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Fenwick

Fenwick view By Kenny Monaghan
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Notes on the way
through Ayrshire - 100 years ago
FENWICK PARISH.
The village of Fenwick
stands north west of Loudoun.
In the Churchyard is a
monument to Captain John Paton
of Meadowhead, the Covenant
hero and martyr, who was interred in Greyfriars’ Churchyard,
Edinburgh;
the tombs of several other martyrs
of less note, and of John
Howie, author of the "Scots
Worthies." The picturesque old Parish Church, kept still in good
repair, may be regarded as sacred to the memory of the Rev.
William Guthrie, celebrated
Covenant preacher, author of "The Christian’s Great Interest."
He was ordained minister of Fenwick in 1644.
John Fulton,
self-taught astronomer and mathematician, was born at Fenwick, 1800,
and bred a shoemaker. Died in 1854. See his orrery
in Kelvingrove Museum, Glasgow; it is one of the wonders of the world. Lochgoin
farmhouse, far away on the wild moors near the north-east boundary of
the parish and of the county, five or six miles from Fenwick by road, is
famous as the birthplace and residence of John
Howie, and as a refuge for Covenanters.
Above the door of the old one-story dwelling are the dates, 1178, 1710,
1816, indicating when it was built and re-built by the generous and
patriotic family of Howie,
whose residence it has been all the time. During the long years of
persecution it was frequently visited by the enemy in search of refugees,
and was plundered twelve times. John
Howie, born 1736, was bred to
working on the farm, where he remained during his lifetime, devoting his
evening: to self-education and writing the lives of his country’s
martyrs. He published the " Scats Worthies" in 1781; collected a
valuable library and a few relics of Covenant heroes. Died in 1793.
About two miles
south-south-west of Lochgoin is Meadowhead, once the home of
Captain
Paton,
whose sword and Bible are amongst the relics preserved by the Howies
at Lochgoin. When he was about to be executed in the Grassmarket,
Edinburgh, May 8, 1684, he handed his Bible down from the scaffold to his
poor, devoted wife, who had followed him thither.
The parish contains
coal, ironstone, and limestone. The surface, from 914 feet ahove sea level
at Lochgoin, slopes gently down south-west. Originally very wet, it
has been greatly improved of late by drainage, but much of it lies in poor
natural grass. Its length, from east to west, is eight and a quarter
miles. Area, 16,134 acres. Population in 1821, 1852; in 1871, 1318; in
1881, 1152.

Fenwick 1846
FENWICK, a parish, in the district of Cunninghame, county of Ayr; including
the villages of Kirktown and Upper Fenwick, and containing 2018 inhabitants,
of whom 355 are in Upper Fenwick, 4 miles (N. N. E.) from Kilmarnock. This
place in ancient times formed part of the parish of Kilmarnock, from which it
was separated in the year 1642, and called New Kilmarnock, its present
appellation having been subsequently derived from Fenwick hill, in the
vicinity of the church. The parish is nine miles in length, and upwards of six
in breadth, and is in figure nearly an oblong, the surface rising gradually
from the south to the north, and reaching an elevation of about 700 feet near
the part where it joins the Mearns moor. The climate is moist, and rain is
very frequent, and the soil to a great extent unproductive, several large
tracts consisting of deep moss, which, at many seasons in the year, are
impassable without risk of life. The lower division contains most of the
population, and the land here produces good average crops; the higher grounds,
bordering on Renfrewshire, are chiefly pastoral, and of excellent quality, and
the stock grazed upon them is of a good breed, and in superior condition. The
process of draining has been for some time attended to, and much land once
entirely useless is now under tillage, and affords good returns. Limestone is
abundant, and is quarried in several places; coal has recently been discovered
in much larger quantities than those formerly obtained, and iron has also been
found in the same locality in considerable abundance, one bed measuring five
feet in thickness.
The parish contains several
small hamlets; the inhabitants generally dispose of their produce at the
markets of Glasgow and Kilmarnock: coal is procured from the neighbourhood of
the latter place, and peat is obtained plentifully from the mosses in the
district. The public road from Glasgow to Kilmarnock and Ayr passes through
the parish. The rateable annual value of Fenwick is £9366.
The ecclesiastical affairs
are under the presbytery of Irvine and synod of Glasgow and Ayr, and the
patronage vested in the Earl of Glasgow; the minister's stipend is £123, of
which a part is received from the exchequer, with a manse, and a glebe of
eight acres, valued at £24 per annum. The church, seated on the right bank of
one of the two streams which intersect the parish, is a plain cruciform
structure, built in 1643, and containing between 700 and 800 sittings, all
free. There is a place of worship for members of the United Secession. The
parochial school affords instruction in the ordinary branches; the master has
a salary of £28, with a good house, built in 1805, a rood of garden, and £20
fees. There is a second school, with an endowment of £10 per annum; and the
parish contains a subscription library. The Earl of Glasgow takes the title of
Baron Boyle, of Fenwick, from this place.
From: A Topographical Dictionary
of Scotland (1846)

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Fenwick
1841 Census
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1791-99
and 1845 Statistical Accounts
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Some
Fenwick Churchyard Monumental Inscriptions
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Some
Fenwick Churchyard Burials
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Extracts
from UP Church Register
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THE
"TERROR OF THE WHIGS" EXORCISES THE BEANSCROFT
DEIL.
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Map
of Fenwick today
This Link takes you to
the MULTIMAP website where you will find a map of the town and the
surrounding area as it is today. You can zoom in and out and move around
in all directions.
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StreetMap
of Fenwick
This Link takes you to
the STREET website where you will find a street map of the town as it is today. You can zoom in and out and move around
in all directions.
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Old
Maps of Ayrshire Place Names
This link goes
directly to the OLD MAPS website for an Ayrshire Index to detailed old
maps of most Ayrshire Towns around 1860. You can explore out to all
sides by using the arrows at the top of the page. These maps are ideal
for finding the locations of areas such as farms. |
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GenUKI
The old churchyard is no
less interesting than the church itself, and contains the burying-place of
the Howies of Lochgoin, and the graves of not a few of the martyrs of the
Covenant. Amongst those belonging to this parish, who suffered from the
Persecution, possibly no name is better known than that of Captain John
Paton, of Meadowhead. The lonely moorland house of Lochgoin oftentimes
afforded a refuge and hiding place for the Captain, when pursued by the
merciless troopers. They soon got to know of this, and were in the habit
of paying the house frequent visits, and sometimes, when they were
disappointed in not securing their prey, actuated by feelings of revenge,
they plundered and ransacked the house in the most lawless manner. This
noble martyr was apprehended by a party of dragoons, under circumstances
of the most painful nature....................>
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Fenwick Web Sites

Fenwick Books

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