WALLACETOWN, a quoad sacra district, in the
parish of St-Quivox, district of Kyle, county of Ayr;
containing 4620 inhabitants. It is wholly a town district,
formed of the villages of W'aliace and Content, and adjoining
the burgh of Ncwton-upon-Ayr. The villages
are built on the lands of Sir Thomas Wallace, of Craigie,
and have arisen since the year 1*60, in conseciuence of
the establishment of coal-works in the immediate neighbourhood,
and of the increase of manufactures in this
part of the country. They consist of indifferent houses,
inhabited chiefly by persons engaged in the mines and
in weaving, and by agricultural labourers, and artisans
in various handicraft trades: the weavers work at their
own houses for the manufacturers of Paisley and Glasgow.
From the moderate rents, and consequent cheapness
of lodgings, numerous of the labouring classes from
Ireland have settled here permanently, and many more
make it a place of temporary abode. This district of
the parish being by far the most populous part of it, a
chapel was erected by subscription in 1835, at a cost of
£1550; and in the following year Wallacetown was
constituted a parish in itself, so far as respects ecclesiastical
affairs. It is in the presbytery of Ayr, synod of
Glasgow and Ayr, and the patronage is vested in the
male communicants: the stipend of the minister is £150,
derived from seat-rents and collections, but there is
neither manse nor glebe. The churcli is a neat and
substantial edifice, adapted for a congregation of 865
persons. There are places of worship for members of
the United Presbyterian Church, Antiburghers, Reformed
Presbyterians, and Independents; and a Roman Catholic
chapel. In the united villages are six schools.