Beith

This article is about the Scottish town. For the letter of the Ogham alphabet, see Beith (letter).

Beith
Population	6,346  (2001 census) est. 6,210 (2006)
OS grid reference	NS349542
Council area	North Ayrshire
Lieutenancy area	Ayrshire and Arran
Country	Scotland
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	BEITH
Postcode district	KA15
Dialling code	01505
Police	Scotland
Fire	Scottish
Ambulance	Scottish
UK Parliament	NorthAyrshire and Arran
Scottish Parliament	Cunninghame North

Beith is a small town in North Ayrshire, Scotland approximately 20-miles south-west of Glasgow

History

Beith Kirk in 1876, built on the site of Saint Inan's chapel

Beith is the highest (343-feet) and most northerly town in Ayrshire and commands a fine and extensive view of the countryside around, including Kilbirnie Loch. It’s name is thought to emanate from the Celtic signifying "birch", and there is reason to believe that the whole of the district was covered with woods. Beith was the occasional residence of Saint Inan, a confessor of some celebrity, whose principal place of abode was Irvine. He flourished about 839. Although he is said to have been a hermit, according to tradition Saint Innan often visited Beith, frequenting Cuff Hill with its Rocking Stone and various other prehistoric monuments. A cleft in the west-front of Lochlands Hill is still known as "St. Inan's Chair" and said to have been used by the saint as a pulpit. An unsuccessful search for the saint's writings which were said to be preserved in the library of Bonci, Archbishop of Pisa, was made by Colonel Mure of Caldwell in the 19th-century.

Saint Inan is said to have preached to the assembled people from the chair on the hill. There was not a great population in the area at that time and the people were located not in Beith, but up on the top of the Bigholm near to the old Beith water dams. The first settlements were in the heavily wooded areas around the dams where people were safe from attack and could get food from the land, and fish in the lochs. The Saints of old went where the people were, and they also tended to go where there had been worship of heathen Gods. It has been suggested that High Bogside Farm, which used to be called Bellsgrove, was really “Baalsgrove”, which fits in with the story of Saint Inan going to where the pagan gods were.

One of its various claims to fame is that a signatory of the American Declaration of Independence, the Rev. John Witherspoon, was a former minister of one its Church of Scotland parishes.

Dr Henry Faulds, the originator of the concept of forensic use of fingerprinting, was born in Beith in 1843. A well-travelled man, he explained the suitability of fingerprinting for the identification of criminals and also wrote to Charles Darwin to forward his ideas. Unfortunately the letter was never published and he died, aged 86, bitter at the lack of recognition he had received for his work. A small stone memorial to his memory is located in the centre of Beith.

The sixteenth century poet Alexander Montgomerie was born in Hazelhead (now Hessilhead) Castle, which is on the outskirts of Beith, beyond Gateside.of Beith built the Barnweil Mounument at Barnweil, near Craigie Village.

It was also home to many world-famous cabinet works, such as Stevenson and Higgins and Balfours.

The town was once served by two railway stations: Beith North and Beith Town. Both these stations are now closed, with the nearest station now being Glengarnock.

It hosts two 19th century Beith Parish Churches of the Church of Scotland and the Roman Catholic Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour, plus a modern primary school and local Scout group (102nd).

Industry

Furniture Making

From 1845 until the 1980’s Beith had the honour of being the most important furniture-manufacturing town in Scotland with a reputation for high-quality furniture. The origins of the industry can be traced back to Mathew Dale who started by making hand-built furniture for local people in 1845. An former employee of Dale, Matthew Pollock progressed the manufacturing by introducting machinery in a factory setting 3-miles outside of the town at Beith North railway station. After approximately 12-years Pollock and his brothers, sold the factory to Robert Balfour, and moved into the town to expand their business. Unfortunately Balfour suffered the same problems as the Pollock Brothers in being unable to attract workers from the town to walk the 3-miles to work. In 1872 he built a factory near the Beith Town railway station and persuaded the railway company to build a siding to allow easy transportation of raw materials and finished products.

The industry expanded across the local area making it a centre of excellence in furniture manufacturing and building it’s reputation throughout the world. In the late 1920’s transportation switched away from the railway but the industry continued to burgeon with many companies producing high-quality furniture; McNeil Bros, specialised in board room and library fittings, Stevenson and Higgins made lift cages, which were fitted in many hotels and department stores, Balfours were for a number of years the main manufacturers of mantlepieces in Scotland, some were designed in the elegant style, and required the expert skill of Woodcarvers. Matthew Pollock Ltd supplied furniture to both the RMS Queen Mary and the RMS Queen Elizabeth II.

Unfortunately furniture is no longer produced in Beith due to the closure of the various manufacturing firms. The closures were caused by a multitude of problems such as the state of the economy and an inability to compete with self-assembly furniture firms and their increase in popularity. The last big furniture manufacturer to close was Beithcraft (formerly Balfours) which finished in 1983 (after a major fire a few years earlier that destroyed large sections of the plant) with the loss of 420 jobs. With this final closure came the end of the Beith reputation for being one of the main furniture manufacturing centres in the country.

Armaments

Commonly referred by locals as "the Admiralty", the Royal Navy continues to maintain an armament depot, DM Beith, in the area.

Local Landmarks

The Townhouse

Beith Town House.

Beith’s townhouse was built by public subscription in 1817; the lower part of the building originally consisted of two shops, one of which was an ironmongers operated by George B Inglis from 1862 until around 1900. There was also a small room where prisoners were kept prior to their appearance in the upper hall which was used as a JP Court, Sheriff Small Debt Circuit Court and as a public meeting room.

Scapa Cottage

Scapa Cottage is known locally as "Dummy Cottage." The entire outside of the sandstone building is indented with marks (see illustration) giving it a most unusual appearance; in earlier years it was a Toll House. A deaf and dumb young man lived in the cottage in earlier times, hence the acquired name "Dummy Cottage," a politically unacceptable term today.

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  Scapa Cottage.
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  Very unusual 'Arabic writing' style ashlar carving on the 'Scapa Cottage'.

Beith Rocking Stone

The Rocking Stone at Cuff Hill.

The Beith Rocking Stone, weighing 11 tons, sits on top of Cuff Hill.

According to local folklore, Saint Innan frequented the stone, that legend states rocked from side-to-side on a balance point.

The Abbot of Kilwinning, The Court Hill

In the 12th century the Barony of Beith was given to the Tironensian monks of Kilwinning Abbey by the wife of Sir Richard de Morville. The farm or Grange of the monks is indicated by the name Grange Hill and a castellated tower indicated as once existing at this site may have been the local dwelling of the Abbot of Kilwinning when he was visiting the barony to deliver justice at the Court Hill or attend to other business. No clear remains have been found of the tower or grange buildings.

The 'Court Hill' is near Hill of Beith, Gateside, in the old Barony of Beith. Dobie states that this is the Moot Hill on which the Abbot of Kilwinning used to administer justice to his vassals & tenants. It is a sub-oval, flat-topped mound, measuring 15.0 by 14.5 metres (49.2 x 47.6 ft) over all, 10.0 by 8.0 metres (32.8 x 26.25 ft) across the top, and 2.0 m (6.6 ft) high, situated at the foot of a small valley. A number of large stones are visible in the sides of the mound. It is turf-covered, and probably situated on a low outcrop, it is mostly an artificial work. It pre-dates the channelling of the burn which detours around it, the mound was probably isolated in this once marshy outflow of the former Boghall Loch (see NS35SE 14).

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  Beith Court Hill.
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  Boghall House and farm from near the court Hill.
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  The Court Hill from the field above.
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  Details of the boulders used in the construction of the Court hill.

Spier's school

This school stood on the Barmill Road near the old Marshalland Farm. It was built Mrs Margaret Spier of the Marshalland and Cuff estate in 1887 to commemorate John Spier, her son, who had died at the tender age of 28. The school started as a fee paying day and boarding school, becoming part of the county education system in 1937. Following the construction of Garnock Academy, Spier's school closed in 1973 and the buildings were demolished in 1984.

The 16 acres (65,000 m²) of woodland and gardens remain a popular site for dog walkers, bird watchers, and those out to enjoy the rural surroundings.

Spier's School grounds in 2007 - 2008

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  The terraced lawn and garden beside the old walled garden area. These were tennis courts at one time.
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  A view from near the Barrmill Road tradesman's entrance up towards the old school buildings.
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  Scots pine and old plantings in front of the old school site.
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  Ivy dominated woodland near Geilsland school.

Geilsland

William Fulton Love, writer and bank agent in Beith, built Geilsland House and developed this small estate near Gateside in the 19th-century although the deeds go back to the 17th-century. Geilsland is a special school, run by the Church of Scotland.. It is separated from the Speir's school grounds by the Geilsland Road.

Geilsland House and School

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  Geilsland Lodge and main entrance.
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  A view of the side of the house which faces Beith.

Crummock House

The James Dobie of Crummock memorial in Beith Auld Kirk.

This mansion house and estate stood on the outskirts of Beith in an area now cut through by the main Dalry to Glasgow road. Now demolished, the Dobie family lived here in the 19th century. James Dobie was a historian and author. Some boundary walls and a cottage remain.

Social and cultural life

Youth Making Beith Better (YMBB)

Members of YMBB working at Spier's Old School Grounds.

The YMBB youth group was set up by members of the community to give the young people of Beith and district an opportunity to involve themselves in improving their town and the area around, whilst at the same time providing a forum for learning additional skills, making new friends, etc. The group is closely involved with the Saint Inan's parade and other local events.

YMBB meet in the Beith Community Centre twice a week and they are supervised by adults from the NAC Youth Services. The YMBB committee includes youth members, adults from the community and local councillors who help in the overview of the group, forward planning, etc.

YMBB members are frequently featured in local online newspapers, traditional newspapers, etc and a have a long term committment at the Spier's Old School Grounds on Barrmill Road, working towards the stages of the John Muir Trust Awards. YMBB have set up a number of geocaches to encourage locals and visitors to go out and visit local beauty spots and sites of interest.

Friends of Spiers (FoS)

Spier's Commemorative Wall at Spier's Old School Grounds.

This group works to develop and maintain the Spier's Old School Grounds parklands on Barrmill Road. FoS encourages other groups to become involved at Spier's through membership, carrying out conservation projects; biodivesity enhancement initiatives; photographic and other surveys; as well as arranging events and furthering the educational and ecotherapeutic uses of Spier's woodlands and open spaces.

Sport

"Beith Juniors", formed in 1938, to succeed "Beith" who had played in the Scottish Football League. The team currently (2010) participate in the West of Scotland, Super League Premier Division.

Beith also has its own golf course (reputed to be the 8th hardest amateur course in Britain)

Gallery

Beith Auld Kirk

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  Dobie family memorials.
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  The Old Sundial dated 1841.
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  A memorial stone inside the old kirk.
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  The John Spier memorial, previously at Spier's school.
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  The memorial to John Spier's wife.
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  The other John Spier memorial from Spier's school.
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  The kirk rear view.
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  Coat of Arm in Reform Street, thought to have come from the Auld Kirk manse.

Beith Landmarks

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  House next to Beith High Church.
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  A sundial recording the donation of the Beith War Memorial plot by Lady Cochran-Patrick of Ladyland and Mosside.
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  Beith War memorial.
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  The site of the old Beith North railway station.
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  Head Street church.
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  Beith landowners of the Victorian Era. Beith Library.
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  Woodside House
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  Beith High Church.

See also

• Barony and Castle of Giffen
• Ted Nevill
• Hessilhead
• Broadstone, North Ayrshire

External links

• Friends of Spiers Blog
• Beith Community Website
• Beith on the Web
• Beith Golf Club
• Beith Juniors Football Club