Catrine is a village in the heart of East Ayrshire in Scotland, which was formerly a centre of cotton manufacture. It had a population of around in .

Geography

The village lies on the

River Ayr The River Ayr (pronounced like ''air'', ''Uisge Àir'' in Gaelic) is a river in Ayrshire, Scotland. At it is the longest river in the county. The river was held as sacred by pre-Christian cultures. The remains of several prehistoric sacrificial ...

which previously provided water power for local industry. It is in the parish of

Sorn Sorn may refer to: Places * Sorn, East Ayrshire, a village in Scotland * Sorn Castle, East Ayrshire, Scotland * River Sorn, Islay, Scotland * Sørn and Bernt, rocks off the coast of South Georgia * Sorn, restaurant in Bangkok, Thailand People * ...

, south east of

Mauchline Mauchline (; ) is a town and civil parish in East Ayrshire, Scotland. In the 2001 census Mauchline had a recorded population of 4,105. It is home to the National Burns Memorial. Location The town lies by the Glasgow and South Western Railway ...

. Catrine is surrounded by woods, fields and hills. There is Ballochmyle golf course that sits just outside of Catrine. There is also Ballochmyle house (18th century mansion) that overlooks Catrine.

Transport

The

A76 road The A76 is a major trunk road in south west Scotland. Starting at Kilmarnock in East Ayrshire, the A76 goes through or immediately by-passes Hurlford, Mauchline, Auchinleck, Cumnock, Pathhead and New Cumnock before entering Dumfries and ...

lies south west of Catrine. A railway branch line to Catrine (

Glasgow & South Western Railway The Glasgow and South Western Railway (G&SWR) was the third biggest of the five major Scottish railway companies prior to the 1923 Grouping. It served a triangular area of south-west Scotland between Glasgow, Stranraer and Carlisle. It was form ...

) was one of the last to be built in Scotland in the 20th century. Catrine's station opened in 1903. The line closed to scheduled passenger services in 1943, although it continued to be used for freight and the occasional enthusiast railtour until the 1960s when the line was closed.

History

Catrine lies at the edge one of the longest-lasting Gaelic-speaking areas in the Lowlands of Scotland. The original Gaelic name of the village appears to be based on the root 'ceit' meaning dark or gloomy place, perhaps referring to thick woods near the village. Catrine was constructed around one of the first

cotton mill A cotton mill is a building that houses spinning or weaving machinery for the production of yarn or cloth from cotton, an important product during the Industrial Revolution in the development of the factory system. Although some were driven ...

s in Scotland in 1787 by Claud Alexander of Ballochmyle (who had made a not insignificant fortune as

Commissary General A commissary is a government official charged with oversight or an ecclesiastical official who exercises in special circumstances the jurisdiction of a bishop. In many countries, the term is used as an administrative or police title. It often c ...

in India) in partnership with

David Dale David Dale (6 January 1739–7 March 1806) was a leading Scottish industrialist, merchant and philanthropist during the Scottish Enlightenment period at the end of the 18th century. He was a successful entrepreneur in a number of areas, m ...

. A plan of Catrine at that time shows the hamlet consisted of 11 buildings, including a smithy and

corn mill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that has been separat ...

. In 1801 the factory was purchased by Messrs James Finlay & Co., of Glasgow. In 1802, two artificial lochs, covering between them , were constructed above

Muirkirk Muirkirk () is a small village in East Ayrshire, southwest Scotland. It is located on the north bank of the River Ayr, between Cumnock and Glenbuck on the A70. Conservation The Muirkirk & North Lowther Uplands Special Protection Area was s ...

, near the village of

Glenbuck Glenbuck () is a small, remote village in East Ayrshire. It is nestled in the hills east of Muirkirk, East Ayrshire, Scotland. Glenbuck Loch The site of the village was slightly to the north-west of Glenbuck "Loch", on the River Ayr, and w ...

, to supply the cotton works. The business was greatly enlarged in 1823 when they added extensive

bleaching Bleach is the generic name for any chemical product that is used industrially or domestically to remove color from (i.e. to whiten) fabric or fiber (in a process called bleaching) or to disinfect after cleaning. It often refers specifically t ...

works. The motive power for the works was supplied by wooden

wheel A wheel is a rotating component (typically circular in shape) that is intended to turn on an axle Bearing (mechanical), bearing. The wheel is one of the key components of the wheel and axle which is one of the Simple machine, six simple machin ...

s, made from oak grown on Drumlanrig estate. In 1828, the wooden wheels were replaced by two large iron wheels;

steam engines A steam engine is a heat engine that performs Work (physics), mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a Cylinder (locomotive), cyl ...

of were later added as auxiliary. When constructed, the iron wheels were the largest in Britain. The diameter of each wheel was , in circumference, and broad, or within the buckets. There were 120 buckets on each wheel. Each bucket contained of water. The wheels made three revolutions per minute, and passed 360 buckets per minute, of water per wheel, 7,920 for the two, equal to 210 tons of water per minute. They were 500 nominal

horsepower Horsepower (hp) is a unit of measurement of power, or the rate at which work is done, usually in reference to the output of engines or motors. There are many different standards and types of horsepower. Two common definitions used today are t ...

. These wheels were a tourist attraction in their day and continued in service until the 1940s. A new mill was completed in 1950 but closed some 20 years later. The old mill was destroyed by fire during its demolition in 1963. The new mill was used for several years as a large furniture warehouse, but was eventually demolished in 1985. Iron Age

rock art In archaeology, rock arts are human-made markings placed on natural surfaces, typically vertical stone surfaces. A high proportion of surviving historic and prehistoric rock art is found in caves or partly enclosed rock shelters; this type al ...

in the form of

cup and ring mark Cup and ring marks or cup marks are a form of prehistoric art found in the Atlantic seaboard of Europe (Ireland, Wales, Northern England, Scotland, France (Brittany), Portugal, and Spain (Galicia (Spain), Galicia) – and in Mediterranean Europe ...

has been found at nearby Ballochmyle.

Notable people

Nether Catrine House was the country seat of the philosopher

Dugald Stewart Dugald Stewart (; 22 November 175311 June 1828) was a Scottish philosopher and mathematician. Today regarded as one of the most important figures of the later Scottish Enlightenment, he was renowned as a populariser of the work of Francis Hutc ...

, Professor of Moral Philosophy at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

from 1785 and is located on the south bank of the River Ayr. It was here that the poet,

Robert Burns Robert Burns (25 January 1759 – 21 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the List of national poets, national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the be ...

, famously "dinner'd wi a lord".

Present day

Catrine today is a village of around 2,500 inhabitants. The site of the former bleaching works of Messrs Finlay & Co. is now occupied by Glen Catrine Bond which bottles whisky and vodka and markets them under a number of different brand names. In 2006, the so-called Catrine Voes (the reservoirs to the former cotton works), the Radical Brae and the Chapel Brae were designated as a Local Nature Reserve. The weir, the reservoirs and other structures (lades, tunnels and suchlike) comprise a

Scheduled Monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage, visu ...

and are in the ownership of Catrine Community Trust (formerly Catrine Voes Trust), a charitable trust. Catrine Community Trust is actively engaged in seeking funding to conserve and restore these for future generations to enjoy. Former Kilmarnock FC goalkeeper Barry Holland is from Catrine.

References

External links

Catrine Ayrshire WebsiteThe Catrine Chronicle 1906 - 1908 Newspaper by Hugh W Pollock, Mill ManagerCatrine Community Trust WebsiteVideo footage of the Catrine Weir and Voes
{{Authority control Villages in East Ayrshire