Old Rome, South Ayrshire
Old Rome
|
|
|---|---|
 Old Rome
|
|
| Old Rome shown within South Ayrshire | |
| OS grid reference | NS 392 361 |
| Civil parish | |
| Council area | |
| Country | Scotland |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Police | Scottish |
| Fire | Scottish |
| Ambulance | Scottish |
| EU Parliament | Scotland |
The old village or hamlet of Old Rome, Rome or Old Rome Ford is located in South Ayrshire, Parish of Dundonald, Scotland. It is one and a half miles from Crosshouse and one and less than a quarter of a mile from Gatehead. In the 18th and 19th centuries the locality was a busy coal mining district and many of the houses have been demolished. The settlement is situated near the River Irvine.
Old Rome, an old colliers' village, pronounced 'Aul Rim', lies across the river from Gatehead on the main A759 road to Kilmarnock, Dundonald & Troon, with the old road to Kilmarnock via Earlston branching off the new Kilmarnock road. The River Irvine forms the boundary with East Ayrshire.
Roy's map of circa 1747 shows several dwellings near Fairlie at the Old Rome site, in 1807 a single row of cottages, growing to two rows by 1860 with garden areas for growing extra food behind them. Archibald Adamson records a walk through the area in 1875. He mentions a neat lodge house at Fairlie, then owned by a Captain Tait and records that the Old Rome Bridge over the Irvine had recently replaced an older one. The Old Rome miners cottages on the East side of the road are stated to be in ruins following the closure of the local coal pits and the distillery ruins were still apparent. He goes on to say that the nearby Gatehead Village was much more recent and was established around fifty years back, i.e. circa 1825, and has neither kirk, smithy, mill or market, but it does have a station.
The hamlet had a 'Mission Station' in 1837, the mother church being Dundonald. A school was once located at Romeford and in 1939 the school house and school survived as dwelling houses.
In 1793 the population was 74; by 1841 the population was 261, mostly miners, a worker at the distillery, a teacher and even two grocers; the 1851 gives 204 inhabitants with fewer miners and no whisky workers; finally 1881 gives only 31 inhabitants.
In Roys map of circa 1747 no ford crossing or road bridge is shown at this point on the river and the Ayr to Kilmarnock Road ran via Fortacres. Ainslie's map of 1821 shows only a possible railway crossing at the river, running down to the coal pits and this may not have been built due to the high cost of a bridge and the extensive railway embankments that would have been needed. The name Rameford indicates a ford even without an established road. In 1828 two crossings are shown at the river at Romford (sic) although one seems to stop at the railway itself and may indicate a planned railway connection yet to be, but never actually built.
...
Wikipedia