Carcluie Loch (NS 34894 16186) is a small freshwater

loch ''Loch'' ( ) is a word meaning "lake" or "inlet, sea inlet" in Scottish Gaelic, Scottish and Irish Gaelic, subsequently borrowed into English. In Irish contexts, it often appears in the anglicized form "lough". A small loch is sometimes calle ...

in the

South Ayrshire South Ayrshire (; , ) is one of thirty-two council areas of Scotland, covering the southern part of Ayrshire. It borders onto Dumfries and Galloway, East Ayrshire and North Ayrshire. South Ayrshire had an estimated population in 2021 of 112,45 ...

Council Area, lying in a glacial

Kettle Hole A kettle (also known as a kettle hole, kettlehole, or pothole) is a depression or hole in an outwash plain formed by retreating glaciers or draining floodwaters. The kettles are formed as a result of blocks of dead ice left behind by retreating ...

, Parish of Dalrymple,

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

The loch

Blaeu's map of circa 1654 taken from

Timothy Pont Reverend Timothy Pont () was a Scottish minister, cartographer and topographer. He was the first to produce a detailed map of Scotland. Pont's maps are among the earliest surviving to show a European country in minute detail, from an actual surve ...

's map of circa 1600 shows Loch Luy and nearby the dwelling of Kar Cluy. In 1821 the farm was recorded as Kirklewy, but no loch shown. In 1832 Thomson's map shows a small loch at Carcluie. In the 1870s the OS map shows that the loch was roughly oval in shape, and of an extent of 0.709 hectares or 1.752 acres. The loch is fed by the Carcluie Burn and a burn running down the hill from the vicinity of the railway; the outflow runs down towards Broomberry.

Drainage

The loch's drainage may have begun in the early 18th century when

Alexander Montgomerie, 10th Earl of Eglinton Alexander Montgomerie, 10th Earl of Eglinton (10 February 172325 October 1769), was a Scottish peer. Eglinton was the son of The 9th Earl of Eglinton. His mother, who was the third wife of the 9th Earl, was Susanna, Countess of Eglinton, the ...

, was pursuing a number of agricultural improvements on his extensive estates. Further drainage work may have taken place in the 1740s as part of the improvements undertaken to provide employment for Irish estate workers during the Irish potato famines of the 1740s and the mid 19th centuries. Many drainage schemes also date to the end of World War I when many soldiers returned en masse to civilian life.

Island

Smith records that the former roughly circular island within the loch, having all the appearance of a

crannog A crannog (; ; ) is typically a partially or entirely artificial island, usually constructed in lakes, bogs and estuary, estuarine waters of Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. Unlike the prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps, which were built ...

once had 'pile-heads' in the water around it. A casual inspection did not reveal any supporting evidence. Smith gives the spelling as 'Carclui'. The island is no longer visible (2011), the SW end of the loch being entirely overgrown with reeds. Probing at the position of the island shown on the OS 1:10,000 map recorded that the natural deposits in this part of the loch to be over 2m deep. A 1993 investigation sees the site as possessing an island and not a crannog. ;Situation The loch was on the route of the old road from

Straiton Straiton is a village on the River Girvan in South Ayrshire in Scotland. It lies in the hills between Kirkmichael, Dalmellington, Crosshill, and Maybole. Straiton was mainly built in the 18th century to house mill workers and weavers workin ...

to Kirkmichael and onto Dalrymple.

Natural history

Extensive areas of reeds (''

Phragmites ''Phragmites'' () is a genus of four species of large perennial plant, perennial reed (plant), reed Poaceae, grasses found in wetlands throughout temperate and tropical regions of the world. Taxonomy The World Checklist of Selected Plant Famili ...

'' sp.) are present. The site is listed on the WEBS register of the Wetlands Birds Survey scheme.WEBS
Retrieved : 2011-09-12 The loch is a

Scottish Wildlife Trust The Scottish Wildlife Trust () is a registered charity dedicated to conserving the wildlife and natural environment of Scotland. Description The Scottish Wildlife Trust has well over 46,000 members. The Scottish Wildlife Trust acquired its fi ...

provisional wildlife site. The loch margins are dominated by rushes (Juncus sps) with willow scrub and a conifer plantation.

Common house martin The western house martin (''Delichon urbicum''), sometimes called the common house martin, northern house martin or, particularly in Europe, just house martin, is a bird migration, migratory passerine bird of the swallow family which breeds i ...

s (''Delichon urbicum'') use the loch and its margins as a feeding area until late September.

References

Notes

Sources

# MacIntosh, Donald (2006). ''Travels in Galloway''. Glasgow : Neil Wilson. . # Smith, John (1895). ''Prehistoric Man in Ayrshire''. London : Elliot Stock. {{refend Lochs of South Ayrshire History of South Ayrshire Freshwater lochs of Scotland Lakes of South Ayrshire