A mounting block, horse block, carriage stone, or in Scots a loupin'-on stane [1] is an assistance for mounting and dismounting a horse or cart.
Mounting blocks were especially useful for women riding sidesaddle or pillion, that is 'riding double', [2] allowing a horse to be mounted or dismounted without a loss of modesty. Women would often ride behind their husbands and servants who were on foot. [3] They were also used to assist ladies and men into and out of carts. [4] They were frequently located outside churches or kirks for the use of parishioners attending services, funerals, etc. Often they were located in the main streets and outside public houses. In Yorkshire some were built at the top of steep lanes, where the rider would remount after leading his horse up the slope. [5]
Mounting blocks today are primarily used by modern equestrians who are a) beginners b) people who have difficulty mounting (either a tall horse, or a short person, or someone with some mobility impairments) and c) people who feel that use of a mounting block reduces strain on the spine of the horse, particularly at the withers. Modern mounting blocks are usually made of wood or of molded plastic.
Mounting blocks were usually made from stone or wood and prior to the era of the motor car they were very common. Some have three or more steps leading up to a platform which gave extra height and therefore easier access to the saddle and less chance of falling when dismounting. [6] A few had a wall or some other support to one side of the steps, as at Saint Boswells. [7] Some were built as memorials and bear inscriptions. [5] They were built with bricks, ashlar and even occasionally from a single stone block, [5] whilst an example at Shewalton Mill in North Ayrshire is a glacial erratic boulder located in the mill yard.
A horse is best mounted using a mounting block because it is easier for the rider to mount the horse, it puts less strain on the stirrup leathers when mounting and it decreases the chances of the saddle slipping to one side when mounting, thereby reducing the chances of a fall and possible injury to the rider. A horse or pony is mounted from the "near" side, that is the horse's left side. [8]
Mounting blocks were a common feature up until the late 18th century. [9] They are still used at equestrian centres, [8] but are no longer a common feature of inns, churches, farms, country houses, etc. in the United Kingdom, where they were once almost an obligatory feature.
The generally poor condition of roads up until the late 18th century in Scotland for example, meant that most passenger transport by horse was literally on horseback. For instance, wheeled vehicles were practically unknown to farmers in Ayrshire until the end of the 18th century, and prior to this sledges or slide-cars were used to haul loads [10] [11] as wheeled vehicles were useless. The roads had been mere tracks and such bridges as there were could only take pedestrians, men on horseback or pack-animals. The first recorded wheeled vehicles to be used in Ayrshire were carts offered gratis to labourers working on Riccarton Bridge, Kilmarnock, in 1726.
Once wheeled vehicles became commonplace the need for horse mounting blocks would have greatly decreased, thus mounting block as a permanent fixture went out with changing times. You didn't need one for getting into carriages, and thus as roads got better and fewer people rode, the need decreased. With the invention of the automobile, the need for the public mounting block vanished and they now are used exclusively by equestrians or retained as historic features at old inns, kirks, etc. [12] [13]
In the 1860s, those mounting blocks that remained in London e.g. Bayswater, were thought of as quaint and old fashioned "in the true style of olden times". [14]
Tam o' Crumstan [9] "A loupin' on stane is a very good thing, |
At Eskdalemuir in Dumfries and Galloway, the remains of a 'stone avenue' are known as the Loupin' Stanes due to the similarity with said structures. [15] The Wolfcleuchhead, 'Loupin' Stone', Mounting Steps or Mounting Block is in the parish of Roberton, Scottish Borders. This stone bears two carved heads and lettering; on the other the name 'Wolfcleuchead'. [16] These names have arisen either from the appearance or the actual re-use of these stones.
Kilmaurs is a village in East Ayrshire, Scotland which lies just outside of the largest settlement in East Ayrshire, Kilmarnock. It lies on the Carmel Water, 21 miles southwest of Glasgow. Population recorded for the village in the 2001 Census recorded 2,601 people resided in the village It was in the Civil Parish of Kilmaurs.
Stanecastle was a medieval barony and estate in North Ayrshire, Scotland, first mentioned in 1363 and now part of the Irvine New Town project. Its nearest neighbours are Bourtreehill and Girdle Toll.
Eskdalemuir is a civil parish and small village in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, with a population of 265. It is around 10 miles (16 km) north-west of Langholm and 10 miles (16 km) north-east of Lockerbie.
There are many large stones of Scotland of cultural and historical interest, such as the distinctive Pictish stones.
Dunlop is a village and parish in East Ayrshire, Scotland. It lies on the A735, north-east of Stewarton, seven miles from Kilmarnock. The road runs on to Lugton and the B706 enters the village from Beith and Burnhouse.
Drybridge is a small village in North Ayrshire, Scotland. Drybridge is thus named because of the "dry bridge" over the Kilmarnock and Troon Railway, opened in 1812. The nearby "wet bridge" is the Laigh Milton Viaduct, the oldest surviving railway bridge in Scotland and possibly the world.
A gatepost is a structure used to support gates or crossbars which control entry to an area, such as a field or driveway.
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+1⁄2 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.
Rowallan Castle is an ancient castle located in Scotland. The castle stands on the banks of the Carmel Water, which may at one time have run much closer to the low eminence upon which the original castle stood, justifying the old name Craig of Rowallan. Elizabeth Mure was mistress and then wife of Robert, High Steward of Scotland, and Guardian of Scotland, who later became King Robert II of Scotland. She may have been born at Rowallan.
The Barony of Giffen and its associated 15th-century castle were in the parish of Beith in the former District of Cunninghame, now North Ayrshire. The site may be spelled Giffen or Giffin and lay within the Lordship of Giffin, which included the Baronies of Giffen, Trearne, Hessilhead, Broadstone, Roughwood and Ramshead; valued at £3,788 9s 10d. The Barony of Giffen comprised a number of properties, including Greenhills, Thirdpart, Drumbuie, Nettlehirst and Balgray, covering about half of the parish of Beith. Giffen was a hundred merk land, separated from the Barony of Beith, a forty-pound land, by the Powgree Burn which rises on Cuff hill. The Lugton Water or the Bungle Burn running through Burnhouse may have been the Giffen barony boundary with that of the adjacent barony and lands of Aiket castle.
Riccarton is a village and parish in East Ayrshire, Scotland. It lies across the River Irvine from Kilmarnock, this river forming the boundary between Riccarton and Kilmarnock parishes, and also between the historical districts of Kyle and Cunningham. The name is a corruption of 'Richard's town', traditionally said to refer to Richard Wallace, the uncle of Sir William Wallace. The parish also contains the village of Hurlford.
Carlin Stone or Carline Stane is the name given to a number of prehistoric standing stones and natural stone or landscape features in Scotland. The significance of the name is unclear, other than its association with old hags, witches, and the legends of the Cailleach.
The Grannie or Granny stone is either the only surviving part of a stone circle or a simple glacial erratic. It lies in the River Irvine below the Rivergate Centre in Irvine, North Ayrshire, Scotland. The Grannie Stane is clearly visible when the water is low. The GPS co-ordinates are 55°36.768′N4°40.180′W.
Craigie Castle, in the old Barony of Craigie, is a ruined fortification situated about 4 miles (6.4 km) southeast of Kilmarnock and 1 mile (1.6 km) southeast of Craigie village, in the Civil Parish of Craigie, South Ayrshire, Scotland. The castle is recognised as one of the earliest buildings in the county. It lies about 1.25 miles (2 km) west-south-west of Craigie church. Craigie Castle is protected as a scheduled monument.
Rossie Priory is a category B listed country house and estate to the north of Inchture, near the hamlets of Baledgarno and Knapp, Perthshire, Scotland. It lies 9.6 miles (15.4 km) by road west of the city centre of Dundee. The large estate is roughly 2000 acres.
Shewalton House and estate were composed of the 'Lands of Shewalton' and the laird's dwelling, originally a tower castle and later a mansion house on the River Irvine in the Shewalton area, two miles from Irvine and west of Drybridge village, East Ayrshire, Dundonald Parish, Scotland. In 1883 the Boyle's estate of Shewalton was 2,358 acres in extent in Ayrshire and was worth at that time £2,708 a year.
St Fillan's Kirk, Seat and Well are located in the hamlet of Kilallan, once the main religious centre of the ancient parish of Kilallan or Killellan, close to Kilmacolm, Renfrewshire, Scotland. The old parish was united with Houston in 1760 although the church saw occasional use until 1771. The ruins of the kirk are a scheduled monument and the surrounding graveyard is a Listed Building. The ruins stand some 4 miles (6 km) west of the centre of Houston, just off the Kilallan Road.
Craigie is a small village and parish of 6,579 acres in the old district of Kyle, now South Ayrshire, four miles south of Kilmarnock, Scotland. This is mainly a farming district, lacking in woodland, with a low population density, and only one village. In the 19th century, high quality lime was quarried here with at least three sites in use in 1832.
Lawthorn is a hamlet near Perceton in Strathannick, Irvine, North Ayrshire, Scotland. The settlement lies on the old Irvine to Stewarton toll road.
A morthouse or deadhouse was a specialised secure building usually located in a churchyard where bodies were temporarily interred before a formal funeral took place. These buildings date back to the time when bodysnatchers or resurrectionists frequently illegally exhumed dead bodies that were then sold for dissection as part of human anatomy training at universities, etc. Morthouses were alternatives to mortsafes, watch houses, watch towers, etc.
