Littlestane Loch, was situated in the mid-Ayrshire clayland near Stanecastle, Irvine,

North Ayrshire North Ayrshire (, ) is one of 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas in Scotland. The council area borders Inverclyde to the north, Renfrewshire and East Renfrewshire to the northeast, and East Ayrshire and South Ayrshire to the east and s ...

, Scotland. It is nowadays (2011) only visible as an area of permanent water in the

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 ...

Sourlie Nature Reserve. The loch was natural, sitting in a hollow created by glaciation. The loch waters outflow was via the Red Burn that flows into the River Garnock. The site of Littlestane Loch site is partly built over and much of the site is now public open space lying within the Parish of

Girdle Toll Girdle Toll is an area of Irvine, North Ayrshire. Geography Girdle Toll is located east of the Stanecastle Roundabout located next to the Stanecastle Keep. This area of Irvine is from Prestwick Airport and from Glasgow. Nearby is Eglinton Coun ...

History

Blaeu's map of 1654, derived from the early 1600s survey by

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 ...

Blaeu's Map
Retrieved : 2011-01-25 shows the loch as a substantial oval shaped body of water with an outflow via the Red Burn. Direct rainfall and runoff were the main inflows. Roy's map of 1747-55 clearly marks the loch, although much reduced in extent. A Loch Wards habitation is marked in the vicinity of the old loch. Littlestane Farm, recorded as 'Litle Stain' is marked as being on the northern end of Littlestane Loch in the 1600s, however by the 1750s the farmstead was no longer on its edge due to its contraction. Related placenames on Pont's map are 'Lichmil' or Loch Mill and 'Thurland' or Thirled land. Ordnance Survey maps of the 19th century show the loch site as a marshy area extending into the Sourlie Woods and as an area of marshy land close to Lawthorn Wood. The old Irvine Burgh boundary is marked on OS maps as running up the Red Burn, then following the curve of the old Littlestane lochshore before extending through the old Sourlie Woods site. In 1845 the loch was used for a curling match between Dundonald and a Monkton and Prestwick team. Dundonald won by 91 shots with 32 players on each team. The loch was recorded as Sourley Loch.

The draining of Littlestane Loch

The outflow of this shallow loch was into the Red Burn, which now is now piped in the vicinity of the loch and downstream only flows in a canalised form, diverted in places, into the River Garnock. The Perceton Branch of the Glasgow and South Western Railway ran across the site, as does the A736 Lochlibo Road. A mineral line is shown in 1910 running to Fergushill Collieries numbers 29 and 30, the railway embankment being built across the loch bed. As stated, the loch shrunk between 1600 and the 1750s, existing only as marshy areas on the first OS maps of the 1850s and not featuring on maps of the early 1800s. The loch's drainage may have begun in the 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. Intensive drainage work may have taken place in the 1740s as part of the improvements undertaken to provide employment for Irish Montgomerie 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.

The Drukken Steps

A minor link with

Robert Burns Robert Burns (25 January 1759 – 21 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the List of national poets, national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the be ...

is the existence of the nearby site of the

Drukken Steps The Drukken, Drucken Steps or Drunken Steps were Step-stone bridge, stepping stones across the Red Burn in Irvine, North Ayrshire, Irvine, North Ayrshire, Scotland and are associated with Scotland's national poet, Robert Burns. Drukken is used on ...

over the Red Burn in the old Eglinton Woods near Stanecastle at NS 329 404, was a favourite haunt of Robert Burns and his friend Richard Brown whilst the two were in Irvine in 1781 - 82. File:Drucken steps.JPG, The site of the Drukken Steps over the Red Burn on the 1774 Toll road to Millburn via Higgens House.McClure, page 61 File:Littlestane Loch old site.JPG, Littlestane Farmhouse, now the manse for Girdle Toll Parish Church. File:Drukken Steps Bridges.JPG, The 1960s bridge abutment at the site of the old Drukken Steps with the old Toll Road route in the background. File:Redburn and the Drukken Steps, Irvine.JPG, The site of the Drukken Steps and the canalised Red Burn. File:The Red Burn near the Hill Roundabout.JPG, The Red Burn near The Hill Roundabout.

References

Notes; Sources; * Love, Dane (2003). ''Ayrshire : Discovering a County''. Ayr : Fort Publishing. . * MacIntosh, Donald (2006). ''Travels in Galloway''. Glasgow : Neil Wilson. . * McLure, David (1994). ''Tolls and Tacksmen. 18th century Roads in the County of John Loudoun McAdam''. Ayrshire Monographs No. 13. Ayr Arch & Nat Hist Soc. .

External links

Video footage of Littlestane Loch
{{Commons category, Littlestane Loch Lochs of North Ayrshire Former lochs History of North Ayrshire Freshwater lochs of Scotland Lakes of North Ayrshire Irvine, North Ayrshire