Drongan is a former mining village in
East Ayrshire
East Ayrshire ( sco, Aest Ayrshire; gd, Siorrachd Àir an Ear) is one of thirty-two council areas of Scotland. It shares borders with Dumfries and Galloway, East Renfrewshire, North Ayrshire, South Ayrshire and South Lanarkshire. The headquar ...
, some east 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 council area and the historic county town of Ayrshire. With a population ...
and west of
Cumnock
Cumnock ( Scottish Gaelic: ''Cumnag'') is a town and former civil parish located in East Ayrshire, Scotland. The town sits at the confluence of the Glaisnock Water and the Lugar Water. There are three neighbouring housing projects which lie ...
. It had a population of 4686 in 2011.
[https://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/ods-analyser/jsf/tableView/tableView.xhtml ]
History
The earliest references to Drongan lands are to be found in documents dating to the 14th century. In the 1390s, these lands were granted to the Craufurds, whose stronghold for 250 years was Drongan Castle. The remains of the castle can be seen on Drongan Mains Farm. The estate passed from the Craufurds to the Cunninghames, then to the Earls of Stair. About 1760, the Drongan Estate was purchased by the Smith family – who built Drongan House, set up a pottery near Coalhall and introduced pioneering agricultural improvements.
The village of Drongan (originally known as Taiglum) grew up near the early coal mine and by 1900 consisted of 65 houses and a few shops. These rows at Taiglum were demolished in the 1930s and the inhabitants were housed in new housing schemes. In 1946, it was proposed that Drongan should be developed as a "new town" and families from various small mining communities were also re-housed there.
Like many other villages in this part of East Ayrshire, Drongan saw prosperity when the Killoch and Barony pit mines were operational.
The Drongan Centre, opened in 2002, provides health, Local Authority and police services within a modern purpose-built facility and received funding from the Scottish Executive Health Department's Primary and Community Premises Modernisation Fund.
A small loch known as
Loch Shield
Loch Shield (NS 45521 19444), originally Loch of Scheel was a freshwater loch in the East Ayrshire Council Area, now drained, near Drongan, lying in a glacial Kettle Hole, Parish of Ochiltree, Scotland.
The loch
Loch Shield was one of several s ...
was located near Drongan House and Lochmark Farm, its waters once helping to power the nearby Mill of Shield.
See also
*
Loch of Trabboch
The Loch of Trabboch or Dalrympleston Loch (NS440211) was situated in a low-lying area below the old Castle of Trabboch, once held by the Boyd family in the Parish of Stair, East Ayrshire, Scotland.
History
The loch is recorded as the "Loch of ...
References
External links
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Video footage and narration - Free Church of StairYouTube video of the Witch's Rocking Stone on the Craigs o'KyleYouTube video of the King's Steps on the Water of Coyle
Villages in East Ayrshire
Mining communities in Scotland
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