mauchline

Standing room only at Centre Stane for launch of Mauchline CARS

 Mauchline's Centre Stane  was packed last week as owners and tenants of buildings in Mauchline’s Conservation Area  gathered with others to find out more about East Ayrshire’s latest Conservation Area Regeneration Scheme (CARS).

The capacity audience, comprising all ages from primary school upwards,  were treated to a light buffet,  demonstrations of traditional skills and a  comprehensive series of talks and presentations from Councillors, Council Officers and staff from Historic Environment Scotland who are part funding the exciting restoration scheme.  Mauchline CARS aims to update, restore and conserve the town’s historic heart for future generations to enjoy.

Conservation Area Regeneration Schemes are a Scottish Government programme, aimed at boosting economic regeneration by restoring and preserving historic buildings in conservation areas where such works would be uneconomic when balanced against the final value of the buildings themselves.

Funded through a competitive bidding process, each funding round sees a selection of towns and cities throughout Scotland receive funding through Historic Environment Scotland to carry out works essential to the fabric of buildings.  Councillor Jim Roberts, Cabinet Member for Skills and Economy, East Ayrshire Council explains: “For a town to gain CARS funding, our  regeneration team must prove that the community are willing to take an active role in the scheme and support the identified projects in a way that will encourage them to use and enjoy the historic environment while increasing economic activity.

“In other words, it’s no good just having some old buildings in a state of disrepair which we’ll do up. It  has to be a community effort, for community benefit, and we were well able to prove our case to win funding for Mauchline, thanks to the efforts of Mauchline  Community Action Group, Mauchline Community Association, Mauchline Burns Club, the newly formed Mauchline CARS Steering Group and numerous other individuals whose enthusiasm and support have got us to this point.

“Of course there’s also no point in commencing a project such as this if it’s not going to have long term benefits. So that’s why we were delighted to welcome trainees from the

Prince’s Foundation Traditional Craft and Skills Centre at Dumfries House to the launch event. They showed us some of the many skills which will be required to restore the buildings using appropriate and long lasting materials and which must be used in order to meet the stringent Historic Environment Scotland stipulations.

“With every CARS project we do, and this is now our fifth, following two in Kilmarnock,  and one each in Cumnock and Galston,  we’ve run training workshops for schools, apprentices and skilled craftsmen, upskilling them to be able to carry out tasks such as stone masonry, lime mortaring, traditional slating and leadwork. Many young people have now taken up new careers in these sought after disciplines, and with so many historic buildings in the area, they’ll have plenty of work to last them a lifetime!.”

Following the presentations, including a national overview of CARS projects throughout Scotland presented by Amy Eastwood of Historic Environment Scotland and a charming musical interlude provided by Mauchline PS chanter group, a lively question and answer session followed.

The project, which can give grants towards the cost of eligible works, will prioritise 6 historically important buildings in Mauchline for major works. It will also cover several public access areas to improve visual amenity, safety and usage in a programme of Public Realm works.

Shop owners too, can benefit from a scheme of smaller grants to restore shop fronts to styles and materials more in keeping with the age of the buildings, while subject to available funding, private householders will also be able to apply for funding for older properties in order carry out traditional repairs to roofs, windows, doors, stonework and rainwater goods.

In addition a programme of skills, art and literature workshops and events will be used to encourage appreciation of the town’s heritage, with an emphasis on building an attractive tourism offer for visitors based on the area’s links with Burns, the covenanters, Melrose Abbey and Kays of Scotland, the world renowned manufacturer of curling stones. 

For more information and updates on Mauchline’s CARS programme visit Mauchline CARS page

To receive regular email updates on the progress of Mauchline CARS visit our StayConnected page and tick Mauchline CARS.

Notes to editors

 

A major aim of Conservation Area Regeneration is not just to preserve what exists, but to make it fit for today and for future purposes. To make sure this lasts, an important part of the process must be education and training, to ensure future generations can appreciate and look after the built environment.

For this reason, Mauchline CARS is delivering an ambitious and wide ranging programme of education, training and community activities including traditional building skills training for the construction sector, schools activities and heritage awareness raising projects involving the local community.

Activities will include:

  • Schools Heritage Awareness Course
  • Archaeological dig and/or other archaeological fieldwork
  • Interactive Town Trail
  • Artists in Residence to work with the schools and the local community to produce:
    • “Design a Sign” competition
    • heritage game
    • storytelling and poetry
    • short story and/or play writing and the interpretation of Mauchline’s historic past through the development of some new Mauchline boxware
    • interpretation panels and a 3D digitised model of Abbot Hunter’s Tower
    • a visitor experience interpreting the history and development of Kays & Co, world –renowned curling stone manufacturer
    • specialist training courses in Traditional Building Skills
    • schools careers talk
    • materials audit.

Priority Buildings

Our priority building repair programme gives grant assistance to bring  redundant Historic buildings back into use or revitalise underused buildings to maximise their usage

The proposed priority buildings are:

  • Abbot Hunter’s Tower (Mauchline Castle)
  • Gavin Hamilton’s House – 8 Loudon Street
  • The Old Bakehouse – 8 Loudon Street
  • Poosie Nansies – 21 Loudon Street
  • John Richmond’s House – 3 High Street
  • Loudon & District Football Supporters Club – 8-12 Earl Grey Street

Public Realm

Public and private open space plays a key role in how an area is used and is important in defining its character. Within Mauchline Conservation Area there is a relatively high ratio of open space, interspersed with traditional high density buildings, a prominence of traditional sandstone walls, railings, pends and gates. The vast majority of street surfaces within the conservation area are tarmac which has a minimal if not negative contribution to the area. However there are several areas where the choice of the surfacing adds to the visual character of the area: block paving; cobbles and sets.

The most notable expanse of open space in Mauchline is the former grounds of Netherplace House. The grounds now form a relatively large wooded area in the northwest section of the conservation area with a number of paths through it. Other key areas of open space within the conservation area include:

  • the churchyard surrounding the old church.
  • the Bleaching Green.
  • the private grounds of Gavin Hamilton’s House.
  • the lanes and open space leading from the Loudon Street Car Park through to Abbot Hunter’s Tower and Castle Street.

The Public Realm Improvement works included in the Mauchline CARS Scheme focuses on the area immediately to the north of Abbot Hunter’s Tower and include:

  • extension to the existing stone setts
  • replacement of damaged bollards and bollard lights with new light standards
  • new floodlighting for the north of Abbot Hunter’s Tower
  • new bridge link to Abbot Hunter’s Tower
  • new seating and bins
  • interpretation boards and directional signage
  • a Community Art Mural.

Small Building Repair Grants Scheme

Owners of traditional buildings within the Conservation Area Boundary can apply for grants worth up to 75% of the cost of carrying out eligible repairs or improvements to their properties. (Maximum grant £25,000)

Eligible works include:

  • general structural repairs
  • structural timber replacement or timber repairs
  • reinstatement after repair
  • roof repairs
  • chimney repairs
  • stonework repairs
  • render repairs/re-rendering
  • leadwork repair/replacement
  • replacement of UPVC rainwater goods with cast iron
  • replacement of UPVC windows with timber sash and casement

 Shop Front Improvements

 Why are traditional shopfronts important?

We take shops for granted, walking past them every day. However, their facades often reflect decades of local history, invoke nostalgia and memories but also remain practical working buildings, designed for a purpose and still fulfilling that role. Features hint at previous occupiers, styles and trends and provide layers of history adding character to the townscape.

The primary purpose of a shopfront is to attract the attention of shoppers. Appropriate signage, paint finishes, inviting entrances and attractive window displays all influence the potential customer.

Conserving the historic features of shops enhances shopping districts and may, in turn, bring economic benefits to an area by encouraging tourism and improved footfall.

Within Mauchline’s conservation area shop fronts have a notable impact on the visual character of the area as a whole. Few original timber shop fronts remain. Through time, most have replaced with frontages, signage and shutters of a scale, colour and design which detract from the gentle uniform visual appearance of the original conservation area.

The Mauchline CARS small shopfront improvement grant scheme gives grant funding of up to 75% of the eligible cost of improvements to shopfronts, up to a maximum of £25,000, within the focus area shown here.

Eligible works include:

  • renewing shopfronts
  • renewing fascias
  • renewing/refurbishing doors
  • removing external roller shutters and replacing them with internal grills
  • renewing/refurbishment of hanging signs
  • reinstatement of original/typical architectural detail