Silverwood, Ayrshire

Silverwood in the Parish of Kilmarnock lies in East Ayrshire, Scotland. This was once a small estate with a mansion house; it is now a farm. The plantation nearby is named after it.

Timothy Pont's map of circa 1654 (See illustration) shows 'Sylverwood' with wooded policies and a pale encircling it on three sides, the Templeton Burn forming the boundary to the West. The land is referred to in 1691 as being the three pound land of old extent. In circa 1640 Hew Montgomerie of Silverwood was one of the rentallers of Grougar and the valuation was £76 9s 4d.

The lands in 1640 lay in the Bailliary of Kilwinning and the regality of Torphichen; regality being defined as a territorial jurisdiction of a royal nature conferred by the sovereign, here the jurisdiction was over lands which had belonged to the Knights Templar. The regality was called Temple-Cuninghame.

Hew (Hugh) Montgomerie of Silverwood was the brother of Robert Montgomerie of Hessilhead and in 1672 he was heir to the hereditary bailieship of all the Temple lands and tenements within the Bailiary of Cuninghame and regality of Kilwinning. He was Sheriff Depute of Renfrewshire and as such was involved in a number of contemporary court cases. Hugh's wife was a Helen Tran and his son was Alexander Montgomerie. Hugh stood as a witness to his brother being invested in the Barony of Giffen on 19 June 1663.

Temple-Cuninghame was a tenandry in that the land and other property, etc. was let for rent, rather than retained in the superior’s own hands. In 1614 Hugh had given a bell to Beith (Old Kirk), inscribed THIS . BELL . WAS . GIVEN . BY . HUGH MONTGOMERIE . SON . TO . HESSILHEAD . ANNO . 1614 .

In 1691 John Cuming was laird of Silverwood. He was the son of Matthew Cuming, a merchant in Glasgow, and held the lands at an annual rent of £78 16s 5d. His mother was Jean Howatt to whom the lands had passed via her grandfather, James Howatt. The Hearth Tax records for this year show the 'Lands of Silverwood' had ten dwellings; one hearth each for Silverwood and Templeton, four for Milton.

Aiton records that Silverwood Farm was 73 acres in extent and prior to 1776 was leased for £5 and 5 bolls of meal per annum for a 19 year period; it had risen to £200 per annum in 1811.

By 1876 the lands of Silverwood had become part of the estates belonging to the Duke of Portland. The 6 inch OS maps of the 19th century show a formal laid out garden with a nearby orchard.

...
Wikipedia