Muirkirk Canal
Canal (18th Century)
Site Name Muirkirk Canal
Classification Canal (18th Century)
Canmore ID 76371
Site Number NS72NW 7
NGR NS 7102 2775
NGR Description From NS 7000 2681 to NS 7196 2814
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/76371
- Council East Ayrshire
- Parish Muirkirk
- Former Region Strathclyde
- Former District Cumnock And Doon Valley
- Former County Ayrshire
NS72NW 7.00 From 7000 2681 to 7196 2814.
See also NS7.01, 7.02, 7.03, 7.04, 7.05, 7.06 and 7.07.
This canal, in Kyle and Renfrewshire, was constructed in order to serve the needs of industrial development. In 1789 an iron-works was established in this 'desert and inland' parish of Muirkirk for the purpose of taking advantage of available and cheap raw materials. The canal, which was opened in the same year, was one mile in length and not only furnished the works with water but also enabled ore and coal to be transported to the furnaces.
In 1792 an Ayrshire landowner received a letter from J. L. McAdam containing plans for a coal canal between Muirkirk and Ayr. This waterway, however, was never built.
J Lindsay 1968.
Field Visit (February 1991 - November 1991)
The remains of a canal can be followed over a distance of some 2.5km, from the Ashaw Burn to the site of the Ironworks (NS62NE 17). Opened in the early 1790's, the canal served two purposes: in the first place, it supplied the Ironworks with coal and limestone from the eastern part of the mineral field; secondly, it provided the Ironworks with additional water-power to operate the blowing engine and a forge. The canal was fed from the River Ayr, and an adequate head of water was subsequently assured by the two reservoirs which had been built upstream on the course of the River Ayr for the mills at Catrine. The upper reservoir, also known as Glenbuck Loch and located some 6km to the E of the Ironworks, was created in 1802 and is still used to store water (centred NS 7583 2860), but the lower reservoir, constructed a short distance downstream in 1808, has been breached and now survives as a grass-grown embankment (centred NS 7408 2842).
The construction of the canal involved a substantial embankment on the N side along much of its route; this was wide enough to accommodate the towpath. When originally constructed, the canal is said to have measured 2.4m wide at the bottom, 4.8m wide across the top and to have been 1.2m deep. The course of the canal was dictated largely by the gradient, and three aqueducts were built to carry the canal across natural stream gullies (NS 7051 2727; NS 7077 2756; NS 7185 2809). The canal basin was located to the SE of the furnace bank at the Ironworks, and an outflow to the N fed a reservoir. This reservoir supplied the water to power the blowing engine at the Ironworks and is depicted on the 1st ed of the OS 25-inch map (Ayrshire, Sheet xxxi.5, 1856 {survey date}). With the demolition of the Ironworks in the late 1960's, the canal basin was destroyed, however, the course of the canal, though now drained, can still be traced to the E. The 1st ed OS map depicts the canal with various tramway connections into the extraction field, but by 1896, when the 2nd ed OS map was published (Ayrshire, Sheet xxxi.5, 1896), it had been superceded by the mineral railway and was no longer in use.
Visited by RCAHMS (ARW, SPH), February-November 1991.
T Findlay 1986; J R Hume and J Butt 1966; J R Hume 1969.
NMRS MS 731/6
Note (26 June 2001)
This canal is clearly visible on the 1st edition of the OS 6-inch map (Ayrshire 1860, sheet xxxi).
Information from RCAHMS (MD) 26 June 2002.
