Photo - Burns House Museum, Mauchline

Probably taken from the original collection of John Taylor Gibb, we find this superb shot of a cobbled Mauchline Cross, and a Churchyard which is much more open. These days the trees and scrub have sadly been allowed to take over, screening the impressive building, which one would imagine could again stand proud as the focal point of the town centre if the cemetery were to be cleared like the above shot. There are no trees of particular historical significance in the cemetery today, and if this was cleared, the church yard would perhaps not be a haven for buckfast drinkers. The cobbles were overlaid by tarmacadam in 1908, and to quote page 56 of John Taylor Gibb's 1911 book, this was a sore point to not a few. Incidentally, JTG was also prominent during his lifetime in the fight to save the ancient archway opposite the Ballochmyle Inn/ Gibb's Inn, but the well informed authorities of the time even demolished that. Photographer - Probably John Taylor Gibb of Mauchline Original Media - Glass Negative (141)

www.ayrshirehistory.com - On Line Slideshow of Auld Mauchline