Discovering our Heritage

The Auld Kirk was built in 1659 and that date has been visible on the lintel above the doorway from that time.

Lintel 1659 - East Door

Lintel 1659 – East Door

That door enters from the east, however there once was another door which saw church-goers enter from the south, but that has been blocked up for many years.

Blocked doorway

Blocked doorway

Due to overhanging ivy, this doorway was not visible from outside the kirk

Blocked up door from the outside

Blocked up door from the outside

However, with the pruning back of the ivy part of the doorway can now be seen behind one of the headstones.

Lintel Stone on South entrance

Lintel Stone on South entrance

A closer look and the lintel stone and date is clear.

Linterl Stone 1659

Lintel Stone 1659

Our wee kirk was built during turbulent times. Erected in 1659 , the year after Cromwell died and the year before Charles II was restored to the crown …. the rest as they say is history.

Stone, Timber and Lime Conservation

Click on logo

Click on logo

On Wednesday I met with Stephen Kerr and Wendy Corrigan of our project conservation architects Wylie Shanks Architect at their Glasgow Office and was introduced to Graeme Frew of Stone, Timber and Lime Conservation who will be carrying out the conservation work on the Auld Kirk ruins and on five lairs in the kirkyard  – Rev Thomas Hunter, Rev James Young, William Arthur and Hyslop of Bank.

Soldiers

I am also delighted to announce that after discussions with  one of our  funders it has been possible to realign some of the grant to reset four of the soldiers headstones that have tumbled – we believe this is a more meaningful use of the money, particularly with next year being the 100th anniversary of the start of the Great War.

StoneTimberLineLogoThe work is scheduled to take five weeks and begins tomorrow morning.

Welcome to our project, Stone TLC.

Border Signs and Graphics Sign Up

Heritage Trail

Click on Logo to visit BSG's web-site

Click on Logo to visit BSG’s web-site

We are delighted to announce that Dumfries based Border Signs and Graphics, will manufacture and install the interpretation panels for our Village Heritage Trail. Welcome to our project BSG.

Planning the Trail

I enjoyed a very productive visit to East Ayrshire Council at the Johnnie Walker Bond, Kilmarnock this afternoon.  A big thank you to Sandra Marshall and Marion Fergusson at East Ayrshire Council for taking me through the process for applying for permission to erect the Interpretation Panels (Story Boards) and Information Boards that will make up the Village Heritage trail.
heritagetrail01

Next step is to complete and submit the applications.

Auld Kirk Clean-up

Auld Kirk Log : Stardate 01 July 2013

Another trip to the Auld Kirk tonight and another wall cleared including the window sills. Quite a bit of cleaning carried out before the midgies got the better of us again.

Another wall cleared

Another wall cleared

We received a detailed report on the Auld Kirk and the five family lairs we plan to work on from  WylieShanks Architects, the conservation architects that are supporting us with the project. At a meeting in Glasgow last week we  agreed a strategy for progressing tenders to carry out the necessary work and these will be issued in the coming weeks.

Adele is a big hit at the Auld Kirk

Adele and Louise

Adele and Louise

New Cumnock Liaison Group’s (NLCG) youngest volunteer Adele was a big hit when she joined in with mum Louise, big sister Annabelle and big brother Ewan in the second session of our Auld Kirk clean-up.

Clean up continues

Clean up continues

Later own we were joined by another two young helpers Calum and Thomas, who along with the rest of us battled the midgies as they came out in their droves for an evening snack. A big thank you to my wife Sheena for another star turn and early birthday wishes for tomorrow xx

We're getting there !

We’re getting there !

We’re making good progress …….

Auld Kirk Clean Up Session 1

Clean-up Session 1

Clean-up Session 1

An excellent start to the clean-up sessions with the focus on the inside of the ruins . A big thank you to Mr and Mrs Glendinning, Billy Lees, Sheena and Cameron. Six full bags of litter, leaves and twigs.Cleared wall

Cleared wall

A good few hours work before the midgies came calling !

Auld Kirk

Auld Kirk

Kirkyard Clean-Up

Auld Kirk Clean-up

Auld Kirk Clean-up

We will soon be tendering for the work to be carried out on the Auld Kirk ruins and five family lairs.  With the current spell of decent weather we are looking for volunteers to help with a clean-up of the kirkyard through picking up litter and the sweeping up leaves.Litter graspers, gloves and bags will be provided.

If you have some spare time and would like to help we intend (weather permitting) of having the following clean-up sessions

  • Wednesday 19th June 7pm-8:30pm
  • Thursday 20th June 7pm-8:30pm
  • Saturday 22nd Jun 11am-4pm
  • Sunday 23rd June 11am-4pm

So please if you spare 30 minutes or more or just passing by during a walk over the Knockshinnoch Lagoons then call in, we would be delighted to see you.

Low down on Logo

FRIENDSLOGOWe are delighted to share with you the logo for ‘New Cumnock Heritage‘ designed for us by Muse Design.

The key feature is the intersecting flowing lines which represent the meeting place of the River Nith and Afton Water which lies at the heart of the village of New Cumnock.

Indeed on closer inspection the initials ‘nc‘ are revealed in the symbol. Can you see them?

This confluence of the River Nith and Afton Water is very significant  in our history. For in this vicinity, long before 1650 when the parish of Cumnock was sub-divided into the two new parishes of Old Cumnock and New Cumnock, once stood Cumnock Castle, Cumnock Mill and Cumnock Maynes.  The confluence or meeting of these rivers may well reveal the origin of the place-name Cumnock, from Gaelic comunn achadh ‘meeting place’.

Meeting place of the River Nith and Afton Water

Meeting place of the River Nith and Afton Water

Left: Timothy Pont Manuscript 35 ‘Nithsdale; part of Teviotdale’ (Reproduced by kind permission of the Trustees of the National Library of Scotland)

Friends in New Cumnock Heritage

FRIENDSLOGOThe version of the logo above is for use by the ‘Friends in New Cumnock Heritage’ and our Facebook Page

We believe that a ‘Friends in‘ group gives a much more participative feel than the usual ‘Friends of” groups – and of course we and shorten this to FINCH 🙂

Why not fly along to our Facebook page and join the ‘Friend in New Cumnock Heritage’ …. join here

Auld Kirkyard and Village Heritage Trail

The logo will appear in the Village Heritage Trail and in the Auld Kirkyard leaflets being produced by the Primary School and the Ministers and Soldiers groups.

Logo_Collage

Turning the tables !

Today the tables were turned as I was invited along to New Cumnock Primary School to be interviewed by pupils of Primary 6 on the families they have been researching.

Sharing information

Sharing information

Having collected vital data from the headstones the class visited the Burns Monument Centre (BMC), Kilmarnock a few weeks ago to access vital resources to aid their research.

Each team has since created a ‘spider’ diagram with key information on their subjects spreading out from the centre of their diagram . They prepared questions to be used during our interview with the view to me helping them fill in some the gaps.

The interviews were conducted in a very professional manner and began with introductions and a polite request to ask questions. With 10 interviews we had to work to a five minute schedule per interview and while one team asked the questions with microphone in hand, there was excellent team-work on show when a member of another team took control of the video.

Bank House - Home of the Hyslop Family

Bank House – Home of the Hyslop Family

Many of  the questions clearly demonstrated great ownership of their chosen subject and the development of their research from the day at the kirkyard to the visit to the BMC. During the interview team members took the opportunity to show some of the records and the photos they had brought from their day at Kilmarnock.

Hopefully I was able to fill some of the gaps, including a promise to forward more specific information, and add to their ‘spider’ diagram. Certainly, the process helped fill gaps in my knowledge and yet again I thoroughly enjoyed another rewarding day with Primary 6 – thank you for a great day!

Finally, look out BBC Scotland, ….. 10/10 for interviewing skills at New Cumnock Primary School.