Ayr, High Street, Wallace Tower
Bell Tower (19th Century), House (19th Century), Tower (19th Century)
Site Name Ayr, High Street, Wallace Tower
Classification Bell Tower (19th Century), House (19th Century), Tower (19th Century)
Alternative Name(s) 176 High Street; Auld Tower
Canmore ID 41775
Site Number NS32SW 14
NGR NS 33852 21801
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/41775
- Council South Ayrshire
- Parish Ayr
- Former Region Strathclyde
- Former District Kyle And Carrick
- Former County Ayrshire
NS32SW 14 3385 2179.
(NS 3385 2179) Wallace Tower (NAT) on site of Auld Tower (NR)
OS 25" map (1961)
The present Wallace Tower was built in 1832 on the site of an earlier building of the same name. It is uncertain how the latter came by its name as it is invariably called the Auld Tower in the Town Records. An attempt in 1830 to re-face the old building failed for though its walls were of immense thickness, it had no sunk foundations and so it was removed. Originally a two-storey building, a belfry was added to it in 1731. It had probably been the town residence of Cathcart of Corbieston, and was bought by the burgh in 1673 from Adam Ritchie. (The Cathcart family existed before the mid-14th century, its last male representative died in 1547).
W Dodd 1972; Name Book 1855; J Stillie 1864; J Paterson 1847
There is no trace of the Auld Tower, a modern building, as stated, occupies the site.
Visited by OS (JLD) 28 December 1955
NMRS REFERENCE
Architect: Thomas Hamilton 1830-32
J Thom (statue)
Publication Account (1977)
The original Grammar School stood in the Sandgate and beside it, forming part of the same building, was the Sang Schule (Carrick, 1913, 52). The old school had been allowed to decay and when the Auld Kirk was built the Grammar School was transferred to a site nearby. In the seventeenth century the Grammar School was re-established in the Sandgate near its old quarters at the head of the School Vennel (Carrick, 1913, 52). An academy was opened in the late eighteenth century, teaching a wide variety of subjects.
Information from ‘Historic Ayr: The Archaeological Implications of Development’ (1977).
