Shawhill Estate

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Shawhill Estate
East Ayrshire UK location map.svg
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Shawhill Estate
Location within East Ayrshire
Council area
Lieutenancy area
Country Scotland
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town Kilmarnock
Postcode district KA1 5HZ
Police Scotland
Fire Scottish
Ambulance Scottish
List of places
UK
Scotland
55°36′25″N4°26′49″W / 55.607°N 4.447°W / 55.607; -4.447

Shawhill was an estate within a wide meander of the River Irvine in Hurlford, East Ayrshire, Parish of Riccarton, Scotland. Shawhill House (NS 245954 637634) still stands, however the office buildings are now private dwelling and much of the estate has also been sold.

Contents

History

The house and estate

Shawhill House Shawhill House, Crookedholm.JPG
Shawhill House

In the late 18th century the Shawhill Estate was held by William Herbert, the Laird of Shaw, he had two sons, John and George. Losses brought about by the American War of Independence resulted in such losses that he was forced to sell the estate. [1] John Carse, grandfather of the well known Paxton, Cowie, and Stewart families purchased the estate [1] and built a house on an elevated site to the south of the old farmstead, naming it Shawhill. Mr Carse later sold the property to John Carlyle who had made his fortune from plantations in the West Indies. [1] Upon Carlyle's death in 1822 Shawhill was greatly enlarged and improved by Colonel Clark. In the 1870s John Stewart of the firm of Stewart Brothers, Clothiers, Kilmarnock and London, owned the estate. [1]

The Category B Listed house that exists today dates from 1820 [2] and has a large Doric porch, five bay windows at the front and five chimney pots on a single pediment above the front door. An older building of white-washed stonework is incorporated at the back. A Gothic summerhouse with a broad-eaved square construction of the same era as the house is present. [3] The house is of two storeys; projecting office wing with bowed end - walled garden at the side. [4]

Shawhill Farm sits close to the banks of the River Irvine and once had stepping stones crossing over towards Templetonburn and the site of the old Holmhead dwelling of Thomas Raeburn, the 'Ayrshire Hermit'. [5]

McMichael records Shawhill as being one of "the chief seats in the parish", lying in a portion of the parish, south of Galston. [6]

A drowning

Etymology
The meaning of Shaw is a place with a small natural wood, thicket, or coppice [7]

Mr. Roxborough, a weaver of Galston, after a drinking bout lasting several days, called for his suit one night, saying that the gentleman in black wanted him. Leaving the house with the imaginary man he was found later found drowned at the large whinstone rock near the southern termination of the Shawhill woods by some of Mr Carse's sons. Margaret Irvine [8] of the nearby old Shaw Farm had something of a reputation as a witch and it was thought appropriate that a man drowned by the Devil should be recovered by one of his adherents. Placed on a cart, the body was taken to Galston, accompanied en route by an unknown man dressed in black. [9]

Scotland relief location map.jpg
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Shawhill Estate
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The location of the Shawhill Estate, East Ayrshire

Micro-history

Shawhill House frontage Shawhill house, riccarton.jpg
Shawhill House frontage

Thomas Raeburn, a well known eccentric and gardener for John Carlyle, used to cross the River Irvine from his property at Holmhead on stilts. [10]

Mr Carse and a group of farmers built the schoolhouse on the Riccarton Road and appointed a teacher. [11]

Mr Carse protected a fine old thorn tree that grew at the Hurlford Bridge end by having a pair of jugs attached to it, made by David Brown the local blacksmith. These were never used; however' they acted as a deterrent to local children who might harm it. [12]

It is recorded that at the Shawhill Estate was located the best chestnut tree in the village and when the village boys ventured to harvest the chestnuts, old Neil O' Shawhill would fire his 12 bore high up in the tree to scare them. [13]

See also

Related Research Articles

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Ayrshire is a historic county and registration county in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. Its principal towns include Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine and it borders the counties of Renfrewshire and Lanarkshire to the north-east, Dumfriesshire to the south-east, and Kirkcudbrightshire and Wigtownshire to the south. Like many other counties of Scotland, it currently has no administrative function, instead being sub-divided into the council areas of East Ayrshire, North Ayrshire and South Ayrshire. It has a population of approximately 366,800.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Galston, East Ayrshire</span> Municipality in Scotland

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Hurlford is a village in East Ayrshire, Scotland. It has a population of 4,968. Hurlford's former names include Whirlford and Hurdleford. The village was named Whirlford as a result of a ford crossing the River Irvine east of Hurlford Cross, near Shawhill. It shares its name in Gaelic, Baile Àtha Cliath with the Irish capital Dublin. The census locality is called Hurlford and Crookedholm.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">River Irvine</span> River in southwest Scotland

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Craigie Castle</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Symington, South Ayrshire</span> Human settlement in Scotland

Symington is a conservation village in South Ayrshire, Scotland. It is located in Symington parish, covering 0.41 square kilometres, and lies close to the A77 road from Ayr to Glasgow. Its church, built in 1160, remains one of the finest examples of a Norman church in Scotland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Lands of Pitcon</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bickering Bush</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Castle Hill, Caprington</span>

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The Lands of Dallars or Auchenskeith (NS463337) form a small estate in East Ayrshire, Hurlford, Kilmarnock, Parish of Riccarton, Scotland. The present mansion house is mainly late 18th-century, located within a bend of the Cessnock Water on the site of older building/s. "Dullers or Dillers" was changed to "Auchenskeith" or "Auchinskeigh" (sic) as well as other variants and then the name reverted nearer to the original form as "Dollars" and then finally "Dallars". Dallars lies 3.25 km south of Hurlford.

References

Notes
  1. 1 2 3 4 Wilson. Page 74
  2. ↑ Love, Page 123
  3. ↑ Close, Page 124
  4. ↑ British Listed Buildings Retrieved : 2012-01-05
  5. ↑ Wilson, Page 7
  6. ↑ McMichael, Page 138
  7. ↑ Dictionary of the Scots Language. Retrieved : 2012-01-06
  8. ↑ Wilson, Page 61
  9. ↑ Wilson, Page 62
  10. ↑ Wilson, Page 63
  11. ↑ Wilson, Page 40
  12. ↑ Wilson, Pages 40 & 41
  13. ↑ Hurlford Village Retrieved : 2012-01-06
Sources
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