Galston (Lowland Scots: Gauston, Scottish Gaelic: Baile nan Gall) is a municipality in East Ayrshire, Scotland, which has a population of 5,001 (2001) and is at the heart of the civil parish of the same name. It is situated in wooded countryside four miles up-river from Kilmarnock and is one a group of the small towns located in the Irvine Valley between the towns of Hurlford and Newmilns. To the north of the town is the ruin of Loudoun Castle, the site of Loudoun Castle theme park from 1995 to 2010. In 1874 the population was 4,727. Etymology The name Galston means "place of the strangers" from the Gaelic word Gall (a stranger), and the Toun or Ton was a farm and its outbuildings. The word baile was anglicised in more recent history as toun like many other place names in Scotland which were originally "bal". Churches Galston Parish Church, church designed by John Brash of Glasgow, built in 1809 on site of pre-reformation church. Spire 120 feet in height. Chancel added 1912 and 3-manual pipe organ by J J Binns 1913. The 17th-century Presbyterians forbade burials taking place within churches. In 1609 John Schaw of Sornbeg decided to bury his recently deceased wife within Galston Kirk. He entered the kirk with a party of armed men and proceeded to break up flagstones and dig a grave where he interred his wife's body. He was fined £20 for this action and promised never to attempt this act again. St Sophia's Church, 1885, Byzantine style church designed by architect Sir Robert Rowand Anderson, based on Hagia Sophia in Istanbul. Is a Category A Listed building. Galston Gospel Hall The Burn Anne The Burn Anne joins the Irvine at Galston. It is named after St Anne, said to be the mother of the Virgin Mary. "St Anne's Holy Well" is marked on the 1860 OS map and lies above Bank Wood, flowing into the Burn Anne. The Holy Well has been destroyed by the construction of a concrete tank which collects the spring water for Cessnock Castle, first constructed for the Duke of Portland in Victorian times. The Carsewell Hole nearby was used for adult baptism. The woodlands here have a high plant biodiversity value and are a registered provisional wildlife site as designated by the Scottish Wildlife Trust. Species noted in 2007 include woodruff, bird cherry, primrose, common violet, oak, stitchwort,