Accessibility

Font Size

100% 150% 200%

Background Colour

Default Contrast
Close Reset

Ayr, Dominican Monastery

Chapel (Period Unassigned), Monastery (13th Century), Well (Period Unassigned)

Site Name Ayr, Dominican Monastery

Classification Chapel (Period Unassigned), Monastery (13th Century), Well (Period Unassigned)

Canmore ID 41853

Site Number NS32SW 8

NGR NS 3390 2181

Datum OSGB36 - NGR

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/41853

Ordnance Survey licence number AC0000807262. All rights reserved.
Canmore Disclaimer. © Copyright and database right 2024.

Toggle Aerial | View on large map

Digital Images

Administrative Areas

  • Council South Ayrshire
  • Parish Ayr
  • Former Region Strathclyde
  • Former District Kyle And Carrick
  • Former County Ayrshire

Archaeology Notes

NS32SW 8 3390 2181.

(NS 3394 2184) Supposed Site of Dominican Monastery (NR) AD 1230.

OS 1:500 map (1855)

Easson states that the monastery of the Dominican (Black) Friars at Ayr was founded on an unknown date pre-1242, though other authorities e.g. Dunlop give 1230 as the date of foundation. It was given to Ayr burgh in 1567. The buildings were demolished after the Reformation and though no traces survive, from documentary evidence it may be shown that the monastic buildings stood at the foot of Mill Street, near the Ducat Ford (A I Dunlop 1953).

The Victoria Bridge Works on Mill Brae occupy part of the site of the friars' mills, and part of their ford can still be seen. Its church was dedicated to St Katherine of Siena; in it were altars to the Trinity and to St Duthac. Within the cloisters stood a chapel of St Mary erected

by Malcolm Fleming, Earl of Wigtown.

St Katherine's Well, famous for its medicinal qualities was situated in the grounds.

I B Cowan and D E Easson 1967; J Pagan 1897

No vestiges of the monastery or its well can be found, the area being completely built upon. A plaque on the wall in Mill Street states: "Site of Dominican Monastery of Black Friars. Founded 1230".

Visited by OS (JLD) 27 December 1955

The plaque is mounted on a wall at NS 3390 2181. No further information.

Visited by OS (MJF) 29 October 1980.

Activities

Publication Account (1977)

The Dominican friary, dedicated to St. Katherine of Siena, was established in Ayr about the year 1230 (Cowan and Easson, 1976, 116). They received many donations and gifts and by 1328 had won the right to have their corn ground free and be first in the queue along with a gift of £20 per annum - a right which was confirmed by Robert II and his successor. In 1406 after protracted legal battles, the Dominicans won from the burgh a gift of £10 per annum along with a grant to them of the mills in lieu of the other £10. After 1560 the property of the Blackfriars (Dominicans) passed to the Wallaces of Shewalton and thus acquired the name 'Shewalton Yards' (Pagan, 1897, 55). No vestiges of this friary now survive, which stood at the head of Mill Street along the banks of the River Ayr.

Information from ‘Historic Ayr: The Archaeological Implications of Development’ (1977).

References

MyCanmore Image Contributions


Contribute an Image

MyCanmore Text Contributions