- Cumnock
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For other uses, see Cumnock (disambiguation).
Coordinates: 55°27′11″N 4°15′50″W / 55.45294°N 4.2638°W
Cumnock Scottish Gaelic: Cumnag 
Cumnock
Cumnock shown within East AyrshirePopulation 13,000 Language English English OS grid reference NS569200 Council area East Ayrshire Lieutenancy area Cumnock Country Scotland Sovereign state United Kingdom Post town CUMNOCK Postcode district KA18 1xx Dialling code 01290 42xxxx Police Strathclyde Fire Strathclyde Ambulance Scottish EU Parliament Scotland List of places: UK • Scotland • Cumnock (Cumnag in Gaelic) is a town 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 just outside the town boundaries, Netherthird, Craigens and Logan, with the former ironworks settlement of Lugar also just outside the town, contributing to a population of around 13,000 in the immediate locale. A new housing development, Knockroon, was granted planning permission on 9 Dec, 2009 by East Ayrshire Council.[1]
Cumnock housed many miners, and also served as the market town for the other, smaller towns in the district, like Auchinleck, Ochiltree, Lugar, Muirkirk and New Cumnock (the original Cumnock/Comenagh/Comno/ etc)
The town has a strong socialist heritage due to its role as a mining centre. The father of the Labour Party, James Keir Hardie, lived in the town for a large part of his life, and a statue to him sits outside the town hall. A small housing scheme in the town (Keir Hardie Hill) is named after him. The popular left-wing politician Emrys Hughes was local MP for a time in the mid-20th century, and also lived in the town.
William Wallace allegedly spent 3 months in the seat of Patrick Dunbar ((New)Cumnock or Cumno in 1296), according to the poem, The Wallace, by Blind Harry. Cumnock is also in the heart of Robert Burns country and the poet is said to have spent time there.
Cumnock also has one of Scotland's biggest Junior football teams, Cumnock Juniors. Though attracting big attendances and spending large sums of money in pursuit of success, they have been overshadowed by the achievements of local rivals Auchinleck Talbot, from the adjacent town.
For many years there were two secondary schools, Cumnock Academy and Saint Conval's High School - which was later annexed with St Joseph's Academy in Kilmarnock and became known as St Joseph's Cumnock Campus. In 2004 however St Joseph's Cumnock Campus was shut down due to falling attendance figures, and the town's Catholic children now attend the original St Joseph's Academy in Kilmarnock.
References
See also
- Cumnock and Holmhead
- Terringzean Castle
External links
- cumnock.net The local community site for Cumnock, more information on Cumnock
- undiscovered scotland more information on industry
- tripod.com more information on The Wallace
Categories:- Towns in East Ayrshire
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