In 1882-4, Frances Groome's Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland described Darvel like this:
Darvel or Derval, a village chiefly in Loudon parish, and partly in Galston parish, Ayrshire, on the river Irvine, 1¾ mile E of Newmilns station, this being 7½ miles E by S of Kilmarnock. Regularly built and fairly prosperous, it mainly depends on handloom weaving and the manufacture of muslins; and has a post office under Kilmarnock, a branch of the Union Bank, gas-works, a Free church, a public school, a working men's institute, and a subscription library. ...
The working men's institute was erected in 1872 at the instance of Miss Brown of Lanfine, and contains an amusement room, a reading-room, and a committee room, capable of transmutation into a hall accommodating 500 persons. The lands of Darvel belonged anciently to the Knights Templars, and were independent of tenure, not even holding of the Crown. Pop. (1841) 1362, (1861) 1544, (1871) 1729, (1881) 1718. -)rd. Sur., sh. 22,1865.
Darvel through time
Darvel is now part of East Ayrshire district. Click here for graphs and data of how East Ayrshire has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Darvel itself, go to Units and Statistics.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Darvel in East Ayrshire | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/17417
Date accessed: 25th April 2024
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