Home Report Stewarton

It emerged as an 18th-century textile town becoming known as ‘The Bonnet Toun’ due to its speciality in making headgear including the Glengarry and Tam O’Shanter. In the past, Stewarton served as a crossroads between the traditional routes from Kilmarnock, Irvine and Ayr to the city of Glasgow. Until however the M77 motorway was constructed to the east which has taken this traffic out of the town. The old road is known as the “Auld Glesga Road” and is still used by locals.

Today, Stewarton is mostly a commuter town for residents working elsewhere, such as Glasgow, Kilmarnock and Irvine. However, the town does retain some economic activity of its own with a small engineering works and acts as a local market and services centre.

In terms of transport links for commuters, these are well developed. The closest main trunk road for travel north or south and onto further connections is the M77, which is accessible by a short drive to the east towards Fenwick. Other regularly used roads include the aforementioned Old Glasgow Road, the A735, Kilwinning Road, B788 and B769 roads all of which are accessible from near enough the centre of Stewarton and allow for travel to nearby towns and villages. There are several local bus services that make use of these roads for local transport. The town advantageously has its own railway station with regular and direct trains to Glasgow Central Station in about half an hour.

In terms of local amenities, the town has the usual array of shops you would expect of a town of its size, but as a convergence point for many smaller settlements, it has a bit more going on. It has a thriving high street brimming with shops, cafes, and restaurants, where Ayrshire produce is proudly present on the menus. The town is also in a great location for nature lovers with carefully maintained woodlands nearby and the Annick Water providing a scenic setting for walking, running or getting out with the dog.

As for local education, Stewarton has two primary schools: Nether Robertland Primary and Lainshaw Primary. Secondary education in the town is provided by Stewarton Academy which also accepts pupils from smaller nearby settlements.