Bourtreehill House
Only a mile from the town of Irvine, the remaining land surrounding Bourtreehill House is an overgrown woodland at the summit of a wide but relatively low hill.
Medieval in origin and with an array of ruined structures, ancient trees, and overgrown avenues, the estate, which once housed associates of Robert Burns, William Wallace and Lord Byron, has a hidden and mysterious history.
During the construction of the modern North Bourtreehill housing scheme, the original confines of the estate were only slightly adjusted.
Many houses lie within the ancient interior of Bourtreehill, but those dwellings have been designed in such a way that they complement the undulating land and wooded features.
The River Annick Runs through the area and so adds to the natural surroundings which dominate the North Bourtreehill complex.
A partial record of the Lynns of Bourtreehill is as follows: 13 Jan 1505 - Andrew Lyne received a charter from Robert Frances, Lord of Stane, for land in Bourtreehill, for which he was to pay to Frances the third part of a whole peppercorn on the feast of St. Martin in winter on the ground of the said lands in name of blench ferm if asked; and to the lords portioners of Peristoun seventeen bolls in measure of oats used and accustomed at two yearly ters St. Martin in winter and Whitsunday by equal portions upon the ground of the said lands.
21 Jan 1548 - John Lyn of that Ilk and Bowtrehill conveyed the lands of Highlees to Archibald Crawford as guardian for the heir of Hunterston.
On 18 February 1606, the two merk land and a half of Bourtreehill was conveyed to Robert Montgomery of Skelmorlie, as evidenced by a contract held by the National Archives of Scotland.
He and his younger brother, John, ancestor of the Hamiltons of Sundrum, were long resident in Jamaica, where they possessed the estate of Pemberton valley, and acquired very considerable wealth.
[5] In 1776 the Countess of Crawfurd is given as proprietor on plate 45 of G. Taylor and A. Skinner's 'Survey and maps of the roads of North Britain or Scotland'.
The date of the inception of Bourtreehill is, as yet, unknown but in the centuries that passed its history has been peppered with a multitude of wealthy, powerful and influential people.
That several of those influential historical characters were women is also a valuable and notable point when considering the history of Bourtreehill in the middle-ages and later 17th-18th centuries.
The Kilbirnie Earl of Crawford sought shelter and his father-in-law, Robert Hamilton of Bourtreehill, gave his estate to the distressed family.
At the same time, the gardener employed by Robert Hamilton of Bourtreehill, was directly responsible for much of the landscaping and decoration in the present remnant that survives today.
In these, Gilbert reminisces on a book loan between his own father, William Burness and "Mr. Hamilton of Bourtreehill's gardener".
The future estate of Rozelle in Ayr was purchased by Robert Hamilton of Bourtreehill, a former Jamaica merchant who named it after a Jamaican property and also built the mansion house (1760).
