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{{Refimprove|date=June 2008}}
{{Infobox UK place|
|country = Scotland
|official_name= Skelmorlie
|gaelic_name=
|population=
|os_grid_reference= NS195688
|longitude= -4.89
|latitude= 55.88
|unitary_scotland= [[North Ayrshire]]
|lieutenancy_scotland= [[Ayrshire and Arran]]
|constituency_westminster= [[North Ayrshire and Arran (UK Parliament constituency)|North Ayrshire and Arran]]
|constituency_scottish_parliament= [[Cunninghame North (Scottish Parliament constituency)|Cunninghame North]]
|post_town= SKELMORLIE
|postcode_district = PA17
|postcode_area= PA
|dial_code= 01475
}}

'''Skelmorlie''' is a village in [[North Ayrshire]], [[Scotland]].

Although it is the northernmost settlement in the council area of North Ayrshire it is contiguous with [[Wemyss Bay]], which is in [[Inverclyde]]. The dividing line is the Kelly Burn, which flows into the [[Firth of Clyde]] just south of the [[Rothesay, Argyll and Bute|Rothesay]] ferry terminal. Despite their proximity, the two villages have historically been divided, Skelmorlie in [[Ayrshire]] and Wemyss Bay in [[Renfrewshire (historic)|Renfrewshire]].

Skelmorlie itself is divided into two sections, Lower and Upper Skelmorlie. There is one primary school in this village, with secondary age pupils going to [[Largs]] Academy in North Ayrshire.

In common with this part of the Clyde foreshore the rich red [[sandstone]] is a prominent feature of the landscape and housing in Skelmorlie.

==History==
[[File:Skelmorlie Aisle, Largs.JPG|left|thumb|170px|The Skelmorlie Aisle in Largs.]]
Skelmorlie's history is recorded as far back as the fifteenth century. [[Skelmorlie Castle]], south of the village, is a [[tower house]] built on the site of an older structure in 1502. Much altered and added to since, it is an ancient seat of the [[Clan Montgomery]] (a notable burial tomb of the family can be seen at [[Skelmorlie Aisle]] in Largs). During the nineteenth century the village was once home to many [[Glasgow]] [[tea]] barons. On the cliff above the shore a large [[Hydrotherapy#Hydropathic establishment|hydropathic institution]]<ref name="BradleyDupreeDurie429">{{Cite journal| last=Bradley| first=James| last2=Dupree| first2= Mageurite|last3=Durie|first3=Alastair | title=Taking the Water Cure: The Hydropathic Movement in Scotland, 1840-1940|journal=Business and Economic History|volume=26|issue=2|page=429
|year=1997| url= http://www.h-net.org/~business/bhcweb/publications/BEHprint/v026n2/p0426-p0437.pdf|accessdate=2009-11-17}}</ref><ref name="Shifrin">{{Cite web| last=Shifrin| first=Malcolm | title=Victorian Turkish Baths Directory |work=Victorian Turkish Baths: Their origin, development, and gradual decline |date=3 October 2008| url=http://www.victorianturkishbath.org/6DIRECTORY/ListBodies/HydroSF.htm |accessdate=12 December 2009}}</ref> once stood, with access from the main road via a [[elevator|lift]] whose shaft was hewn out of the rock face. The building later operated as a hotel, but was demolished in the 1990s.

To the south of Skelmorlie is the serpent mound, a prehistoric, perhaps druidic, site apparently carved either deliberately for religious uses or by nature then reused due to its natural shape.

On Saturday 18 April 1925, an embankment on the [[reservoir]] which belonged to the [[Earl of Eglinton|Eglinton]] Estate and provided the main water supply for the whole village gave way, releasing millions of gallons of water down through the village. After 10 minutes many homes, streets and gardens were shattered and five people, four of them children, lay dead.

The composer and arranger [[Brian Fahey (composer)|Brian Fahey]] lived in Skelmorlie until his death in 2007.{{Citation needed|date=November 2010}} Nowadays Skelmorlie has a population of 1880 residents.

In the early part of the 20th century the [[Royal Navy]] used a [[Nautical measured mile|measured nautical mile]] in the Firth of Clyde off Skelmorlie, known as the 'Skelmorlie Mile' as the range for speed trials of new warships.

==Further reading==
*''Skelmorlie'' by Walter Smart, published locally in 1969. Now out of print but a useful source of local history. Available on-line at [http://www.scribd.com/doc/1289541/SKELMORLIE-ORIGINAL-Walter-Smart-History-1968 Scribd]

==References==
{{reflist|2|refs=}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2010}}

{{commonscat}}

{{North Ayrshire}}

[[Category:Villages in North Ayrshire]]

Skelmorlie - Revision history

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