This weekend, we're continuing our look at some of North Ayrshire's most historic and iconic castles, homes, mansions and structures.
They all feature in the recent book The Country Houses, Castles and Mansions of North Ayrshire by author Alex F. Young, which gives a fascinating glimpse into the history of some of the most prominent properties in the area, some of them now long lost.
This week, we're going to take a peek inside another three of those properties - Annick Lodge, Netherhall and Eglinton Castle, with the kind permission of the author.
Annick Lodge
Our photo shows Annick Lodge in the spring of 1907 when it was owned by the trustees of the Glasgow contractor, Robert Barclay Shaw, who had died two years earlier, aged 52.
He bought the house and estate in 1895 from the Glengarnock Iron & Steel Co. The estate may have been connected with the Tironensian Order of Kilwinning Abbey from 1140.
Back in 1789, the property was advertised for sale at public auction under the name of Greenvale.
Described as an elegant modern house with suitable offices, it consisted of 105 acres, including 17 acres of planting, lying in the parishes of Dreghorn and Irvine.
It was bought by Captain Alexander Montgomerie (1744-1802) – brother of Hugh Montgomerie, 12th Earl of Eglinton – who may have rebuilt the house, re-naming it Annick Lodge.
By November 1933, it was up for sale again, complete with eight or nine bedrooms, oak panelled billiard room, stables and garage.
The sale also included Annick Mains (three houses for staff), Annick Lodge Village (a terrace of 12 houses) and the 90 acre dairy farm, Roddinghill.
It was purchased the following year by John Ronald Howie, who died in June 1982, leaving Annick Lodge to his family.
Netherhall
This photo shows guests on the croquet lawn at Netherhall in 1928, having opened the previous year as a Christian holiday home run by the Plymouth Brethren and managed by William Edward Taylor (1873-1940) and his wife, Jane.
It operated as an hotel and conference centre until 1989, when the Glasgow auctioneer McTear’s emptied the building with a two day sale.
Around 1872 Sir William Thomson - better known as physicist and engineer Baron Kelvin of Largs - bought the 12 acre North Kirkland Parks, between Kirkland Farm to the north and the Noddesdale Water.
In 1875, he engaged the Glasgow architect Campbell Douglas (1828-1910) to plan and supervise the building of the house.
Baron Kelvin's legacies included perfection of the mariner’s compass, determining the correct value of absolute temperature as -273.15 degrees Celsius, and the first transatlantic telegraph cable for which he was knighted in 1866, and elevated to the House of Lords in 1892.
He died at Netherhall House in December 1907 and was interred in Westminster Abbey, leaving the house to his second wife, Frances Anna née Blandy.
On her death, in March 1916 aged 78 years, the house passed to James Thomson Bottomley (1845-1926), a nephew of Lord Kelvin. In 1993, the builder, Barratt Scotland, converted the house to flats, with further housing in the grounds.
Eglinton Castle's Tournament Bridge
Our picture shows the Tournament Bridge over the Lugton Water, photographed in the 1880s, with Eglinton Castle on the right (south) bank beyond.
This bridge of three arches imitates the gothic style of the castle, with the family arms in the centre, and weas designed by David Hamilton (1768- 1843) of Glasgow and built by ‘ohn Connell of Dalgarven.
Hamilton and Connell also rebuilt Kilwinning Parish Church steeple which fell in August 1814.
The bridge carried the road to the estate’s kennels, and gamekeeper’s house, at Laigh Moncur, and in August 1839 was on the route from the castle to the Tilt Yard in Deer Park for the joisting competition of the Eglinton Tournament.
In the late 1840s or early 1850s, the three-arched Hamilton bridge was replaced by the ‘new’ two arched structure in the illustration.
Lack of maintenance over the years hastened the bridge’s deterioration, despite work done by the army during the Second World War, when the estate was requisitioned.
In 1952 the food processors Robert Wilson & Sons (Barrhead) Ltd built a ‘garden factory’ in the grounds, and financed improvements across the estate through the Clement Wilson Foundation, which included £400,000 on the bridge.
Finally, in 2005, North Ayrshire Council brought together the finance (£720,000) from themselves, Historic Scotland and the Heritage Lottery Fund, and awarded the contract for the work to the Dalry-based civil engineers, W I & A Gilbert Ltd. It re-opened on Friday, June 26, 2009.
Look out for a final look at some of North Ayrshire's best loved buildings next week.
The Country Houses, Castles and Mansions of North Ayrshire is available now for £11.95 from East Ayrshire firm Stenlake Publishing Ltd and is available in many local stores, newsagents and bookshops.
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