The Burns Monument in Kay Park,

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock ( ; ; , ), meaning "the church of Mernóc", is a town and former burgh in East Ayrshire situated in southwest Scotland. The town has served as the administrative centre of East Ayrshire Council since 1996 and is the region's main ...

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 ...

, commemorates the poet

Robert Burns Robert Burns (25 January 1759 – 21 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the List of national poets, national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the be ...

(1759–1796). It is located at an elevated position within Kay Park, to the east of Kilmarnock Town Centre. The monument was opened in 1879, and is a category B

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

. In 2004, following years of neglect by the local council, fire destroyed most of the building. What was left of the monument was incorporated into the new Burns Monument Centre which opened in 2009. In 2010 the centre was shortlisted for the Carbuncle Cup award run by Building Design.

History

Kilmarnock has many links with Burns; the first edition of his work was printed here in 1786, by John Wilson, a local printer. Of this first edition only 612 copies were printed, and copies of this rare book are now known as Kilmarnock Editions. On

Burns Night A Burns supper is a celebration of the life and poetry of the poet Robert Burns (25 January 175921 July 1796), the author of many Scots poems. The suppers are usually held on or near the poet's birthday, 25 January, known as Burns Night (; ) ...

1877, a movement to erect a memorial in Kilmarnock was begun. Subscriptions came in so quickly that the organisers decided to investigate the possibility of a memorial building as well as a marble statue. In October, a design by local architect Robert S Ingram was accepted by the committee, and he began the preparation of drawings. In December, a design competition for the statue attracted 21 entries, and

William Grant Stevenson William Grant Stevenson, (7 March 1849 – 6 May 1919) was a Scottish sculptor and portrait painter. Life and work Stevenson was born in Ratho in Midlothian on 7 March 1849. His parents were William Stevenson and Margaret Kay Stevenson. His ...

of Edinburgh was judged the winner. The foundation stone was laid on 14 September 1878, by R. W. Cochran-Patrick of Woodside, Depute Provincial Grand Master for Ayrshire. In August 1879, the Kay Park was opened, with the completed Burns Monument as its focus. The statue was officially unveiled by Colonel Charles Alexander of Ballochmyle MP on 9 August. The monument cost around £1,500, with another £800 spent on the statue. The design of the monument has been described as "an eclectic fusion of

Scots Baronial Scottish baronial or Scots baronial is an architectural style of 19th-century Gothic Revival architecture, Gothic Revival which Revivalism (architecture), revived the forms and ornaments of historical Architecture of Scotland in the Middle Ages, ...

neo-Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half of the 19th century ...

and

Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style combined its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century It ...

, with a dash of

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

and a hint of Romanesque." The original building comprised a two-storey T-plan museum, topped by an high octagonal tower and spire, with the life-size white marble statue of Burns by Stevenson in a porch at the front. The tower offered wide views across Kilmarnock. Ingram, a prolific local architect, considered the monument to be his finest work.

Neglect and new building

Following years of neglect by the local council the monument was badly damaged by arson in November 2004. The two storey museum section, at the rear, and the semi-octagonal two-storey tower collapsed, leaving only the front stairs, porch, part of the ground floor outer walls and two of the main internal walls. Planning permission was granted in September 2006 for the partial re-instatement of the Burns Monument, with an extension to provide a marriage suite, registration service and archive service. The extension, designed by East Ayrshire Council architects, envelopes the remaining staircase and portico, which houses the statue of Robert Burns, and provides a courtyard setting with the statue of Burns and the remaining section of the original monument as a focal point to the northern elevation of the courtyard. The £5m Burns Monument Centre was eventually opened in May 2009 by then-

First Minister A first minister is any of a variety of leaders of government cabinets. The term literally has the same meaning as "prime minister" but is typically chosen to distinguish the office-holder from a superior prime minister. Currently the title of ' ...

Alex Salmond Alexander Elliot Anderson Salmond ( ; 31 December 1954 – 12 October 2024) was a Scottish politician who served as First Minister of Scotland from 2007 to 2014. A prominent figure in the Scottish nationalist movement, he was Leader of the Sc ...

, as Scotland's first purpose-built genealogy centre. In July 2010, it was announced that the rebuilt Centre was one of six buildings nominated for the annual

Carbuncle Cup The Carbuncle Cup is an architecture prize, given annually, originally by the magazine ''Building Design'', and since 2024 by ''The Fence'', to "the ugliest building in the United Kingdom completed in the last 12 months". It was intended to be a ...

, given to the "ugliest building in the UK completed in the last 12 months." The Carbuncle Cup is given by ''

Building Design Building design, also called architectural design, refers to the broadly based architectural, engineering and technical applications to the design of buildings. All building projects require the services of a building designer, typically a licen ...

'' magazine, based on nominations from the public. The nominator of the Burns Monument Centre described it as a "forced, clumpy monstrosity with pointlessly random rooves".

References

External links

Burns Monument Centre
official site

The Barred Bard
Burns Monument Consultation
showing alternative proposals by East Ayrshire Council for redevelopment of the monument
Burns Monument Centre
pictures of work in progress from East Ayrshire Council {{Coord, 55, 36, 46, N, 4, 29, 23, W, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Cultural depictions of Robert Burns Buildings and structures in Kilmarnock Monuments and memorials in Scotland Tourist attractions in East Ayrshire Category B listed buildings in East Ayrshire Bronze sculptures in Scotland

History

Neglect and new building

See also

References

External links