page_title: Spier's School
section_title: Marshalland
hierarchical_section_title: Spier's School / Marshalland
caption_attribution_description: English: A map of Speir's school, Beith, Ayrshire, Scotland
context_page_description: Spier's school, at Beith, in North Ayrshire, Scotland was opened in 1888 and closed in 1972. The school, now demolished, was built using Ballochmyle red sandstone and was reminiscent of the ancient Glasgow University. The school motto was 'Quod verum tutum'. The gardens and woodlands are open to the public at all times.
  Sustrans National Route 7 at Kilbirnie Lochside is the nearest cycle-route access. The Barrmill Road entrance is on the bus route from Beith to Barrmill.
context_section_description: In 1686, John Shedden, ancestor of the Sheddens of Morrishill in Beith, obtained the 14 shilling Lands of "Marsheland" from Hugh and John Lyle. He also obtained the 32 Penny Land of Erestoun's Mailling or "Burnside of Marsheland". Margaret, a daughter of Matthew Montgomerie of Bogston, married John Shedden about 1700.
  Roy's map of 1747 refers to the site of the later school as "Marchland" and shows the property lying on the boundary (or march) of the Barony of Broadstone, within the Lordship of Giffen, and the Barony of Beith, the physical boundary being formed at this point by the Powgree Burn, which is also recorded as the Powgreen or Marshyland burn. Marshalland lay within the Barony of Broadstone. Later maps call the area "Marshyland" and "Marshalland".  A Marshall family were blacksmiths in Gateside for many generations, however no direct connection has been shown to exist.
  John Shedden of Marsheland, born on 25 April 1756, was locally known as 'Jack the Marsheland'. He was known as a poacher of hares, at a time when the game laws were very strict. Jack had various brushes with the law, and as a result he had to leave the area for a while and became a game-keeper, his local nickname adapting itself to become 'Jack the Gem-Keeper.' When he died, he had a friend fire a shotgun over his grave, much to the surprise and consternation of the minister.
  Robert Service bought Marsheland and passed it on to his son Robert. In 1816-17, the younger Robert Service sold it to Robert Spier, father of John Spier. In 1820, the part of "the Marshal-land" held by Robert Spier had a rent value of £58 18s 2d, while another part held by a Mrs Gibson was valued at £20 0s 0d. Aitken's map of 1829 shows an R. Spier, Esquire, as resident at "Marsheyland". Andrew Spier, John's brother, is called "of Marshalland" and may have lived there until his untimely death.
  Robert Spier owned the Cuff estate, and through his marriage to Margaret Gibson acquired the estate of Marshalland. John Spier was the son of Robert Spier, described as a Writer and bank agent in Beith, owner of the Marshalland and Cuff estates, which included Bogstone, Bellcraig, Eastend of Shutterflat, and Lugton Ridge farms. Robert was descended from the Spiers of Kersland Mill, which he bought from his elder brother. Through good business acumen, he accumulated a considerable fortune of £40,000 in land and money, equivalent to £3,986,389 in 2019.
  In a map of 1858, the land on which the school was later built shows only the presence of two wells and the fields of the Marshalland farm, with its tree-lined hedgerows. Tom Paterson and his sister farmed Marshalland in the 1950s, and the last people to live at Marshalland were David and Mary Kerr, before the fine house and associated farm buildings were demolished in the early 1960s.
caption: Spier's school's location near Beith
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