Dunure (

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 ...

: ''Dùn Iùbhair'', meaning Yew Hill) is a small village in the

South Ayrshire South Ayrshire (; , ) is one of thirty-two council areas of Scotland, covering the southern part of Ayrshire. It borders onto Dumfries and Galloway, East Ayrshire and North Ayrshire. South Ayrshire had an estimated population in 2021 of 112,45 ...

area of

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 ...

, situated about from

Ayr Ayr ( ; ; , meaning "confluence of the River Àir"), is a town situated on the southwest coast of Scotland. A former royal burgh, today it is the administrative centre of South Ayrshire Council, and the historic county town of Ayrshire. With ...

. It is located on the coast of the

Firth of Clyde The Firth of Clyde, is the estuary of the River Clyde, on the west coast of Scotland. The Firth has some of the deepest coastal waters of the British Isles. The Firth is sheltered from the Atlantic Ocean by the Kintyre, Kintyre Peninsula. The ...

, and is near to

Maybole Maybole (, ) is a town and former burgh of barony and police burgh in South Ayrshire, Scotland. It had an estimated population of in . It is situated south of Ayr and southwest of Glasgow by the Glasgow and South Western Railway. The town is ...

, south of Ayr. The village is most notable for its ruined medieval castle in a clifftop setting, its small former fishing harbour nearby, and (on the opposite side of the castle from the harbour) a small, modern plant maze known as the Dunure Labyrinth. Since 2012, Dunure, along with

Galloway Galloway ( ; ; ) is a region in southwestern Scotland comprising the counties of Scotland, historic counties of Wigtownshire and Kirkcudbrightshire. It is administered as part of the council areas of Scotland, council area of Dumfries and Gallow ...

and Southern Ayrshire, is part of the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

World Network of Biosphere Reserves The UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves (WNBR) covers internationally designated protected areas, known as biosphere or nature reserves, which are meant to demonstrate a balanced relationship between people and nature (e.g. encourage susta ...

Overview and history

Early origins

The first buildings in the lower Dunure village were erected in the early nineteenth century, not long after improvements to the local harbour in 1811. Kennedy Hall dates from 1881 and Dunure House from around 1800. Limekilns are a common feature of small harbours and Dunure has a fine specimen at the village play park. Fisherton Church was erected in 1938 as a

chapel of ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church architecture, church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently, generally due to trav ...

for Dunure and district. It was rebuilt and extended in 1912.

Dunduff Castle Dunduff Castle is a restored stair-tower in South Ayrshire, Scotland, built on the hillside of Brown Carrick Hills above the Drumbane Burn, and overlooking the sea above the village of Dunure. History As a place name ''Dunduff'' may contain t ...

stands above Fisherton; originally a 15th-century structure, it was altered and extended in the 1980s for use as a private house. The remains of a prehistoric earthwork, the Dane's Hill, are in a nearby field. The ruins of the pre-reformation Kirkbride church and cemetery are nearby, abandoned since the parish was combined with that of

Dunure Castle

The substantial ruins of the infamous

Dunure Castle Dunure Castle is located on the west coast of Scotland, in South Ayrshire, about south of Ayr and close to the village of Dunure. Today the castle stands in ruins on a rocky promontory on the Carrick coast, overlooking the small harbour of Dunu ...

are in the village.

above Fisherton Primary School has been rebuilt and is now a private home; the old parish cemetery and pre-reformation church ruins lie near Dunduff Farm.

John Keppie John Keppie (4 August 1862 – 28 April 1945) was a Glasgow architect and artist. From an early age he was a close friend of Edward Atkinson Hornel and would often bring in New Year with him in Kirkcudbright. Within the architectural professio ...

, a colleague of the renowned Glasgow artist, architect and type designer Charles Rennie Mackintosh, rented the house of Mainslea and a small cottage in its back garden opposite Dunure Castle for what was known as “The Roaring Camp”, a holiday home popular with young women friends of theirs from the

Glasgow School of Art The Glasgow School of Art (GSA; ) is a higher education art school based in Glasgow, Scotland, offering undergraduate degrees, post-graduate awards (both taught and research-led), and PhDs in architecture, fine art, and design. These are all awa ...

. It was from this base that Mackintosh set out on a sketching expedition to the abbey of Crossraguel, Baltersan and Maybole in 1895.

Landmarks

The mounted skeleton of the famous Clydesdale horse 'Baron of Buchlyvie' is a popular attraction for the Kelvingrove Museum and Art Galleries in Glasgow. The Baron finished his days at Dunure Mains Farm and was originally buried there. A

labyrinth In Greek mythology, the Labyrinth () is an elaborate, confusing structure designed and built by the legendary artificer Daedalus for King Minos of Crete at Knossos. Its function was to hold the Minotaur, the monster eventually killed by the h ...

has been constructed in a hollow on the headland overlooked by the castle in May 2008 led by local community councillor Andy Guthrie. It is looked after by volunteers from the village and pagan groups from around Scotland and is open all year. The famous

Electric Brae The Electric Brae is a gravity hill in South Ayrshire, Scotland, where a freewheeling vehicle will appear to be drawn uphill by some mysterious attraction. The phenomenon is an optical illusion. Etymology The term "Electric" dates from a time ...

is located on the main road (where national speed limit of 60mph applies) near the village: its nickname comes from the optical illusion that it is going slightly uphill instead of down.

Harbour

The harbour is a roughly square basin with a breakwater quay, topped off by a locally characteristic cylindrical stone harbour light. The Earl of Cassillis improved the harbour at a cost of £50,000 in 1811, making the location more attractive for fishing. The depth of the water in the harbour is at ordinary spring tides, but could be artificially increased to almost . William Aiton records in 1808 that the sole costs of the improvements to Dunure harbour were borne by Thomas Kennedy of Dunure Esq.

Demography

Economy and fishing

The high point of the fishing fleet in Dunure coincided with the great days of the herring fishery in the Clyde, since which time the fleet has declined and now consists of half a dozen small vessels concentrating on catching brown crabs and

lobsters Lobsters are malacostracans decapod crustaceans of the family Nephropidae or its synonym Homaridae. They have long bodies with muscular tails and live in crevices or burrows on the sea floor. Three of their five pairs of legs have claws, in ...

. Dunure is probably the best preserved of the fishing villages on the Clyde.

Transport

There was previously a

Dunure railway station Dunure railway station was a railway station serving the village of Dunure, South Ayrshire, Scotland. The station was part of the Maidens and Dunure Light Railway. History The station opened on 17 May 1906.Butt, p. 15 It closed on 1 December ...

in the village on the

Maidens and Dunure Railway The Maidens and Dunure Light Railway was a railway in Ayrshire, Scotland built to open up coastal communities by connecting them to the main line railway network. It opened in 1906 and closed to local passenger traffic in 1942, but a section se ...

: the station closed in the 1930s. Operated by

Stagecoach West Scotland Stagecoach West Scotland is an operating region of Stagecoach UK Bus, comprising Western Buses Ltd based in Ayr, Scotland. History Stagecoach arrived in the west of Scotland when it purchased Western Scottish Omnibuses Ltd of Kilmarnoc ...

, the 361 bus service to Ayr & Straiton starts/terminates here.

References

External links

Dunure Community Council
Dunure Community Council Web Site
Website dedicated to the village of Dunure

Pictures of Dunure

Pictures of Dunduff Castle

Video footage of the Dunure Labyrinth

Video footage of the Dunure Doocot

Video footage of the Dunure Quadrant Tower
{{South Ayrshire Villages in Carrick, Scotland Ports and harbours of Scotland