Loudoun Kirk

Loudoun Kirk is a disused church located about one mile west of Loudoun Castle, East Ayrshire. It served as Loudoun's parish church until some point after 1600, when this function moved to the church in nearby Newmilns. It subsequently fell into a state of disrepair, however since 1994 has been preserved by a local charity, Friends Of Loudoun Kirk.

Early history

The establishment of Loudoun Kirk marks the earliest known Christian worship in the surrounding area. It is widely regarded as having been founded in 1451, with most local historians taking this date from an 1890 translation of the Latin text, Muniments of the Royal Burgh of Irvine. Recently however, local historian Alastair Hendry unearthed a letter referring to church rents dating prior to 1451. After retranslating the Muniments of Irvine, he dated Loudoun Kirk to 1198. At or soon after its foundation, the revenues of Loudoun Kirk, were allocated to support the monks of the newly founded Kilwinning Abbey, however they were obliged to provide a priest (curate) to attend to the spiritual needs of the parishioners.

Loudoun

Coordinates: 55°36′29″N 4°19′44″W / 55.608°N 4.329°W / 55.608; -4.329

Loudoun (Scottish Gaelic: Lughdan) is a parish in East Ayrshire, Scotland and lies between five to ten miles east of Kilmarnock. The parish roughly encompasses the northern half of the Upper-Irvine Valley and borders Galston Parish (which encompasses the remainder of The Valley) at the River Irvine.

Loudoun is a parish, which shares borders with six other parishes. To the south lies the parish of Galston, which of all the surrounding parishes, has the strongest local links to Loudoun, being as the two parishes share strong historical and social links, as well as sharing public services. Otherwise, Loudoun shares borders with the parishes of Avondale (east), Eaglesham (north), East Kilbride (north-east), Fenwick (north-west) and Kilmarnock (west).

Within Loudoun can be found the towns of Darvel and Newmilns, alongside Loudoun Hill, Loudoun Castle, Loudoun Kirk and Loudoun Academy. Notably, claims that Greenholm, Priestland and the town of Galston itself lie within Loudoun are erroneous, as all three lie south of the River Irvine, in the parish of Galston. This may in some part be because Loudoun Academy and surrounding housing hold Galston postcodes.