The early church and settlement were situated at the foot of Kirkland Hill on the drove road from
Ayrshire to
Lanarkshire, which followed the steep incline beside the Glenaylmer Burn. Whether Saint Conal was a
Culdee monk and missionary from
Gaelic Ireland or the son of a local shepherd befriended and educated by Glasgow's
Saint Mungo, Christianity came early to this part of Nithsdale. A
Celtic cross, erected in 1880 by the
Duke of Buccleuch at the instigation of the
Church of Scotland minister, the Rev. John Donaldson, marks the reputed burial place of Saint Conal. From the neighbourhood of the cross, on a clear day, can be seen the churches at Kirkconnel,
Sanquhar and
Kirkbride, all associated with Saint Conal. St Conal's Church is one of the oldest church sites in Southern Scotland with archaeological remains dating to the 9th century and the present foundations of a church dating back to the 12th and 13th centuries. Life changed dramatically for this small town in the 1890s when a coal pit was opened at Fauldheld.
Coal had always been mined in the district before, but never in large quantities. From then on coal dominated the life of the little town. The coal industry moved away in recent decades, and with it much of the population. ==Transport==