Belston Loch (NS 34894 16186), also recorded as Dromsmodda Loch is a small freshwater loch in the

East Ayrshire East Ayrshire ( sco, Aest Ayrshire; gd, Siorrachd Àir an Ear) is one of thirty-two council areas of Scotland. It shares borders with Dumfries and Galloway, East Renfrewshire, North Ayrshire, South Ayrshire and South Lanarkshire. The headquart ...

Council Area, near Sinclairston, 2 miles south-east of

Drongan Drongan is a former mining village in East Ayrshire, some east of Ayr and west of Cumnock. It had a population of 4686 in 2011.https://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/ods-analyser/jsf/tableView/tableView.xhtml History The earliest references to Dr ...

, lying in a glacial

Kettle Hole A kettle (also known as a kettle lake, kettle hole, or pothole) is a depression/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 gla ...

.Love, Page 197 Parish of

Ochiltree Ochiltree is a conservation village in East Ayrshire, Scotland, near Auchinleck and Cumnock. It is one of the oldest villages in East Ayrshire, with archaeological remains indicating Stone Age and Bronze Age settlers. A cinerary urn was found in ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

The loch

Belston Loch in the 1880 is recorded as being 400m x 300m, the largest of four small lochs, two of them artificial, within the Parish of Ochiltree. Otherwise surrounded by farmland, the south-west area has a few hectares of woodland adjoining the lochshore.

Etymology

Recorded as Drumsmodda Loch in circa 1654, a Drumsmodden Farm is still extant. The Celtic name may survive in the name Polquhairn or Quhairn Pool.

Cartographic evidence

Robert Gordon's map of circa 1636-52 marks the loch and Auchencloigh Castle nearby., located on the Taiglum Burn. Blaeu map of circa 1654 taken from

Timothy Pont Rev Timothy Pont (c. 1560–c.1627) 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 a ...

's map of circa 1600 shows a Drumsmodda Loch (sic) and nearby Auchencloigh Castle (sic) with significant grounds and woodland. A location recorded as Belstain is nearby. Molls map of 1745 shows a single loch that may be Belston. Roy's map of 1747 records the loch position. Armstrong's map of 1775 shows a substantial loch with a Belstoun and a Drumsmiden nearby. In 1821 the loch is clearly shown. In 1832 Thomson's map shows 'Belton Loch' with an inflow burn from Polquhairn.

Uses

The loch is part of Mauchline & Ballochmyle Angling Club; it holds some large rainbow, brown trout, and has some pike. Curling matches are recorded as having taken place at the loch and a Belston Curling Club existed in the early 20th century. Wattie Young of Polquhairn held the club's minutes book.Curling Pond Sites
retrieved : 2011-11-11

Auchencloigh Castle

Auchencloigh Castle Auchencloigh Castle or Auchincloigh Castle (NGR NS 4945 1666 ) is a ruined fortification near the Burnton Burn, lying within the feudal lands of the Craufurd Clan, situated in the Parish of Ochiltree, East Ayrshire, Scotland. Auchencloigh Castl ...

or Auchincloigh Castle (NGR NS 4945 1666) is a ruined fortification in the vicinity of Belston Loch near the Burnton Burn, lying within the feudal lands of the Craufurd Clan, situated in the Parish of Ochiltree, East Ayrshire, Scotland.

Micro-history

The area has seen extensive coal mining activity with an open cast mine and collieries at Drumsmodden, Polquhairn, Old Polquhairn, Auchlin, etc.

George Douglas Brown George Douglas Brown (26 January 1869 – 28 August 1902) was a Scottish novelist, best known for his highly influential realist novel ''The House with the Green Shutters'' (1901), which was published the year before his death at the age of 33 ...

's father lived at Drumsmodden Farm. George was the author of ''

The House with the Green Shutters ''The House with the Green Shutters'' is a novel by the Scottish writer George Douglas Brown, first published in 1901 by John MacQueen. Set in mid-19th century Ayrshire, in the fictitious town of Barbie which is based on his native Ochiltree, ...

'. Early highways ran close to the loch, as indicated by names such as Glenconner, conaire being a Gaelic word for "path", and there is a farm called Rottenrow near to Glenconner, possibly derived from 'Route de Roi', or King's Highway.Old Roads of Scotland
Retrieved : 2011-11-11

References

Notes

Sources

# Love, Dane (2003). ''Ayrshire : Discovering a County''. Ayr : Fort Publishing. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Belston Loch Lochs of East Ayrshire History of East Ayrshire Freshwater lochs of Scotland