Loudoun Kirk
| Loudoun Kirk | |
|---|---|
| Coordinates: 55°36′24″N 4°23′38″W / 55.60668°N 4.39390°W | |
| OS grid reference | NS493373 |
| Location | Loudoun, East Ayrshire |
| Country | Scotland |
| Denomination | Presbyterian |
| Previous denomination | Roman Catholic |
| History | |
| Founded | 1198 or 1451 |
| Dedication | St Michael |
| Architecture | |
| Status | Parish church |
| Functional status | Preserved |
| Style | Gothic |
| Administration | |
| Parish | Loudoun |
Loudoun Kirk is a disused church located about one mile west of Loudoun Castle, East Ayrshire. It served as Loudoun's parish church until some point after 1600, when this function moved to the church in nearby Newmilns. It subsequently fell into a state of disrepair, however since 1994 has been preserved by a local charity, Friends Of Loudoun Kirk.
The establishment of Loudoun Kirk marks the earliest known Christian worship in the surrounding area. It is widely regarded as having been founded in 1451, with most local historians taking this date from an 1890 translation of the Latin text, Muniments of the Royal Burgh of Irvine. Recently however, local historian Alastair Hendry unearthed a letter referring to church rents dating prior to 1451. After retranslating the Muniments of Irvine, he dated Loudoun Kirk to 1198. At or soon after its foundation, the revenues of Loudoun Kirk, were allocated to support the monks of the newly founded Kilwinning Abbey, however they were obliged to provide a priest (curate) to attend to the spiritual needs of the parishioners.
During the Campbell verus Kennedy feuds of 1527/8, Loudoun Kirk was badly damaged, but soon rebuilt. In 1530, in recognition of the shift in population, a chapel was built at Newmilns. Loudoun Kirk remained the parish church until at least the 17th century, at which time the chapel in Newmilns was upgraded to parochial status. Loudoun Kirk and its kirkyard continued in use for occasional church services, but more particularly as the last resting-place of generations of the parishioners of Loudoun. The building was repaired in 1898 by the Third Marquis of Bute.
During the Covenanting times (1638–88), the Rev. John Nevoy of Loudoun Kirk was the chaplain to the Covenanter army led by General Leslie who were fighting the Irish MacDonnels who had invaded the west of Scotland. In 1647 the fortress of Dunaverty was taken and at Nevoy's urging the entire Irish garrison were driven over a cliff to their deaths.
Loudoun Kirk's vault and surrounding graveyard served as a burial site for both Loudoun's nobility and locals. Amongst those interred are John Campbell (1st Earl of Loudoun), John Campbell (4th Earl of Loudoun), Lady Flora Hastings, Janet Little (Scots' poet, known as The Scottish Milkmaid) and Thomas Fleming (Covenanter, killed at the Battle of Drumclog).
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