Prestwick ( gd, Preastabhaig) is a town in

South Ayrshire South Ayrshire ( sco, Sooth Ayrshire; gd, Siorrachd Àir a Deas, ) is one of thirty-two council areas of Scotland, covering the southern part of Ayrshire. It borders onto Dumfries and Galloway, East Ayrshire and North Ayrshire. On 30 June 2 ...

on the west coast of

Ayrshire Ayrshire ( gd, Siorrachd Inbhir Àir, ) is a historic county and registration county in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. Its principal towns include Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine and it borders the counties of Re ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

about southwest of

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

. It adjoins the larger town of

Ayr Ayr (; sco, Ayr; gd, Inbhir Àir, "Mouth of the River Ayr") is a town situated on the southwest coast of Scotland. It is the administrative centre of the South Ayrshire Subdivisions of Scotland, council area and the historic Shires of Scotlan ...

to the south on the

Firth of Clyde The Firth of Clyde is the mouth of the River Clyde. It is located on the west coast of Scotland and constitutes the deepest coastal waters in the British Isles (it is 164 metres deep at its deepest). The firth is sheltered from the Atlantic ...

coast, the centre of which is about south, and the small village of Monkton to the north. It had a population of 14,901 at the 2011 census. The town is served by

Glasgow Prestwick Airport Glasgow Prestwick Airport () is an international airport serving the west of Scotland, situated northeast of the town of Prestwick in South Ayrshire and southwest of Glasgow. It is the less busy of the two airports serving the western part of ...

, which serves many European destinations as well as transatlantic and other international cargo flights. The town was the first home of the Open Golf Championship, which was played on the Prestwick Old Course from 1860 to 1872.

History

Prestwick's name comes from the

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...

for, ''priest's farm'': ''preost'' meaning "priest" and ''wic'' meaning "farm". The town was originally an outlying farm of a

religious Religion is usually defined as a social system, social-cultural system of designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morality, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sacred site, sanctified places, prophecy, prophecie ...

house. George T. Flom suggested that the name was of

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...

origin. In this case, it would mean "priest's bay". From

Robert the Bruce Robert I (11 July 1274 – 7 June 1329), popularly known as Robert the Bruce (Scottish Gaelic: ''Raibeart an Bruis''), was King of Scots from 1306 to his death in 1329. One of the most renowned warriors of his generation, Robert eventual ...

to James VI, King of Scots, numerous Kings have traversed the coastal walks in and around Prestwick and

Troon Troon is a town in South Ayrshire, situated on the west coast of Ayrshire in Scotland, about north of Ayr and northwest of Glasgow Prestwick Airport. Troon has a port with freight services and a yacht marina. Up until January 2016, P&O Ferrie ...

. Bruce is reputed to have been cured of

leprosy Leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease (HD), is a long-term infection by the bacteria ''Mycobacterium leprae'' or ''Mycobacterium lepromatosis''. Infection can lead to damage of the nerves, respiratory tract, skin, and eyes. This nerve damag ...

by the waters of the well at

St Ninians St. Ninians is a long-standing settlement which is now a district of the city of Stirling in central Scotland. It is located approximately one mile south of the city centre. It was originally known as Eccles (i.e. 'church'), and may have bee ...

church. The well still exists behind the church. Although it has been a Burgh of Barony for over a thousand years, it was a village until the railway arrived in the 1840s and the middle class from Glasgow started to build large houses along the coast.

Prestwick Burgh Hall Prestwick Burgh Hall, also known as Prestwick Freeman's Hall and Prestwick Freemen's Hall, is a municipal building in Kirk Street, Prestwick, Scotland. The structure, which served as the meeting place of Prestwick Burgh Council, is a Category B ...

was completed in around 1837. The Prestwick Bathing Lake, known as the Lido, was opened in 1931 by the Secretary of State for Scotland, William Adamson. It was the largest swimming pool north of the border. It could accommodate 1200 bathers and 3000 spectators. It hosted swimming galas, diving exhibitions, moonlight swimming sessions and regular fireworks displays and was the venue of some of the Miss Scotland competitions. It was closed in 1972 and subsequently demolished. On 28 August 1944, a

Douglas C-54 Skymaster The Douglas C-54 Skymaster is a four-engined transport aircraft used by the United States Army Air Forces in World War II and the Korean War. Like the Douglas C-47 Skytrain derived from the DC-3, the C-54 Skymaster was derived from a civilian a ...

(42-72171) of the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

, on approach into Glasgow Prestwick Airport in bad weather, crashed into a residential area of Prestwick, killing all 20 passengers and crew and five people on the ground.

Transport

, formerly Prestwick International Airport, opened in the 1930s. The airport was a transatlantic gateway for over half a century. It lies close to, and was the last European re-fuelling way-point on, the

Great Circle In mathematics, a great circle or orthodrome is the circular intersection of a sphere and a plane passing through the sphere's center point. Any arc of a great circle is a geodesic of the sphere, so that great circles in spherical geomet ...

route from London via

Thule Thule ( grc-gre, Θούλη, Thoúlē; la, Thūlē) is the most northerly location mentioned in ancient Greek literature, ancient Greek and Latin literature, Roman literature and cartography. Modern interpretations have included Orkney, Shet ...

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland is t ...

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

- now no longer relevant for modern aircraft with non-stop range. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

the

US Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

had a base at the airport, and

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

set foot in the UK for the only time there on 3 March 1960, when his

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

transport aircraft stopped for refuelling en route from Germany. Though a period of decline in the 1980s and 1990s saw it lose its status as Scotland's primary transatlantic airport, Prestwick continues to handle US military flights. In July 2005, the airport was the main transport hub for world leaders attending the G8 conference in Gleneagles. The airport now caters to one

low-cost airline A low-cost carrier or low-cost airline (occasionally referred to as '' no-frills'', ''budget'' or '' discount carrier'' or ''airline'', and abbreviated as ''LCC'') is an airline that is operated with an especially high emphasis on minimizing op ...

Ryanair Ryanair is an Irish ultra low-cost carrier founded in 1984. It is headquartered in Swords, Dublin, Ireland and has its primary operational bases at Dublin and London Stansted airports. It forms the largest part of the Ryanair Holdings family ...

. In addition,

BAE Systems BAE Systems plc (BAE) is a British multinational arms, security, and aerospace company based in London, England. It is the largest defence contractor in Europe, and ranked the seventh-largest in the world based on applicable 2021 revenues. ...

Goodrich Corporation The Goodrich Corporation, formerly the B.F. Goodrich Company, was an American manufacturing company based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Founded in Akron, Ohio in 1870 as Goodrich, Tew & Co. by Benjamin Goodrich, the company name was ch ...

Spirit AeroSystems Spirit AeroSystems Holdings, Inc., based in Wichita, Kansas, is the world's largest first-tier aerostructures manufacturer. The company builds several important pieces of Boeing aircraft, including the fuselage of the 737, portions of the 787 fus ...

and GE Aircraft Engines have maintenance/manufacturing facilities adjacent to the airfield. Prestwick has a Royal Navy Air Station, also known as

HMS Gannet Nine ships and two shore establishments of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS ''Gannet'', after the seabird the Gannet: Ships * was a 16-gun brig-sloop purchased in 1800 and sold in 1814. * was an 18-gun brig-sloop launched in 1814 and sold ...

, where Sea King search and rescue helicopters are stationed. Prestwick is a major

air traffic control Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled airs ...

centre, with both the Scottish Air Traffic Control Centre (controlling 70% of UK airspace) and Prestwick Oceanic Area Control Centre ( Shanwick Oceanic Control - responsible for air traffic over the eastern half of the North Atlantic) located at the NATS owned 'Scottish and Oceanic Area Control Centre'. Prestwick is on the

Ayrshire Coast Line The Ayrshire Coast Line is one of the lines within the Strathclyde suburban rail network in Scotland. It has 26 stations and connects the Ayrshire coast to Glasgow. There are three branches, to , and , all running into the high level at . ...

between Glasgow Central and Ayr. Three trains per hour call at both and , with additional services at peak times. Glasgow is approximately 50 minutes from Prestwick by rail. The line continues south to the port of

Stranraer Stranraer ( , in Scotland also ; gd, An t-Sròn Reamhar ), also known as The Toon, is a town in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It is located in the historical parish of Inch in the historic county of Wigtownshire. It lies on the shores of L ...

on the

Wigtownshire Wigtownshire or the County of Wigtown (, ) is one of the historic counties of Scotland, covering an area in the south-west of the country. Until 1975, Wigtownshire was an administrative county used for local government. Since 1975 the area has f ...

coast, but a change of trains at Ayr is usually required. The bus routes that run through Prestwick are usually run by Stagecoach Western including an express service to and from Glasgow known as the "X77". The A79 road runs directly through the town, and is normally reached from the A77 trunk road between Glasgow and Stranraer, or from the A78 Ayrshire coastal route to

Largs Largs ( gd, An Leargaidh Ghallda) is a town on the Firth of Clyde in North Ayrshire, Scotland, about from Glasgow. The original name means "the slopes" (''An Leargaidh'') in Scottish Gaelic. A popular seaside resort with a pier, the town mark ...

and

Greenock Greenock (; sco, Greenock; gd, Grianaig, ) is a town and administrative centre in the Inverclyde council areas of Scotland, council area in Scotland, United Kingdom and a former burgh of barony, burgh within the Counties of Scotland, historic ...

Landmarks

The remains of the old parish church are located near Prestwick railway station. Thought to have originally been built in the 12th century, the small church building is now a ruin, and is surrounded by an ancient graveyard. Prestwick has a

esplanade An esplanade or promenade is a long, open, level area, usually next to a river or large body of water, where people may walk. The historical definition of ''esplanade'' was a large, open, level area outside fortress or city walls to provide cle ...

alongside Prestwick Bay, part of the

. It has two children's playgrounds. At the north end Kid'zplay, an indoor activity centre, can be found next to the large play-area that was formerly a large open air swimming pool. Parallel to the esplanade is a line of large houses overlooking Arran. The Prestwick Old Course hosted the first Open Golf Championship in 1860. The first twelve Open Championships were played there, from 1860 to 1872. (the Championship was not played in 1871). The town also hosts two other golf courses, St. Nicholas and St. Cuthberts. St. Nicholas is a traditional links course south of the town. Prestwick St Ninians Golf Club (now defunct) was founded in 1912. The club continued until the 1950s. The Shaw Monument stands on the high ground overlooking Prestwick Airport. On Ardayre Road in Prestwick is a Polish memorial. Its origins can be traced to a memorial erected by the Polish Air Force at Monkton. Discovered there in a dilapidated and vandalised condition, it was moved by Kyle and Carrick District Council in 1986 to its present site in the gardens of the RAFA Club which overlooks the sea. The memorial was repaired and placed on a new plinth. On 2 May 1987 the memorial was unveiled with a commemorative plaque by the Polish Naval, Air Force and Ex-Combattants' Associations. On the 45th anniversary of the sinking of the ORP Orkan (G90), 8 October 1988, another commemorative plaque was installed in memory of the Polish Navy, Merchant Navy and Coastal Command airmen who died in the Battle of the Atlantic. On Polish Navy Day (10 February) at the memorial, in a service that both Polish and Scottish ex-servicemen participate in, the memories of those that perished are remembered in a spirit of friendship and comradeship between Polish and Scottish ex-servicemen.

The Oval The Oval, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, located in the borough of Lambeth, in south London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club since ...

is a public park in the centre of Prestwick with two full size football pitches with indoor changing rooms, a tennis centre with three indoor courts and eight outdoor, a 25m indoor swimming pool and gym, indoor bowling green and cricket club. The park was gifted to the town in 1954.

Population

Prestwick census locality has a population of 14,934; the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

of Monkton and Prestwick has a population of 14,261.General Register Office for Scotland : ''Census 2001 : KS01 Usual Resident Population : Monkton and Prestwick Civil Parish''
Retrieved 2009-12-25

Governance

Prestwick lies within the South Ayrshire Council area. Prestwick is part of the

Scottish parliamentary constituency which has been represented by SNP MSP

Siobhian Brown Siobhian Brown (born 20 October 1972) is a Scottish politician serving as the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Ayr since 2021. A member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), she was a councillor for the Ayr West ward of South Ayrshi ...

since the

2021 Scottish Parliament election The 2021 Scottish Parliament election took place on 6 May 2021, under the provisions of the Scotland Act 1998. All 129 Members of the Scottish Parliament were elected in the sixth election since the parliament was re-established in 1999. The ele ...

. The constituency also incorporates the towns of

and

. At Westminster, Prestwick forms part of the

Central Ayrshire Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

constituency. It is represented by SNP MP

Philippa Whitford Dr Philippa Whitford (born 24 December 1958) is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician and a breast surgeon. She was first elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Central Ayrshire in May 2015 and was re-elected in 2017 and 2019. She ...

: the constituency extends north into Troon and rural South Ayrshire and further north into Irvine and part of

Kilwinning Kilwinning (, sco, Kilwinnin; gd, Cill D’Fhinnein) is a town in North Ayrshire, Scotland. It is on the River Garnock, north of Irvine, about southwest of Glasgow. It is known as "The Crossroads of Ayrshire". Kilwinning was also a Civil Pa ...

North Ayrshire North Ayrshire ( gd, Siorrachd Àir a Tuath, ) is one of 32 council areas in Scotland. The council area borders Inverclyde to the north, Renfrewshire and East Renfrewshire to the northeast, and East Ayrshire and South Ayrshire to the east and so ...

Councillors

Four

Councillors A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...

currently represent the area of Prestwick as part of

Council.

Geography

Prestwick is geographically split into two main areas by the Main Street running parallel to the railway line. Most people live on the east side of Main Street. Here there is a mixture of council and private housing. The main neighbourhoods on the east of the Main Street are Shawfarm, Marchburn, Glenburn, Powmill, Kingcase, Moorfield and East Road/Kings Meadow. On the west side of the Main Street is a mixture of council, privately owned, rented and hotel/B & B accommodation.

Climate

Education

Prestwick has five schools, four primary and one secondary, one of which is a

denominational school A faith school is a school in the United Kingdom that teaches a general curriculum but which has a particular religious character or formal links with a religious or faith-based organisation. The term is most commonly applied to state-funded fait ...

, serving Prestwick and north of Prestwick. The schools are: *

Prestwick Academy Prestwick Academy is a state secondary school serving the area of Prestwick, South Ayrshire in Scotland. The school is non-denominational and has a capacity of 1400. Its motto is ''Per Vias Rectas'', Latin for ''By Straight Paths''. History ...

* Glenburn Primary * Kingcase Primary * St. Ninian's Primary: denominational (Catholic) Primary * Heathfield Primary: Officially in Ayr, on border of Prestwick and Ayr Prestwick Academy is a secondary school fed by all these primary schools. St. Ninian's pupils can go on to

Queen Margaret Academy Queen Margaret Academy ( gd, àrd-sgoil/Acadamh banrigh Maighread) is a Roman Catholic secondary school in the south of Ayr in southwest Scotland. Queen Margaret is state-run by South Ayrshire Council and takes children aged 11 to 18 from the wh ...

or Prestwick Academy. The primary schools in the outlying villages of Monkton and Symington also 'feed' the secondary school.

Sport and recreation

St. Ninian's Park, nicknamed The Oval, is a public park located in the centre, and consists of 2 full size football pitches with indoor changing rooms, a tennis centre with 3 indoor courts and 8 outdoor, a 25m indoor swimming pool and gym, indoor bowling green and cricket club.

Prestwick Golf Club Prestwick Golf Club is a golf course in Prestwick, South Ayrshire, Scotland. It is approximately southwest of Scotland's largest city, Glasgow. Prestwick is a classic links course, built on the rolling sandy land between the beach and the hin ...

is a classic links

golf course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a tee box, a fairway, the rough and other hazards, and a green with a cylindrical hole in the ground, known as a "cup". Th ...

, built on the rolling sandy land between the beach and the hinterland. The course is near the Prestwick airport, and some holes run along railway tracks on the eastern side of the course.

The Open Championship The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later th ...

originated at the club, and was played there 24 times between 1860 and 1925. Famous sportspeople from Prestwick are

footballers A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

Bob Anderson, Craig Conway, James Forrest, Giovanni Moscardini, Andrew Thomson, footballer turned MP

Ian Welsh Ian McWilliam Welsh (born 23 November 1953) is a former Scottish Labour politician who works as Chief Executive of the Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland. After a brief career as a professional footballer, he was an English teacher and ...

, professional wrestler

Drew McIntyre Andrew McLean Galloway IV (born 6 June 1985) is a Scottish professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Drew McIntyre. McIntyre is a two-time WWE Champion, one-time WWE Int ...

and figure skater Lewis Gibson.

Town twinning

Prestwick is twinned with: *

Lichtenfels, Bavaria Lichtenfels is a town in the Upper Franconian region of Bavaria, Germany, the administrative seat of Lichtenfels district. It is chiefly known as the German "Basket City". Geography It is situated on the upper course of the river Main, about so ...

Vandalia, Ohio Vandalia is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States, and a suburb of Dayton. Its population was 15,246 during the 2010 census. In addition to being the city closest to Dayton International Airport, Vandalia lies at the crossroads of I- ...

Ariccia Ariccia (Latin: ''Aricia'') is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Rome, central Italy, southeast of Rome. It is in the Alban Hills of the Lazio (Latium) region and could be considered an extension of Rome's southeastern suburbs. On ...

, Italy

References

External links

Prestwick - About Prestwick, South Ayrshire, Scotland
About Prestwick * Prestwick Bathing Lak
Prestwick had real pooling power

South Ayrshire Council

Video and commentary on the Shaw Monument

Video and commentary on St Nicholas Kirk, Prestwick

Video and commentary on Bruce's or Kingcase Well
{{DEFAULTSORT:Prestwick Towns in South Ayrshire Firth of Clyde