Craigbank

1913 Housing Conditions

James Brown of the Ayrshire Miners' Union visited
Craigbank on 13th November 1913 to assess the
housing conditions and reported ' The back row of
this square has two earth closets, one of which has
no roof. How the people who are condemned to live
here manage to exist is a mystery'. Brown records
the population at 247 persons and provides some
hope for the future 'There are a number of new
houses in course of erection presently of a superior
character - there is a BATHROOM, water-closet,
scullery and coal bunker all on the premises.'

These new houses are shown as the crescent on the
map above.

John Hyslop, Laird of the Bank estate formed the The Bank Coal Company in
1860. Three years later he had greatly improved access to his markets by
building a bridge over the River Nith to take a branch railway line to the main
Glasgow-Carlisle line. New homes were required to house the miners that would
supply these new markets and so began the community of Craigbank.

1860-1881

A small single row of 12 houses, later
known as Peesweep Row, marked the
beginning of Craigbank. This was soon
joined by a square of rows comprising the
Front Row, Plantation Row, Stable Row
and the 'double-row' known as Blair
Street, providing a further 47 houses. By
1868 the Bank No.1 , No.2 and No.3 pits
were well established and in 1881 the
population of Craigbank had grown to
296, of which only 18 adults were New
Cumnock born. A few years beforehand,
William Hyslop had succeeded his late
father as Laird in the great Bank House .

The Craigbank rows, the square and crescent were all demolished by the
1960's and only their distinct shapes now mark the landscape. The big
house also lies in tatters on the ancient mound of Brydsbanck, the Bank,

a memorial to the days when the Hyslops were Lairds and Coal was King.