Bowling Clubs

Ayrshire is the home of bowling. Kilmarnock Bowling Club founded in 1740 is the oldest in the world. In 1849 one of its members, William Mitchell, wrote the first rules of the game, Laws of Bowls, and followed it up with the first textbook, Manual of Bowl Playing, in 1861. In 1857 the Earl of Eglinton started a bonspiel between Glasgow and Ayrshire's clubs playing for the Eglinton Cup. Today bowling is still very popular in Ayrshire with most towns and villages having one or two clubs.

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Wigtownshire Women's Bowling Association badge

Wigtownshire Womens Bowling Association blazer cloth badge that belonged to Mrs E M Skeldon, 1906-19

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Kilmarnock Bowling Club Members

Some members of Kilmarnock Bowling club which was founded in 1740 and remains the oldest continuous

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Bowls presented to J R Wilson by Sanquhar Bowling Club

J R Wilson, a local solicitor and agent for the Royal Bank of Scotland, was also a founder member of

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J Watson Black of Sanquhar

J Watson Black, pit deputy at Fauldhill Pit, began bowling at the age of 14, buying his first set of

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Brown's Manual of Bowling

James Brown, the Burgh Assessor, was a founder member of Sanquhar Bowling Club and a famous bowler.

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Carpet bowls

This was a popular game for winter evenings in the parlour or village hall. As all the bowls are a

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Detail of a Kilmaurs Bowling Club Centenary Tie

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Set of Wooden Bowls

These bowls were used by John Ritchie, one of the first Presidents of the Kilmaurs Bowling Club whic

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Kilmarnock Bowling Club 1870

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