Main Street is one of the few streets in Stevenston where we can follow the architectural changes of the Street through time in photographs. Have a look at the photographs, in order, and you will see how much the area around the Stevenston burn changed between 1888 and the 1970s.
- The building in the centre of Main Street was previously a brewery, which used water from the Stevenston Burn to make the ale. In 1924 the old bridges crossing the burn and the buildings were demolished to create a wider street to accommodate the new motorised vehicles.
- In this photograph you can see more of the the old brewery building and shop which stood in the middle of Main Street, with the houses behind it. From this angle you can see the road leading up to Townhead Street, which at one time was also known as the Weaver’s Brae, due to the number of weavers living there.
- Presented to the town of Stevenston by Patrick Warner of Ardeer, the inauguration ceremony for the Warner Memorial Fountain was held on 15 April 1910. Made of granite, with a gas lamp above it, the fountain stood nearly 16 feet high. On the south side of the fountain was a drinking trough for horses, while the east and west sides held two drinking wells. It stood close to the site of the old bridge at Fullarton Place. In 1927 it was re-sited in front of the Cross Keys Bar. The Warner Memorial Fountain now sits on the corner of Main Street and New Street in front of the Beattie Library which opened in 1996.
- Most of the buildings in this photograph no longer exist. With the exception of Warner’s Brig, the rest of the bridges have been demolished and the Stevenston Burn now runs beneath Stevenston Cross, following the path of the road. Behind the Gourock Laundry van you can see that the Warner Memorial Fountain is still sited here which helps us date this image to between 1924 and 1927. Behind the Fountain is Alexander Place. Horse and carts have now been replaced by motorised transport. In this and the previous photograph you can see the telegraph poles in the background.
- The last photograph is dated around the early 1970’s. A single decker bus is passing Alexander Place. You can see that there used to be an island in the middle of the Main Street and that there are no traffic lights. The Warner Brig has been removed and a low wall with fence now protects anyone from falling into the burn. The old buildings on Townhead Street have not yet been demolished to make way for the Council flats and shops, nor has the old house next to the burn. Note that at the beginning of Townhead Street, the old houses exited directly on the street and were not set back upon a raised platform of steps.