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Ayr, Kirk Port, Auld Kirk Of Ayr
Church (17th Century), Churchyard (Period Unassigned), Friary (15th Century)
Site Name Ayr, Kirk Port, Auld Kirk Of Ayr
Classification Church (17th Century), Churchyard (Period Unassigned), Friary (15th Century)
Alternative Name(s) Kirkport, Old Parish Church; Church Of Scotland
Canmore ID 41840
Site Number NS32SW 7
NGR NS 33900 21920
NGR Description Centred on NS 33900 21920
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/41840
- Council South Ayrshire
- Parish Ayr
- Former Region Strathclyde
- Former District Kyle And Carrick
- Former County Ayrshire
NS32SW 7 33900 21920.
(NS 3390 2192) Auld Kirk of Ayr (NAT) (St John the Baptist) (NAT) on site of Friary (NR) (Franciscan - founded AD 1472-4)
OS 25" map (1961)
Though the foundation of this house of Franciscan (Grey) Friars has been attributed to the inhabitants of Ayr in 1472 or 1474, this appears to have been erected by James IV (1488-1513) before 1497/8, when it first appears on record. It was secularised in 1567 (I B Cowan and D E Easson 1976). It is thought that the Auld Kirk, which was built in 1654, was built on the site of the friary of which no trace remained in 1855
(Name Book 1855).
A I Dunlop 1953; H Scott 1920
No vestiges of the friary exist. The church, dated 1654 on a coping stone, is currently being restored, and is in use. A plaque on the wall states 'Site of the Franciscan Monastery of Grey Friars. Founded 1472".
Visited by OS (JLD) 27 November 1955
The refurbished church and the plaque are as described.
Visited by OS (MJF) 27 October 1980
102-108 High Street. Watching brief and excavation at Franciscan Friary. The earliest archaeological deposit encountered was a soil which was cultivated from the 13th till the 15th century when the area was inundated by wind blown sand. Three graves, dating to the second half of the 15th or to the 16th century are almost certainly part of the Franciscan Friary cemetery. Several architectural fragments from the late 15th century friary were recovered. Medieval finds include iron slag, part of a clay mould, a coin, a brooch, mid-13th century painted window glass, roofing tile and pottery.
W J Lindsay 1982
NS32SW 7.00 33900 21920.
NS32SW 7.02 3386 2194 Gateway
NS32SW 7.03 3387 2193 Burial-Ground
NMRS REFERENCE
I G Lindsay Collection, W132
EXTERNAL REFERENCE
National Library - photographs.
Large T-plan late C17 church with Gothic windows and subtle later alterations and additions by David Bryce in 1836.
Photographed on behalf of the Buildings of Scotland publications.
RCAHMS 2009
Publication Account (1977)
The Observant Greyfriars, who in the 1470s reputedly established themselves in Ayr at the invitation of the burgesses (Cowan, 1976, 129), were among the strictest of the mendicant orders. In 1481 the Pope agreed to their building a habitation with altars, a little belfry, cemetery, dormitory, refectory and other relevant buildings (Dunlop, 1953, 99). Greyfriars church was the site on which the Auld Kirk of Ayr was constructed and today no indications of other friary buildings remain above the ground.
Information from ‘Historic Ayr: The Archaeological Implications of Development’ (1977).
