Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Auld Brig
One of the oldest stone bridges in Scotland, Ayr's cobbled, four-arched Auld Brig was
built during the reign of James IV (1488-1513), having replaced an earlier, thirteenth-
century wooden one. hankfully, it survived the threat of demolition in the early
twentieth century, thanks largely to Burns's poem he Brigs of Ayr .
Auld Kirk
Blackfriar's Walk • Feb-June & Sept-Nov Tues 1-2pm; July & Aug Sat 10.30am-12.30pm • Free • T 01292 262938, W auldkirk.org
A short stroll upstream from the Auld Bridge stands the town's much-restored Auld
Kirk , which Burns attended as a young boy. At the lych gate, look out for the
co n-shaped mortsafe (heavy grating) on the walls; placed over newly dug graves,
these mortsafes were an early nineteenth-century security system, meant to deter
bodysnatchers at a time when bodies were swiftly bought up by medical schools,
with no questions asked.
Wallace Tower
he most conspicuous landmark in the centre of Ayr is the rather ugly, castellated
Wallace Tower , erected in 1828 at the southern end of the High Street. It stands on
what is thought to have been the site of Edward I's barracks, which were set alight by
William Wallace in 1297.
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Citadel
All you can see of Cromwell's zigzag Citadel , built to the west of the town centre in the
1650s, is a small section of the old walls - the area was built over, for the most part, in
Victorian times, but is still known locally as “the Fort”. he best-preserved section of
the fortifications lies on South Harbour Street, though the one surviving corbelled
corner turret is, in fact, a Victorian addition known as Miller's Folly after its eccentric
former owner.
St John's Tower
Another survivor from the distant past is St John's Tower , near Bruce Crescent, which
stands on its own in a well-kept walled garden at the heart of the old citadel, and is all
that remains of the medieval church where the Scottish parliament met after the Battle
of Bannockburn in 1315 to decide the royal succession. Although a spiral staircase
links the five floors (vault, three rooms and bell chamber), it's currently not possible to
access the interior.
Wellington Square
To the south of the citadel are the wide, gridiron streets of Ayr's main Georgian and
Regency residential development. Wellington Square , whose first occupants were
“Gentlemen of Rich Fortune and Retired Army O cers”, is the area's showpiece, its
trim gardens and terraces overlooked by the County Buildings , a vast, imposing
Palladian pile from 1820.
Esplanade
he opening of the Glasgow-to-Ayr train line in 1840 brought the first major influx of
holiday-makers to the town, but today - unless the weather's fantastic - only a few
hardy types take a stroll along Ayr's bleak, long Esplanade and beach, which look out
 
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