Kyle (or Coila poetically; ) is a former comital district of

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

which stretched across parts of modern-day

East Ayrshire East Ayrshire (; ) is one of 32 unitary council areas of Scotland. It shares borders with Dumfries and Galloway, East Renfrewshire, North Ayrshire, South Ayrshire and South Lanarkshire. The headquarters of the council are located on London Roa ...

and South Ayrshire. It is supposedly named after

Coel Hen Coel (Old Welsh: ''Coil''), also called ''Coel Hen'' (Coel the Old) and King Cole, is a figure prominent in Welsh literature and legend since the Middle Ages. Early Welsh tradition knew of a Coel Hen, a 4th-century leader in Roman Britain, Ro ...

, a legendary king of the Britons, who is said to be buried under a mound at

Coylton Coylton () is a village and civil parish in South Ayrshire, Scotland. It is east of Ayr and west of Drongan, on the A70 road, A70. Sundrum Castle Holiday Park is to the west of the village, in the grounds of Sundrum Castle, which partly date ...

Geographical extent

The area is bordered by the historical districts of Cunninghame to the north, Clydesdale to the east and by Carrick to the south. The

Firth of Clyde The Firth of Clyde, is the estuary of the River Clyde, on the west coast of Scotland. The Firth has some of the deepest coastal waters of the British Isles. The Firth is sheltered from the Atlantic Ocean by the Kintyre, Kintyre Peninsula. The ...

lies to the west. Kyle was the central of the three districts in the

sheriffdom A sheriffdom is a judicial district in Scotland, led by a sheriff principal. Since 1 January 1975, there have been six sheriffdoms. Each sheriffdom is divided into a series of sheriff court districts, and each sheriff court is presided over by a r ...

of Ayr (

Ayrshire Ayrshire (, ) is a Counties of Scotland, historic county and registration county, in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. The lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area of Ayrshire and Arran covers the entirety ...

), which was divided naturally by its three primary rivers all running in a generally westward direction to flow into the firth of Clyde. The River Irvine forms the northern boundary of Kyle with Cunninghame; the River Doon established its southern boundary with Carrick. Additionally, Kyle itself was sub-divided into two parts. To the north of the River Ayr was "Kyle Stewart" (sometimes called "Stewart Kyle" or "Walter's Kyle"), lands held by the FitzAlans (the future Stewart Kings of Scotland) since the 12th century. To the south was "Kyle Regis" or "King's Kyle", lands historically retained by the monarch under royal authority from the royal castle at Ayr. Kyle was combined with Cunninghame and Carrick under Ayrshire County Council as a result of the

Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889 The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889 ( 52 & 53 Vict. c. 50) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which was passed on 26 August 1889. The main effect of the act was to establish elected county councils in Scotland. In this it fol ...

; this Act established a uniform system of

county council A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries. Australia In the Australian state of New South Wales, county councils are special purpose ...

s and town councils in Scotland and restructured many of Scotland's areas.

Kyle and Carrick District

From 1975 to 1996 Kyle and Carrick was the name of a local government district in

Strathclyde Strathclyde ( in Welsh language, Welsh; in Scottish Gaelic, Gaelic, meaning 'strath

alley An alley or alleyway is a narrow lane, footpath, path, or passageway, often reserved for pedestrians, which usually runs between, behind, or within buildings in towns and cities. It is also a rear access or service road (back lane), or a path, w ...

of the River Clyde') was one of nine former Local government in Scotland, local government Regions and districts of Scotland, regions of Scotland cre ...

region, although the larger part of historic Kyle formed Cumnock and Doon Valley district. In 1996 Kyle and Carrick was constituted as a Unitary Authority, but renamed South Ayrshire.

Council ward

In local government the area of Kyle makes up a council ward, bordering the council wards of Troon; Prestwick; Ayr North and Maybole, North Carrick & Coylton in the South Ayrshire Council area. It has three local councillors belonging to the Conservative Party, the

Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party (SNP; ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic party. The party holds 61 of the 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament, and holds 9 out of the 57 Scottish seats in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, ...

and the Labour Party. The area of Kyle includes the villages of Annbank, Mossblown,

Tarbolton Tarbolton () is a village in South Ayrshire, Scotland. It is near Failford, Mauchline, Ayr, and Kilmarnock. The old Fail Monastery was nearby and Robert Burns connections are strong, including the Bachelors' Club museum. Meaning of place-name ...

Monkton Monkton may refer to: Places ;United Kingdom *Monkton, Devon, England *Monkton, Kent, England *Monkton, Pembroke, Wales *Monkton, South Ayrshire, Scotland *Monkton, Tyne and Wear, England *Monkton, Vale of Glamorgan, Wales ;Canada *Monkton, Ontari ...

, Symington and Dundonald as well as a number of smaller surrounding settlements such as Craigie, St Quivox and

Loans In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money. The document evidencing the debt ( ...

. The area encompasses the northern portion of South Ayrshire excluding Troon, Prestwick and Ayr. It is bounded by the northern and eastern borders of the South Ayrshire Council area, which border

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

and

East East is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fact that ea ...

Ayrshire respectively. The southern border of the area follows the River Ayr between Ayr and the administrative border between South Ayrshire and East Ayrshire.

Kyle Castle

At Dalblair near Cumnock, at the confluence of Guelt and Glenmuirshaw Waters, lie the ruins of the once impressive 15th century Kyle Castle.

References

External links

Map of Kyle
{{coord, 55.5, -4.3, region:GB, display=title Geography of East Ayrshire Districts of Scotland History of East Ayrshire Geography of South Ayrshire