Auchinleck ( ; ;
) is a village southeast 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 ...

, and northwest of

Cumnock Cumnock (Scottish Gaelic: ''Cumnag'') is a town and former civil parish located in East Ayrshire, Scotland. The town sits at the confluence of the Glaisnock Water and the Lugar Water. There are three neighbouring housing projects which lie j ...

East Ayrshire East Ayrshire (; ) is one of 32 unitary council areas of Scotland. It shares borders with Dumfries and Galloway, East Renfrewshire, North Ayrshire, South Ayrshire and South Lanarkshire. The headquarters of the council are located on London Roa ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. Surrounding the village is Auchinleck Estate, centred on

Auchinleck House Auchinleck House is an 18th-century mansion in Scotland. It is situated near the town of Auchinleck near Cumnock and Ayr in East Ayrshire. The Auchinleck Estate has been inhabited since the 13th century, and the remains of Auchinleck Castle, East ...

, past home of the

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

diarist A diary is a writing, written or audiovisual Memorabilia, memorable record, with discrete entries arranged by Calendar date, date reporting on what has happened over the course of a day or other period. Diaries have traditionally been handwriti ...

and

biographer Biographers are authors who write an account of another person's life, while autobiographers are authors who write their own biography. Biographers Countries of working life: Ab=Arabia, AG=Ancient Greece, Al=Australia, Am=Armenian, AR=Ancient Rome ...

James Boswell, 9th Laird of Auchinleck.

History

Auchinleck is in the heart of the ancient Kyle district of Scotland. The place-name means "field of (flat) stones" in

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic (, ; Endonym and exonym, endonym: ), also known as Scots Gaelic or simply Gaelic, is a Celtic language native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a member of the Goidelic language, Goidelic branch of Celtic, Scottish Gaelic, alongs ...

, from ' ('field') and ' ('slab'). The small locality of Auchincloich has a comparable meaning. Although record of a community exists from as early as 1239, reliable records can really only be said to date from the arrival of the Boswell family in 1504. The barony of Auchinleck had been forfeited to the crown and was granted by

King James IV James IV (17 March 1473 – 9 September 1513) was King of Scotland from 11 June 1488 until his death at the Battle of Flodden in 1513. He inherited the throne at the age of fifteen on the death of his father, James III, at the Battle of Sauch ...

to his "good and faithful servant" Thomas Boswell. The Boswells proved to be assiduous in their estate husbandry, and by the early 1700s a viable village community and a thriving estate had begun to emerge from the surrounding barren moorland. The

New Statistical Account The ''Statistical Accounts of Scotland'' are a series of documentary publications, related in subject matter though published at different times, covering life in Scotland in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. The ''Old (or First) Statistica ...

of 1837 documents early mining and quarrying in the area which was to become the impetus for the region to boom. By 1881 the parish population had blossomed and was 6,681, four times what it had been in 1831

Nationalisation Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization contrasts with priv ...

of coal in 1947 brought investment and with the building of the Barony Power Station, which was commissioned in 1957, the future of the region seemed assured. However, within 30 years the fortunes of the area, so tied to coal, followed the spectacular demise of deep pit mining. Lacking an economic source of fuel as mines closed, the power station shut down in 1989, High House pits closed in 1983, and Auchinleck village subsided into post-industrial recession. However, with the recent acquisition and subsequent development of

Dumfries House Dumfries House is a Palladian country house in Ayrshire, Scotland. It is located within a large estate, around west of Cumnock. Noted for being one of the few such houses with much of its original 18th-century furniture still present, including ...

in the area by

Prince Charles Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and ...

Duke of Rothesay Duke of Rothesay ( ; ; ) is the main dynastic title traditionally given to the male heir apparent to the Scottish and, later, British thrones. The dukedom was created in 1398 by Robert III of Scotland for his eldest son. Duke of Rothesay i ...

, and with new building taking place in the area there are signs of 'green shoots'.

Sport

The village is home to the junior football club Auchinleck Talbot, who play at the 4,000-capacity Beechwood Park.Beechwood Park
/ref> The 'Bot is one of the most successful clubs in Scotland at their level. They share a fierce rivalry with near neighbours Cumnock Juniors in the West of Scotland Premier Division, the sixth tier of Scottish football.

Education

Auchinleck has two primary schools, namely Auchinleck Primary School and St Patrick's Primary School. The town's secondary school, Auchinleck Academy, closed in late 2020, with pupils moving to the new

Robert Burns Academy The Robert Burns Academy is a secondary school located in Cumnock, Cumnock, East Ayrshire, Scotland, which opened to pupils in October 2020 following the merger of Cumnock Academy and Auchinleck Academy. The current Head Teacher, Tracy Stewart, ...

. This is part of the Barony Campus in Cumnock which has incorporated a number of local schools and nurseries into one site.

Notable people

James Crystal James Chrystal or Crystal (1807–1901) was a Scottish minister who served as Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland from 1879 to 1880. Life He was born in 1807 on Cochrane Street in Glasgow, the second son of William C ...

: parish minister for over 50 years and

Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland The moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland is the minister or elder chosen to moderate (chair) the annual General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, which is held for a week in Edinburgh every year. After chairing the Ass ...

1879–80 * Kris Doolan: professional footballer for

Partick Thistle Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football, football club from Glasgow, Scotland and currently plays in the . Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not ...

in the

Scottish Championship The Scottish Championship known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional association footb ...

. Currently one of the club's record-breaking goalscorers. Previously played at local club Auchinleck Talbot. *

Alexander Boswell, Lord Auchinleck Alexander Boswell, Lord Auchinleck, 8th Laird of Auchinleck (1706–1782) was a Scottish judge who served in the supreme courts of Scotland. He was the father of the author and biographer James Boswell, and grandfather of songwriter Sir Alexan ...

(1706–1782), judge and father of

James Boswell James Boswell, 9th Laird of Auchinleck (; 29 October 1740 ( N.S.) – 19 May 1795), was a Scottish biographer, diarist, and lawyer, born in Edinburgh. He is best known for his biography of the English writer Samuel Johnson, '' Life of Samuel ...

References

External links