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The village of Knockentiber is in East Ayrshire, Parish of Kilmaurs, Scotland. Knockentiber is 2 miles WNW of Kilmarnock and 1/2 mile NE of Crosshouse. Latitude:55.6193°N Longitude:4.5455°W and Grid Ref. NS397392. The population was 359 in 1991, however the population is much higher following the construction of several housing estates (2007). In the 18th and 19th and mid 20th centuries the locality was a highly industrialised coal mining district. The settlement is on the Carmel Burn, which runs into the River Irvine, a mile or so to the south.
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[edit] Introduction
Knockentiber lies on the old toll road from Kilmaurs to Crosshouse, with a junction for Kilmarnock and a country road leading to Busbiehill, West Plann, Southhook and ulimately the Cunninghamhead and Perceton districts. A minor road branches off for Busbiehill and Knockentiber.
[edit] History
Ainslie's[2] map of 1822 marks the site of the settlement as Bushby, although a 'Knockintiber' is marked as being nearby. The name 'Knokintybir' is marked on Pont's map of 1604[3], but no mention is made of Busbie. Armstrong's map of 1775, shows both Busbie as a ruin with woodland policies and Knockentiber as aseperate settlement nearby.[4] 1775 map. The 1860 OS shows that a pre-refrmation chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary was situated close to the site of Busbie Castle. A small hamlet was also clustered around the castle, making this a distinct settlement at that time. Busbie andKnockentiber progressively grew together over the years.
| Etymology |
| The name Knockentiber, is thought to be derived, according to McNaught[1], from 'the hillock of the well', and Busbie, 'the town of the bushes', being partly Norse in origin. |
Busbie is more or less an alternative name for the area until the Royal Mail reorganised its postal districts in the 1930s and at that point many hamlets and other localities ceased to exist officially[5]. Busbiehill and Busbiehead are still extant nearby.
Archibald Adamson[6] walking through the area in 1875 remarks on the handsome railway bridge and his view of the Plann estate and the extensive fireclay works of John McNight and Son, the senior partner being the owner of the estate of Plann. A pit had been sunk near the mansion house and to the surprise of all the experts, good quaility ironstone was found. Top quaility coal and fireclay were also found in the vicinity. He describes Knockentiber as being a row of old houses occupied by miners.
Laigh Milton viaduct over the River Irvine is situated near Gatehead, a few miles away on the other side of Crosshouse. This is the oldest railway viaduct in Scotland[7] and one of the oldest in the World[8]
[edit] Busbie Castle
Knockentiber was close to several country estates which provided employment and helped create the need for the establishment of settlements such as Knockentiber. The old castle, a ruin since at leat the 1770s was demolished in 1949[9] as it had been unsafe for many years and the funds were not found to renovate the structure. Busbie Estates and Collective Securities Limited owned a fair amount of land in the 1950s.
[edit] Thorntoun and other estates
Thorntoun house and estate, including Carmel Bank, previously a Cuninghame property lies towards Springside. It was home to various families, such as the Montgomeries, Ross's, Mures, Cuninghame's, Peebles, Wreys and Sturrocks, before becoming a school, opened by Barnardo's in September 1971 for children with emotional difficulties aged 11 to 16 years. The school closed in 1990 and Thorntoun finally became a nursing home. Groome[10] refers to a mansion house at Knockentiber circa 1885, but gives no further details.
[edit] The Collieries, Coal Pits and Quarries
The 1860, 1898 - 1904 and, 1923 and 1912 OS maps all show that the extent to which Knockentiber was surrounded by collieries, coal pits and freight only railway or 'tram' lines. Collieries were located near Busbie farm, Plann and Fardalehill. These were served by standard gauge mineral railway lines, criss-crossing the countryside; they all now lifted, with only a few embankments left to indicate their original course. In 1860 numerous old and current coal pits dotted the area. The waste bing of Busbie Colliery still lie close to Busbie farm in the field across the road. A quarry lay over towards Waterpark and several limekilns were present near the Carmel Ford, etc. J. & R. Howie had extracted coal and clay under licence from the National Coal Board in 1951. Tiles were made at the PLann Brickworks and Balgray Bauxite Company had a small mine at Fardalehill.
[edit] Miner's Rows
The County Council in 1932 planned to demolish most of the old miners' rows, a local case being Southhook row near Southhook farm[9].
[edit] The Railway
Crosshouse railway station opened on 4 April 1843 as Busby. Busby station had a short life and closed on 15 April 1850, however the station reopened as Crosshouse (then as part of the Glasgow and South Western Railway) on 1 September 1872.and closed permanently to passengers on 6 April 1964[12]
Busbie Junction branched off to the Glasgow, Paisley, Kilmarnock and Ayr Railway (G&SWR) Busbie Branch to Irvine via Springside and Dreghorn. A milestone near Busbie Junction on the bridge over the Carmel, shown on the 1860 OS map appears to read Glasgow 32 miles and Gretna 84 miles.
The old railway from Kilmarnock to Irvine, branching off at Busbie Junction (Crosshouse station), has become a tarmaced cyclepath, maintained by Sustrans[13].
[edit] The Turnpike
Knockentiber was on a toll road or turnpike; the nearest toll house being opposite the entrance to the old Goods station. The name 'Turnpike' originated from the original 'gate' used being just a simple wooden bar attached at one end to a hinge on the supporting post. The hinge allowed it to 'open' or 'turn' This bar looked like the 'pike' used as a weapon in the army at that time and therefore we get 'turnpike'. The term was also used by the military for barriers set up on roads specifically to prevent the passage of horses. In addition to providing better surfaces and more direct routes, the turnpikes settled the confusion of the different lengths given to miles[14], which varied from 4,854 to nearly 7000 feet. Long miles, short miles, Scotch or Scot's miles (5,928 feet), Irish miles (6,720 feet), etc. all existed. 5280 feet seems to have been an average! Another important point is that when these new toll roads were constructed the Turnpike Trusts went to a great deal of trouble to improve the route of the new road and these changes could be quite considerable as the old roads tended to go from farm to farm, hardly the shortest route. The tolls on roads were abolished in 1878 to be replaced by a road 'assessment', which was taken over by the County Council in 1889.
| Etymology |
| Carmel, the oldest form of which is Caremuall, is thought to be derived, according to McNaught[1], from the Gaelic 'Car' meaning a 'fort', and 'Meall'. meaning a hill. Therefore, 'The fort on the hill'. |
Most milestones are no longer in situ and often the only remaining clue is a otherwise unexplained 'kink' in the line of a hedgerow. The milestones were buried during the Second World War so as not to provide assistance to invading troops, German spies, etc.[15]. This seems to have happened all over Scotland, however Fife was more fortunate than Ayrshire, for the stones were taken into storage and put back in place after the war had finished[16].
The 1860 OS does not indicated the milestone opposite Busbie farm, embedded in the tarmac of the pavement. This milestone is granite and has had its 'information' deleted by a coat of cement being applied to the surface, some of which has come off. This may have been by an assiduous workman 'blotting out' the information on a milestone which could not be buried easily; the fate of so many other milestones. Many other explanations are of course possible. Another milestone was near to the entrance to Carmyle or Waterpark farm. It appears to have read Kilmaurs 1 mile and Crosshouse 2 miles.
[edit] Farms
Old Busbie farm no longer exists, West Plann (previously Planne) and Greenhill are nearby. Carmyle or Waterpark lies on the Kilmaurs side of the old railway.
[edit] Busbie Mill
The present Busbie farm is marked on the older maps, e.g. 1860, as a mill, with a clear millrace or lade and a sluice. The water was taken from the Carmel somewhere in the vicinity of a dwelling marked as Busbie Holm, rejoining the burn just beyond the mill. It is not clear as to when the mill ceased to operate. It is likely that the mill was associated with the Lairds of Busbie.
[edit] Miscellaneous
Strawhorn [9] states in 1951 that a fair number of inhabitants are of Cornish extraction, having been brought up here to break a coal workers strike in the 1880s. They brought names like 'Chynoweth' with them, pronounced 'She-no-ef', Cornish or Kernewek for 'New House'.
On the 1860 OS map the road from Kilmarnock enters via a ford with a wooden footbridge.
In 1912 J. & R. Howie of Plann have a rental income of £703 6s 0d, John Barr has £181 5s 0d and Hugh Robert Wallace of Busbie has the considerable income of £1,451 5s 0d[1].
Knockentiber has a history up to the present day (2007) of fielding very successful amateur football teams. The football pitch and associated facilities are literally at the centre of the community.
The 'Tiber Tavern' was opened in the late 1990s, but has struggled to survive and having closed once and re-opened it most unfortunately closed again in 2007. The last local shop ceased trading in the 1990's.
The 1860 OS map marks a fine dwelling named as 'Knockentiber House'. This site is still occupied by a similarly pretentious dwelling, although apaptrently much modified. This was presumably the abode of a local business magnate.
New estates have boosted the population considerably (2007).
[edit] Knockentiber and Busbie Gallery
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[edit] References and Bibliography
- ^ a b c d e *McNaught, Duncan (1912). Kilmaurs Parish and Burgh. Pub. A.Gardner.
- ^ Ainslie, John (1821). A Map of the Southern Part of Scotland.
- ^ *Pont, Timothy (1604). Cuninghamia. Pub. Blaeu in 1654.
- ^ Armstrong and Son. Engraved by S.Pyle (1775). A New Map of Ayr Shire comprehending Kyle, Cunningham and Carrick.
- ^ Strawhorn, John and Boyd, William (1951). The Third Statistical Account of Scotland. Ayrshire. Pub. Edinburgh.
- ^ Adamson, Archibald R. (1875). Rambles Round Kilmarnock. Pub. Kilmarnock. Pps. 93 - 94.
- ^ The Official Site of Scotland's National Tourist Board. Retrieved on 2007-03-21.
- ^ The Official Site of Scotland's National Tourist Board. Retrieved on 2007-03-21.
- ^ a b c Strawhorn, John and Boyd, William (1951). The Third Statistical Account of Scotland. Ayrshire. Pub. P. 475
- ^ Groome, Francis H. (1880-85) Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland: A Survey of Scottish Topography, Statistical, Biographical and Historical,published in parts by Thomas C. Jack, Grange Publishing Works, Edinburgh.
- ^ MacIntosh, John (1894). Ayrshire Nights Entertainments: A Descriptive Guide to the History, Traditions, Antiquities, etc. of the County of Ayr. Pub. Kilmarnock. P. 195.
- ^ Butt, R. V. J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Patrick Stephens Ltd, Sparkford. ISBN 1-85260-508-1.
- ^ [www.sustrans.org.uk/ Sustrans Cyclepaths]
- ^ Thomson, John (1828). A Map of the Northern Part of Ayrshire.
- ^ Wilson, Jenny (2006). Oral communication with Griffith, R.S.Ll.
- ^ Stephen, Walter M. (1967-68). Milestones and Wayside Markers in Fife. Proc Soc Antiq Scot, V.100. P. 184.
