainstreet looking towards the main road
	Greenhills Location within North Ayrshire
OS grid reference	NS 37386 50820
Council area	North Ayrshire ;
Lieutenancy area	Ayrshire and Arran ;
Country	Scotland
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Dialling code	01560
Police	Scotland
Fire	Scottish
Ambulance	Scottish
UK Parliament	Central Ayrshire ;
Scottish Parliament	Cunninghame South ;
	List of places UK Scotland 55°43′25″N4°35′22″W / 55.72351°N 4.589411°W Coordinates: 55°43′25″N4°35′22″W / 55.72351°N 4.589411°W

Last updated May 17, 2023

Greenhills is a small village or hamlet in North Ayrshire, Parish of Beith, Scotland. It lies between the settlements of Barrmill and the hamlet of Burnhouse on a crossroads of the B706 and the lanes to Nettlehirst and Tandlehill via the Third part. It is named after the 'Green Hill' an artificial mound, a Moot, Law or Justice hill that once stood here. The settlement lay within the old Barony of Giffen; the castle no longer exists. The village lies within Barrmill and District Community Association's area and is also covered by Beith Community Council.

History

This small settlement is shown on General Roy's survey of 1747 - 55, under the name of 'Greenhill' in the singular, and has two buildings indicating where the old school was situated.

The school

The school, built from Ballochmyle red sandstone, opened in the 1890s with Mr. Mudie as headteacher,^[1] at the time that Hessilhead School closed. A temporary building in the playground was used as a dining hall. It was built on the site of the cartwheel workshop and was midway between Burnhouse and Barrmill. Greenhills closed in 1959, it was sold in 1964^[1] and demolished in the mid-1980s; having been used for some years as a glue factory by Strathbond Ltd who still trade from the Willowyard Estate, Beith. Mr McGregor was the last headteacher and the sports field had been the field lying across the Barrmill to Burnhouse Road.^[2] The Greenhills WRI originally met here, however after the school was demolished they moved to the Barrmill Community Centre.^[1]

Industry

A smithy stood at the crossroads on the Borestone farm side of the hamlet. John Marshall and Francis Douglas at this site made ploughs that sold all over the country, known as the Douglas Grubber. A joiner's shop stood next to the smithy, its machinery being driven by steam. The wheel wright's factory site was later used for the school and more recently a private dwelling.^[3] A limekiln was situated behind the school, made in the shape of a horseshoe with the opening facing the prevailing southwest wind. It was encased within a bank with a gap at the opening.^[4] A limestone quarry existed close to the school site.

The Moot or Justice Hill

This artificial mound or moot hill was the site where proclamations of the Giffen Castle Baronial Court's judgements were made. For serious crimes, the men were hung here and women were drowned in a pit that would have been nearby. This situation, known as the feudal Barony right of 'pit and gallows' existed at many other sites, such as at Beith, Kilmarnock, Aiket, Ardrossan, and Dalry. Often the mounds were wooded and a Dule Tree may have been used as the gallows. Brehons or Judges administered justice from 'Court Hills', especially in the highlands. Auchenmade had a Law Hill mound nearby, possibly destroyed by the railway. The 'Green Hill' stood near Greenhill farm.^[5] No sign of the moot hill seems to survive, however, a bridge near Greenhill is marked as 'Tappethillock', meaning a flat-topped hillock.

Cartographic evidence

Roy's map of 1747 records the settlement of Greenhill on the Beith to Burnhouse road.^[6] Armstrong's map of 1775 shows the ruins of Giffin castle only.^[7] The 1828 John Thomson's map gives the name 'Greenhills' and marks Haghead, Borestone, Bank, and Thirdpart in the vicinity.^[8]

Related Research Articles

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A moot hill or mons placiti is a hill or mound historically used as an assembly or meeting place, as a moot hall is a meeting or assembly building, also traditionally to decide local issues. In early medieval Britain, such hills were used for "moots", meetings of local people to settle local business. Among other things, proclamations might be read; decisions might be taken; court cases might be settled at a moot. Although some moot hills were naturally occurring features or had been created long before as burial mounds, others were purpose-built.

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Halket Loch' also known as Halkhead or Halketh, was situated in the mid-Ayrshire clayland near Lugton. It is visible as a surface depression in pastureland, sometimes partially flooded, situated in a low-lying area close to farms and dwellings of East, North and Middle Halket and Craighead in the Parish of Dunlop, East Ayrshire, Scotland. The loch was natural, sitting in a hollow created by glaciation. The loch waters drained via the Glazert Water that joins the Annick Water.

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Bogston or later Bogstone was a small estate in the old Barony of Giffen near Barrmill in the Parish of Beith, North Ayrshire, once held by collateral descendants of the Montgomeries of Broadstone. The estate covered 160 acres or around 65 hectares, its rental in 1896 being £180 per annum.

Burnhouse, sometimes known locally as The Trap from "Man Trap", is a small village or hamlet in North Ayrshire, Parish of Beith, Scotland. It lies on a crossroads of old B706 and the more recent A736 Lochlibo Road, between Lugton and Torranyard.

Torranyard is a small village or hamlet in North Ayrshire, Parish of Kilwinning, Scotland. It lies between the settlements of Auchentiber and Irvine on the A736 Lochlibo Road.

The lands of Marshalland, Marsheland, Marsheyland or Marshyland were part of the holdings of the Barony of Beith, Regality of Kilwinning and Bailiary of Cuninghame. They became the property of the Lyle family, then the Shedden family, passing next to the Spier's family before finally becoming part of the Spier's Trust lands. The laird's house and farm were demolished in the 1960s.

References

Notes

1 2 3 Jamieson, Page 25
↑ Reid. Page 117
↑ Jamieson, Page 17
↑ Jamieson, Page 5
↑ Dobie, Page 163.
↑ Roy's Map Retrieved : 2012-05-06
↑ Armstrong's Map Retrieved : 2012-05-06
↑ Thomson's Map Retrieved : 2012-05-06

Sources and bibliography

Dobie, James (1876). Pont's Cunninghame topographized 1604–1608 with continuations and illustrative notices. Pub. John Tweed.
Jamieson, Sheila (1997). Our Village. 'Greenhills Women's Institute.
Love, Dane (2003). Ayrshire : Discovering a County. Ayr : Fort Publishing. ISBN 0-9544461-1-9.
Reid, Donald L. and Monahan, Isobel F. (1999). Yesterdays Beith, a pictorial guide. Beith : DoE Award Scheme. ISBN 0-9522720-5-9

External links

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[ja-1] 1 2 3 Jamieson, Page 25

[2] Reid. Page 117

[g-3] Jamieson, Page 17

[4] Jamieson, Page 5

[Dobie163-5] Dobie, Page 163.

[6] Roy's Map Retrieved : 2012-05-06

[7] Armstrong's Map Retrieved : 2012-05-06

[8] Thomson's Map Retrieved : 2012-05-06

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