Chapeltoun

**Chapeltoun** is an estate on the banks of the Annick Water in East Ayrshire, Scotland. This is a rural area famous for its milk and cheese production and the Ayrshire or Dunlop breed of cattle.

## Templeton and the Knights Templar:

The feudal
 allocation of tenements to the vassals of the overlord, such as Hugh de
 Morville, was carried out very carefully, with the boundaries being
walked and carefully recorded.
 The term 'ton' at this time was added to the site of the dwelling
house, not necessarily a grand stone-built structure, which was bounded
by a wall or fence. The tenements were held in a military tenure, the
land being in exchange for military assistance to the overlord. In later
 years the military assistance could be exchanged for financial payment.

The name Templeton may have arisen due to lands here being given by
the overlord to a vassal. The site of the original dwelling is unknown,
Laigh Chapelton being the oldest known site of a habitation, probably
dating from at least 1775.

The name Chapelton is relatively recent as Pont's Map
 of 1604 does not show such a place name; however, he does show a
Templeton in approximately the right place between the Annick Water and
the Glazert Water. Other Knights Templar temple-lands were to be found at the Templehouse and Fortalice in the old village of Darlington near Stewarton, Templehouse near Dunlop,
 at Templetounburn on the outskirts of Crookedholm and at several other
places in the area, such as Temple-Ryburn and Temple-Hapland.

In 1312 the Knights Templar order, whose Scottish headquarters had been at Torphichen, was disbanded and its lands given to the Knights of St. John who today run the St John Ambulance
 amongst other activities. Lord Torphichen as preceptor obtained the
temple-land tenements and the lands passed through the hands of
Montgomerie of Hessilhead to Wallace of Cairnhill (now Carnell) in 1720,
 before passing out of the hands of the aristocracy. A tenement is a
grant of land which has a building on it and is held in tenure by the
tenant

The farms in the area used the Chapelton name in 1829 (Aitken) and
Armstrong's 1775 map shows and names a Chapel. The name change from
Templetoun to Chapelton may have resulted from the end of the official
existence of the temple-lands sometime after 1720 or as a result of the
breaking up of the ownership of these lands at around this date or
possibly slightly earlier. Thus the name Templeton was in use in 1604 in 1654, but not by 1775 The will of Katherine Muir / Mure, dated 1665, relict of William Hepburn of Chapeltoun in the Parish of Stewarton, implies a change of name at an earlier date. This Chapeltoun may be the modern day Chapeltoun Mains.

Paterson (1866) states that *on the lands of Langshaw (now Lainshaw) there was a chapel, dedicated to the Virgin Mary and that it had an appropriate endowment*. After the Reformation
 the endowment was appropriated by the patron and the chapel allowed to
fall into ruins. Temple-lands did not pay teins to maintain the local
church and they were therefore a highly prized and lucrative asset.

In 1616 the patronage of the chapel and the lands of Peacock Bank
(sic) were held by Sir Neil Montgomerie of Lainshaw as granted 'clare
constat' by the Earl of Eglinton, but by 1661 the patronage was once
again held directly by the Earl of Eglinton as indicated below. The site
 of the chapel was called Chapelton in the 17th century and Chapel by
1874. The same information is given by Paterson[8] in 1866, Groome in 1885 and Barclay.

 indicating that a small settlement existed around the chapel in much
the same way as many 'Kirktons' exist as at Kilmaurs-Glencairn and
Stewarton kirks.

Dobie
 in 1876 records that Hugh, Earl of Eglinton inherited in May 1661 the
10 merkland of Langshaw with the patronage of the Chapel of the Blessed
Virgin within these lands. A reference is made to a James Wyllie, whose
family held these lands for several generations. This statement is made
as part of a reference to the 5 merk lands of Gallaberry which were part
 of a larger area of land, most of which belonged to the estate of
Dunlop. The name Gallaberry is thought to be derived from the Saxon word *burgh* and the Celtic word Gauls,
 the term meaning therefore the burgh, mansion or strength of the Gauls.
 Sanderson mentions a rural chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mother Mary
located on the Lainshaw lands.

It is relevant here to note that Dobie lists three families with the
name Tempiltoun in the Kilmaurs valuation role of 1640 while no other
Cunninghame parishes have this name listed. One of the oldest graves in
Kilmaurs-Glencairn churchyard, dating from the 17th century, is that of a
 Tempiltoun. The family Bible of the Templetons is held (2008) by the
Forrests of Byres Farm, who are direct descendants.