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Gateside is a small village in North Ayrshire, Scotland about half a mile east of Beith.
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The village
Gateside Primary School was opened in 1903, and nowadays it has 74 pupils. The school has an extension built in 1998 which provided indoor toilets and a school hall, which is used by the nursery, PE classes and for school dinners and for assemblies. Another extension is to be built soon. The school is very environmentally aware and is currently working towards its Green Flag Award (2009).
Gateside Primary School LEA: North Ayrshire Headteacher : Ms. Fiona Dunlop,
Spier's school stood nearby and the grounds are now a public park used by the Gateside and Beith communities.
The Isobel Patrick Memorial Hall is a building in the Gothic style. Trearne House stood near Gateside, but it was demolished and the site is now a large worked out limestone quarry.
A field behind the primary school was given to the community by the Marshall family who were the village blacksmiths for many years.
Gateside hall, school and Trearne
 The village of Gateside lies nearby on the road to Lugton. |
 Gateside Memorial Hall. |
 Memorial to Isobel Patrick who died aged 21 years. |
 A highly carved mantelpiece in Gateside Memorial Hall. |
 Gateside Primary school. |
 The old driveway that led to Trearne House. |
 Trearne Quarry looking north. |
 Trearne Quarry looking south. |
Geilsland House and School
Geilsland school, run by the Church of Scotland, is located nearby.
 Geilsland Lodge and main entrance. |
 The side of the house which faces Geilsland Road and Speir's school grounds. |
 The front of Geilsland House showing later alterations. |
 The chapel at Geilsland. |
The Court Hill
A Moot hill or Court Hill survives near Gateside at Bog hall in the old Barony of Beith. Dobie states that the Abbot of Kilwinning used it to administered justice to his vassals & tenants. It is a sub-oval, flat-topped mound, situated at the foot of a small valley. A number of large stones are visible in the sides of the mound. It is turf-covered, situated on a low outcrop, and is mostly an artificial work. It pre-dates the channelling of the burn which detours around it, the mound was probably isolated in this once marshy outflow of the former Boghall Loch (see NS35SE 14).[1] It does not seem to lie in the area identified by Smith, the author of Prehistoric Man in Ayrshire and the excavator of Cleeves Cove cave.[2].
Limestone and marble
Because of the underlying geology of this part of Ayrshire the presence of the many limestone quarries is to be expected. Lime kilns to produce lime for improving the soil, were a common feature of the countryside before the process became fully industrialised. Nettlehirst near Barrmill was one of the last large traditionally operated lime kilns to operate, surviving until the 1970s, however Broadstone has the substantial remains of one of the largest of the early stone built kilns. This must have created considerable pollution in the area, offset only by the employment it created. It sits right next to the limestone quarry which supplied it.
The OS maps for 1858 show that the 'Hillhead Railway' ran to the quarry from Barkip Junction on the Ayrshire and Lanarkshire Railway branchline to Kilbirnie. At first sidings and a transfer system existed with a weighing machine at what was to become Brackenhills railway station, later a direct junction was laid. The line did not survive into the 20th century.
The old Ordnance Survey maps show that a marble quarry was located nearby.
Views of Broadstone's industrial archaeology remains
 Two very large limekilns near Broadstone Hall. |
 The limekiln wall with Hart's-tongue ferns. |
 Detail of the limekiln stonework & 'exit'. |
 Looking out from one of the limekiln's two lower chambers. |
 A view of the side wall. |
 Another limekiln which may predate the quarry beneath. |
 The course of the old 'Hillhead Railway' from Barkip Junction to Broadstone limestone quarry. |
The Gateside and Broadstone Geocaches
Geocaching is a popular new 'sport' which involves searching for 'hidden' caches of 'swaps' and a log book. The 'Broadstone Kiln,' 'Gatesiders', 'Spirit of Trearne', and 'Now Hessilhead' geocaches are in the woodlands and hills surrounding the village. The GPS co-ordinates can be found by registering on the Geocaching website. You will really need a GPS to locate thees caches.
References
- ^ RCAHMS Canmore archaeology site
- ^ Smith, John (1895). Prehistoric Man in Ayrshire. Pub. Elliot Stock. P. 81.
See also
External links
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