For those who are interested in such things, here is a little history gleaned from original source material in the National Archive and the Dumfries and Galloway Archive.
The Muirkirk to Sanquhar road was constructed from scratch as part of the Rutherglen to Sanquhar Turnpike. There was no road here before it was made. It was built to provide a shorter route between Glasgow and England than already existed.
The section from Muirkirk to Sanquhar was the first part of the road to be completed, being finished before July 1791.
The subdivision from Muirkirk to the county boundary with Dumfriesshire was surveyed by John Ainslie, surveyor and cartographer in Edinburgh, in July and August of 1788 and his report was submitted to the trustees in September of that year. It was approved and contracts for construction were invited. James Finlayson, road maker in Ayr, won the contract for this part.
The subdivision in Dumfriesshire was surveyed by John Greenlaw, a retained surveyor of the county. Mr. Finlayson and his men also constructed this.
Commodore Keith Stewart was the Trustee given the responsibility for this part of the turnpike. In a letter to him from the treasurer of the trustees dated March 1791, it is stated that the amount already ‘paid to James Finlayson towards making the road from the tunnel over Colt burn at the Tarwork southward to the march with the county of Dumfries £712 - 2 - 10’. In a footnote to the same letter it is written, ‘This district of road will be finished by the first of July when James Finlayson will have to be paid about £550 which aught to be provided.’
The Dumfriesshire section was completed by June of the same year for John Ainslie, writing to Keith Stewart in that month, complains ‘I wish the Gentlemen of the Sanquhar district had been equally as attentive in laying off the Road down the Bale hill, or the hill leading down to Sanquhar. By the Road now made leading down that hill (the one surveyed and set out by Greenlaw), I am sorry to acquaint you, that they have deviated very much from the line that was originally pitted out'
Both of these letters would suggest that the road was completed from Muirkirk through to Sanquhar by the summer of 1791.
The Furnace Road was constructed from scratch as part of the turnpike. The original road built by the Ironworks company was further east and came on to the Ayr to Edinburgh turnpike opposite the end of the Glasgow Road. Ainslie thought the slope here too steep for wheeled carriages so surveyed a new line, which became the Furnace Road.
The Coach House Inn was built by Keith Stewart in 1800 for the convenience of the travelling public, as there was no inn in the village at that time.
So, if the road was survey by John Ainslie and John Greenlaw, was constructed by James Finlayson and the Trustee given responsibility for the road was Keith Stewart, what was John Loudoun McAdam's connection with it? McAdam was manager and then proprietor of the British Tar Company whose works were at Muirkirk (McAdam's Cairn). His only connection with the road was as a trustee of the turnpike trust, though his company had constructed a road from here to the Ironworks by 1789.
The subdivision in Dumfriesshire was surveyed by John Greenlaw, a retained surveyor of the county. Mr. Finlayson and his men also constructed this.
Commodore Keith Stewart was the Trustee given the responsibility for this part of the turnpike. In a letter to him from the treasurer of the trustees dated March 1791, it is stated that the amount already ‘paid to James Finlayson towards making the road from the tunnel over Colt burn at the Tarwork southward to the march with the county of Dumfries £712 - 2 - 10’. In a footnote to the same letter it is written, ‘This district of road will be finished by the first of July when James Finlayson will have to be paid about £550 which aught to be provided.’
The Dumfriesshire section was completed by June of the same year for John Ainslie, writing to Keith Stewart in that month, complains ‘I wish the Gentlemen of the Sanquhar district had been equally as attentive in laying off the Road down the Bale hill, or the hill leading down to Sanquhar. By the Road now made leading down that hill (the one surveyed and set out by Greenlaw), I am sorry to acquaint you, that they have deviated very much from the line that was originally pitted out'
Both of these letters would suggest that the road was completed from Muirkirk through to Sanquhar by the summer of 1791.
The Furnace Road was constructed from scratch as part of the turnpike. The original road built by the Ironworks company was further east and came on to the Ayr to Edinburgh turnpike opposite the end of the Glasgow Road. Ainslie thought the slope here too steep for wheeled carriages so surveyed a new line, which became the Furnace Road.
The Coach House Inn was built by Keith Stewart in 1800 for the convenience of the travelling public, as there was no inn in the village at that time.
So, if the road was survey by John Ainslie and John Greenlaw, was constructed by James Finlayson and the Trustee given responsibility for the road was Keith Stewart, what was John Loudoun McAdam's connection with it? McAdam was manager and then proprietor of the British Tar Company whose works were at Muirkirk (McAdam's Cairn). His only connection with the road was as a trustee of the turnpike trust, though his company had constructed a road from here to the Ironworks by 1789.
Despite popular belief in Muirkirk, McAdam had very little to do with this road. It is very probable that he watched the construction of the new road and later refined the system when he started building roads in England. As far as is known here are no McAdam built roads in Scotland. Confusion exists because a contemporary, perhaps relation, of John Loudoun McAdam was John McAdam of Craigengillan who built a number of roads in Ayrshire notably the new road through Glenmuck and the Dalmellington 'bypass'.
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