Barskimming Tileworks, Stair, East Ayrshire.
Special thanks go to SJ and Will Galbraith, Pant Farm, Mauchline, Ayrshire for their information and goodwill which assisted greatly in the compiling of this post.
Below – 29/05/1850 – Perthshire Constitutional and Journal – Farms to let on Barskimming Estate … Lochill, Muirston and Bogside … There is a tilework on the estate to supply the tenants at prime cost and the proprietor will pay the price of the tiles for thoroughly draining the lands on payment of an annual percentage …
1851 – Census – John Baird, aged 35, Master tilemaker employing 4 men and five boys, resident at Barskimming Tilework, Stair, Ayrshire. The household contains son John, aged six months.
1855 – 1857 – Scotlands Places – Barskimming Tilework. A large tile work, machinery propelled by Steam. Engine eight horsepower has a dwelling house attached – one storey & slated.
The work is let. All in good repair. Property of Sir William Millar.
21/08/1857 – Death. Agnes Baird (85), widow. Barskimming Tileworks.
Below – 1857 – Barskimming Tilework. (The works are not depicted on the 1895 map).
1862 – John Woodburn, Barskimming Tileworks, Mauchline.
Below – 15/07/1863 – Aberdeen Press and Journal – Farms to be let on Barskimming Estate, Parish of Stair, Ayrshire …The farm of Pant currently possessed by Alexander Mair and Chalmerston and Garfield Farms … These farms have been mostly drained under Government inspection and are capable of raising all kinds of crop. If further drainage is thought requisite the proprietor has a tilework on the Farm no 1 (Pant) from which the tenants are supplied at two-thirds of market price … 04/07/1863.
15/07/1910 – Kilmarnock Herald – Crosshill Clinkers sports …
Junior girls scratch race … 3. Bella Kerr, Pant Tileworks …
Junior boys scratch race … 1. Robert Kerr, Plant Tileworks …
Senior girls scratch race … 2. Agnes Kerr, Pant Tileworks …
Senior boys consolation – William Kerr, Tilework Cottage …Alexander
19/09/1913 – Kilmarnock Herald – Mauchline quoiting club, silver medal competition … Junior boys scratch race 1. Myles Kerr, Pant Tilework …
Below – Unknown date – Clay being dug by hand – possibly at Pant Farm, Mauchline
The clay used by Ochiltree Tileworks to manufacture tiles appears in the main to have been extracted from 2 locations on Pant Farm, Mauchline. The following photos show the old clay pit now waterlogged and the last claypit which was actually filled in by Wills father to prevent the Council commandeering it for a refuse dump which apparently was the plan.
Below – The original claypit
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Below – The ‘last’ claypit – to the left of the road in the first photo below.
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Below – The remains of 2 Clay Workers cottages situated between the 2 claypits at Pant Farm, Mauchline
Below – A lead box time capsule found while working on the Clay Workers cottages above – it was located behind a cornerstone.
Below – Found within the above time capsule was a lead plate bearing the inscription ” Erected by Sir Willm Miller Bart, and stone laid upon Wednesday the 19th Dec 1849″
Below – Pant Farm, Mauchline supplied the raw clay to the Ochiltree Tileworks approximately 3 miles away.
A visit to Pant Farm, Mauchline recovered the following examples of drainage pipes which may have been made at the Barskimming Tileworks or made at the Ochiltree Tileworks.
A ribbed tile with a flange on each corner which means it can lie flat on any side although the opening is oval-shaped. 12″ long x 2 3/4″ x 2 1/2″
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Below – Almost round tile but not quite. 11″ long x 3″ 2 1/2″
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Below – Flat bottomed oval tile – 14″ long x 4″ x 3 3/4″
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Below – Almost round tile but not quite. 12″ long x 4 3/4″ x 5″
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Below – Flat bottomed almost round tile. 12″ long x 5″ x 4 3/4″
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Below – 17/11/1851 – Glasgow Herald – The lands of Greenfoot and Gain for sail … The lands contain coal, ironstone, limestone, freestone and fireclay … 09/09/1876 – Airdrie and Coatbridge Advertiser – On Saturday about seven o’clock in the morning, a man named Charles Docherty, 37 years of age, a drawer, residing at South…
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Burnfoot Tileworks, Ochiltree, Ayrshire aka Ochiltree Tileworks Special thanks go to SJ and Will Galbraith, Pant Farm, Mauchline, Ayrshire for their information and goodwill which assisted greatly in the compiling of this post. Canmore – A typical drainage tileworks, still in operation, with an L-plan range of louvred single-storey drying sheds and two kilns, one…
