RESIDENTS in New Cumnock got more than they bargained for following the demolition of one of the towns landmarks.

The town recently lost one of its most iconic buildings and in the process unearthed a blast from the past in the form of a perfectly preserved time capsule - including a very old copy of the Chronicle.

The Arthur Memorial United Free Church stood majestically on the castle hill at the heart of the village for just over 100 years before being pulled down earlier this month.

The building had been lying empty for a number of years, but the loss of the church stirred many fond memories among locals.

The memorial stone lodged above the door was laid on September 7 1912. Local firm WL McClounie Ltd were tasked with carrying out the demolition and quickly recovered the church bell, bearing the date of 1885, which had previously rang out from the original Free Church.

The excitement peaked when the time capsule was then discovered behind the memorial stone of 1912 - carefully secured in the cavity of a dressed stone. The bell, time capsule, memorial stone and the small stone cross that adorned the church roof were temporarily transferred for safe-keeping to the McClounie family home at Meikle Garclaugh farm.

On a glorious sunny day minister, Reverend Helen Cuthbert, and local history enthusiast, Bobby Guthrie visited Meikle Garclaugh where Lindsay McClounie carefully opened the time capsule. Within the metal canister was a sealed glass bottle with a copy of the Cumnock Chronicle in clear view and, with the lid removed, the rest of its treasures were soon revealed.

A small box wrapped in a hand-written note listing its contents including remarkably items retrieved from a time capsule that had been placed in the original Free Church when laying the memorial stone on August 29 1843 – a Commemoration Medal of the First Assembly of the Free Church and three coins, penny, halfpenny and farthing of the period. To match this in 1912 were added a William Arthur Medal and coins of that period.

Remarkably, in the the 1843 time capsule was a copy of our sister newspaper, the Ayr Advertiser or West Country Journal which is Scotland’s oldest weekly newspaper.

They also discovered a hand written note commemorating the laying of the memorial stone in August 1843 with the names of the Church Elders and Committee alongside that of Rev Mathew Kirkland and a copy of the national Protest of that year.

The 1912 components, alongside the Chronicle and coins, included the Church Financial Accounts for 1911 and other church literature of that time.

To honour the finding and the memory of the church there are plans to hold a ‘Memorial for the Arthur Memorial’ in the Parish Church, later in the year, when the contents of the time capsule will be on display.

The Reverend Cuthbert said: “It is clear that the demolition of the Arthur Memorial has touched many people bringing reminders of special times in their lives and the lives of their families whether weddings, Baptisms, steps of faith, times of fellowship. It would be great to be able to gather these memories together as a tribute to the times and people who influenced us. We would love to hear their stories and be delighted if they could come forward and share any photos, documents or artefacts from the church to form part of the Memorial Display in the church.” Bobby Guthrie added: “As part of our recent Auld Kirk & Village Heritage Trail project we recognised the Arthur family’s contribution to our parish and restored the family lair in the kirkyard. William Arthur was also one of the parishioners researched by the school children, as was Andrew Stirling the Free Church Schoolmaster.

“It seems fitting that we now do something to preserve the memories of the Arthur Memorial Church and Free Church and catalogue the time capsule findings. It would be tremendous if we could raise funds to purchase and restore the impressive church bell and give it a place of prominence in our heritage landscape of the future”.

They are also looking for people to join a group to help organise the display. If you are interested in being part of this you can contact the Reverend Helen Cuthbert on 01290 338296 or Bobby Guthrie at rguthrie65@hotmail.co.uk.

Details of the ‘Memorial for the Arthur Memorial’ can be found at www.newcumnockheritage.com.