A look at Seagate Castle, Brisbane House and Seafield

Based on the recent book by Alex F Young, which is now available in bookshops, we're covering some of the most impressive - and sometimes lost - properties across the area.

Today, we take a look at Irvine's Seagate Castle, Brisbane House in Largs and Seafield House in Ardrossan.

Seagate Castle

Seagate (Image: Alex F Young)

This photo of the old castle was taken in the 1880s by professional photographer Thomas Castle, of Bridgegate.

The original building may date from the 1180s, when it was known as the Castle of Irewin and stood where the harbour then was, hence Seagate. Due to topographical changes, a new harbour was built around 1750.

The mansion appears to have been inhabited until the end of the 17th century, as a dower-house for the Eglinton family. In the 1740s, Alexander Montgomery, the 10th Earl of Eglinton had the decaying building's roof removed. Montgomerie would later be murdered by excise officer Mungo Canpbell in October 1769 on Ardrossan's North Shore.

Read more about the murder here.

In July 1928, Jessie Augustina Cuthbertson Walker purchased the castle and grounds, which adjoined her property at 3 Castle Street, from the Earl of Eglinton. In 1930, her brother Brigadier General James Walker presented the plaque which records that the Treaty of Irvine was signed at the castle in July 1297 and Mary Queen of Scots visited the castle on August 1 1563, with her Four Mary's... which led to today's annual Marymass Festival in Irvine.

Seafield

Seafield (Image: Alex F Young)

This Ardrossan mansion, known as Seafield Tower, was built in 1820 for Alexander Bartlemore, born at nearby Chapelhill Farm.

When he died in the mansion in 1852, it passed to his son John Bartlemore, a writer from Paisley. It was rented, then purchased, by William Geddes Borron, a glass manufacturer of Glasgow.

It was later bought by Archibald Douglas Bryce-Douglas, a marine engineer, who paid £7,050 for the house in which he died in 1891, aged 50. The house remained in private ownership until 1937, when it was bought by Glasgow Corporation's education department and used as a children's convalescent home.

In the early hours of February 11, 1952, with 50 boys in 23 rooms, a fire broke out. Six of the boys, in one room, died of suffocation.

Ownership passed to Cunninghame District Council in 1975 and to North Ayrshire Council in 1996. Between 2004 and 2017 it was Quarrier's Seafield School, then a health and fitness centre. It is now partly roofless following an extensive fire in June 2019.

Brisbane House

Brisbane House (Image: Alex F Young)

The Largs estate is believed to date back to 1636 and was built by the Kelso family. The flanking pavilions are believed to have been added by later owners, the Brisbanes.

Its most famous son, Thomas Makdougall Brisbane was born in the house in 1773 and died in the same room in 1860. Joining the army in 1789, he served under the Duke of Wellington, who recommended him as the sixth Governor of New South Wales. He served for six years and the town of Brisbane was named after him.

Efforts by Largs Town Council to buy the house for a new refuse destructor in 1937 were thwarted when it was bought by shipowner John McKellar Robertson of neighbouring Noddesdale.

In March 1939, Robertson, 55, was found dead in the property with a shotgun nearby. The roof was removed to avoid paying rates and the wood stripped out of the house. 

The front door was sent to Brisbane in Australia, where it is displayed in the City Hall.

The ruined shell stood until 1942 when it was demolished - using explosives - by the No3 Commando Unit, who were then training in the Largs area.

The Country Houses, Castles and Mansions of North Ayrshire, by Alex F Young, is available from Stenlake Publishing Ltd and in many local bookshops and stores.