Eglinton Country Park

These wildlife sites have public access at all times and are regularly patrolled by the NAC Ranger Service who also carry out basic conservation tasks aided by volunteers and local groups.

Recent resident breeding species include: the robin, finch, tit, thrush, pheasant, grey partridge, tawny owl, kestrel, sparrowhawk, great spotted woodpecker, skylark, yellowhammer and tree-creeper.

The 'Old Wood' containing the ice house has a good plant diversity due to the fact that it is long established and relatively undisturbed, unlike the park's plantations which are of a comparatively recent origin.

The park is acting as a part of the conservation effort to ensure the survival of three species of the rare indigenous and endemic trees commonly called the Arran whitebeams, native to that island and found nowhere else in the World.

The original castle of the Eglintons may have been near Kidsneuk, Bogside (NS 309 409) where a substantial earth mound or motte stands and excavated pottery[7] was found tentatively dating the site to the thirteenth century.

An older bridge with three arches, the one actually used for the 1839 Tournament, had stood further up the river towards the castle as described and shown in several contemporary prints, books and maps[26][27] The landscape gardens, were designed by John Tweedie (1775–1862), and laid out for Alexander, the 10th Earl, together with extensive tree plantings.

[28] The gardens were laid out by John Tweedie (1775–1862), a native of Lanarkshire who also worked at Blairquhan Castle in 1816, Castlehill in Ayr; in 1825 he emigrated to Argentina where he became a leading agriculturist and plant-hunter.

The estate offices, coach house and stables block were probably built in the 18th century by John Paterson, however it is suggested that the architect was Robert Adam.

A large number of cottages, such as Fergushill, Higgins (on the old toll road), Millburn, Chapel Croft, Diamond, Gravel, Flush and Hill, and some miners rows existed at one time or other, together with place names such as Swine Park,[38] Chapelholm, Knadgerhill, Irvine March wood, Meadow plantations and Long Drive; an area close to Eglinton Mains called 'The Circle', Crow and Old Woods, The Hill, also known locally as Foxes Lodge,[41] etc., etc.

[44] A highly unusual landscape feature of some considerable size was laid out as a bilaterally symmetrical design near Benslie hamlet and is shown on the 1750s Roy map.

[16][full citation needed] In 1860 the earl employed a rackets professional, John Charles Mitchell (fourteen times champion) and Patrick Devitt replaced him.

[52] Aiton states that "Near to the gardens, in a remote corner, more than half encircled by the river, a remarkably handsome cottage has been reared, and furnished, under the direction of Lady Jean Montgomery, who has contrived to unite neatness and simplicity, with great taste, in the construction of this enchanting hut.

That amiable lady, spends occasionally, some part of her leisure hours, about this delightful cottage: viewing the beauties, and contemplating the operations of nature, in the foliage of leaves, blowing of flowers, and maturation of fruits; with other rational entertainments, which her enlightened mind is capable of enjoying."

[16][full citation needed] A second ice house is recorded on the 1860 OS on the edge of the Ladyha Deer Park close to the Weirston to Eglinton Kennels estate road; the design and location suggest that this was involved in the preparation and storage of venison.

55°39′0.5″N 4°40′16.1″W / 55.650139°N 4.671139°W / 55.650139; -4.671139 A large ornamental Gothic lectern style Doocot (Scottish Colloquial) or dovecote is located near the scant remains of the Eglinton Mains farm, situated on the B 7080 'Long Drive' towards Sourlie Hill interchange.

The Flushes Ponds were fed by the Bannoch Burn and a curling house was present, in which the traditional fare of pies and porter were provided for players, often followed by a night of entertainment at the castle.

Lady Susanna Montgomerie, wife of the 9th Earl of Eglinton, was a renowned society beauty and her husband built for her at Kidsneuk a copy of the cottage orné, the Hameau de la Reine that Marie Antoinette had famously possessed at Versailles.

[86] Friends and admirers of the 13th Earl presented him with a magnificent silver commemorative 'trophy' designed by Edmund Cotterill, made in a medieval Gothic style by Messrs. Garrard of London at a cost of £1,775.

The failure of the Glasgow Bank in 1878 lead to financial difficulties, which together with the poor state of the castle, resulted in the sale of the entire contents of the house between 1 and 5 December 1925.

[104] Near 'The Circle' close to old Eglinton Mains farm are the remains of a short cist and aerial surveys show that the Belvidere Hill had a circular enclosure and ditch around its summit.

An unusually complex network of mineral railway lines, mainly running through the outer parts of the park, existed in the 19th and 20th centuries; the trackbed now being used as cycle paths in several places.

of the buildings and railway lines, but odd depressions in the ground, old embankments, coal bings and abandoned bridges all bear witness to what was at one time a very active coalfield with associated businesses and infrastructure.

A fairly substantial brick-lined tunnel still survives which once carried a standard gauge railway line unobtrusively to Ladyha colliery, out of the Earl's sight and the smoke kept away from the kitchen gardens' greenhouses and plants.

[140] Eglinton has been used as a Christian name, as in William Eglington Montgomerie of Annick Lodge, who died 13 October 1884 age 84 yrs and is buried in Dreghorn cemetery.

[141] Dr. Duguid[142] visited Bonshaw, circa the 1840s and lists some of the items in the owners collection, including the stirrups from the horse that the 10th Earl of Eglinton was riding when he was shot and killed by gauger Mungo Campbell in 1769.

The base of the pillar carries this inscription: "To the memory of his beloved grandson, Hugh Who died the 13 July 1817 at the age of six years and a few months: A child of promise.

Eglinton Mains farm was eventually abandoned and all the stock and equipment moved by a special train from Montgreenan railway station to Tonbridge Wells in Kent.

[16][full citation needed] The Redburn burn runs through the Eglinton estate from near Stanecastle and is named after the very high red iron salt content.

[157] HMS Eglinton was a World War II Hunt Class escort Destroyer built by Vickers Armstrong of Newcastle and launched on 28 December 1939.

[158] A Gauging station operated by SEPA is located just above the weir on the Lugton Water at the suspension bridge; it appears as a small building and a set of cables and wires stretched across the river.