Towerlands or Tourlands was a small estate of of good quality land in the parish of Irvine and the old

barony Barony may refer to: * Barony, the peerage, office of, or territory held by a baron * Barony, the title and land held in fealty by a feudal baron * Barony (county division), a type of administrative or geographical division in parts of the British ...

Kilmaurs Kilmaurs () is a village in East Ayrshire, Scotland which lies just outside of the largest settlement in East Ayrshire, Kilmarnock. It lies on the Carmel Water, southwest of Glasgow. Population recorded for the village in the 2001 Census recorde ...

North Ayrshire North Ayrshire ( gd, Siorrachd Àir a Tuath, ) is one of 32 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 so ...

, Scotland, situated near the more extensive property of

Bourtreehill Bourtreehill is a large housing estate built by the Irvine Development Corporation (IDC) in the late 1970s which forms part of the Irvine New Town in North Ayrshire, Scotland. The estate has two main parts, known as Bourtreehill North and Bour ...

, the lands of which surrounded it on three sides.Paterson, p. 280 The name suggests that a medieval stone or wood 'tower' structure of some sort existed, but no record of this appears to exist.

History

The spelling 'Towerlands' is used throughout for consistency. Roy's map of 1747 clearly marks the lands of Towerlands, and John Thomson's map of 1832 marks 'Tourlands' next to the Bourtreehill estate. Towerlands can be confused with the Tour estate in

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 ...

The lairds of Towerlands

In 1551 a Jasper Templetoun of Towerlands is recorded. In 1601 a William Cuninghame of Towerlands is recorded; however, he was tried and executed on a charge of

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

and all his lands and goods were at the same time forfeited.Discover Ayrshire
The 20/- land of Auldtoun-Crosbie had been held by William however it was sold to George Shaw for £1320 in part payment for his spoliation at

Cunninghamhead Cunninghamhead is a hamlet on the Annick Water in the Parish of Dreghorn, North Ayrshire, Scotland. The area was part of the old Cunninghamhead estate, and once contained several watermills. Cunninghamhead and the mills on the Annick Water The ...

. This included the manor, grain mill, mill lands, waylaid and dams. He had also previously held the 5 Merk lands of Gas and Weltrees in the parish of Auchinleck. James Hay in 1617 was awarded the superiority of the '40 shilling lands' of Towerlands that belonged to Alexander Cuninghame. James, a servant of the

Earl of Glencairn Earl of Glencairn was a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1488 for Alexander Cunningham, 1st Lord Kilmaurs (created 1450). The name was taken from the parish of Glencairn in Dumfriesshire so named for the Cairn Waters which ru ...

, died in 1639 and his son John inherited the property. This Alexander may have been the brother or a close relation of the William Cuninghame who had been executed for treason. James Shaw of Balligellie in

County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, ) is one of six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and has a population o ...

acquired the lands of Towerlands from John Hay, and it then passed to Sir Robert Dickson of

Inveresk Inveresk (Scottish Gaelic, Gaelic: ''Inbhir Easg'') is a village in East Lothian, Scotland situated to the south of Musselburgh. It has been designated a Conservation area (United Kingdom), conservation area since 1969. It is situated on s ...

, who in turn sold the property to William Gemmill, son of the Rev John Gemmill. The well-respected Rev John Gemmill of Symington was the father of William Gemmill of Towerlands who held the estate in the early 18th century. William's son John then inherited, and the property was passed on to his son William Gemmill in turn, who died unmarried in

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

. William's three sisters inherited and then sold the estate to Charles McDowall of Fergushill and Crichan. Robertson records that Janet, the second daughter of John Gemmill, married George Cuninghame of Monkredding in 1752. The couple had a son and four daughters. Agnes married William Miller of Monkcastle, and Catherine married Thomas Brisbane, the minister of

Dunlop, East Ayrshire Dunlop (; sco, Dunlap, gd, Dùn Lob or gd, Dùn Lùib)

. In 1784 Charles McDowall sold the property to an Irvine shipbuilder, John Webb, whose daughter Margaret inherited and passed Towerlands to her cousin John Webb of

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

. Patrick Boyle Mure Macreadie of

Perceton Perceton is a medieval settlement and old country estate in North Ayrshire, Scotland, near the town of Irvine. The ruined church in Perceton is one of the oldest buildings in the Irvine district. The earliest legible gravestone dates from 1698, t ...

purchased the property in 1844, and his son Thomas then inherited and held it in the 1860s.

Execution of William Cuninghame

On 19 December of the year 1601, William Cuninghame of Towerlands was tried on a charge of treason. His brother, Alexander, with a party of hired soldiers, had taken ''violent possession of the house of Cuninghamehead, in March, 1600''. The King had issued written instructions for them to leave the premises; however, they took up arms against the King's commissioners, upon whom they fired hagbuts. Cuninghame of Towerlands was found guilty, having assisted his brother, and was condemned to be beheaded at the market-cross of

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

; all his lands and goods were at the same time forfeited. Sir James Cunninghame of Glengarnock appeared as a spokesperson on 15 December 1601 for William Cunninghame (note that the spelling of the family name is highly variable) at his trial for treason, and it is noted that during the taking of Cunninghamhead Castle some persons were killed or 'slaughtered'.Dobie, Page 177

Towerlands in 2014

The old farm has been converted into the Towerlands Community Centre and associated amenities such as the nurseries pictured below. Towerlands House is in use as rented accommodation (2014). File:Towerlands Tram Road site, Towerlands House, Irvine.JPG, The course of the old Towerlands Tram Road as seen from near

Image:Dusk Water at Hessilhead Farm Town.JPG, The Dusk Water running after the junction to the old mill race which took the water to the saw mill File:Towerlands Farm - The Learning Tree and Acorn Nurseries.JPG, The Old Towerlands Farm File:Towerlands Farm community Centre and Cafe.JPG, The Towerlands Community Centre and Cafe at the old farm File:Towerlands celebratory plaque.JPG, Celebratory plaque at the Towerlands Community Centre Bronze sculpture “Ever Bush and Never Tree” by sculptor, Angie Taylor https://www.angietaylor.co.uk

Towerlands Colliery and tram road

The Towerlands Tram Road was a 19th-century mineral railway or 'Bogey line' that transported coal, running from the old Towerlands Colliery and associated coal pitsOS Map - Ayr Sheet XVII.14 (Irvine) Survey date: 1856. Publication date: 1860
/ref> near

to Irvine in one direction and to

Dreghorn Dreghorn is a village in North Ayrshire, Scotland, east of Irvine town centre, on the old main road from Irvine to Kilmarnock. It is sited on a ridge between two rivers. As archaeological excavations near the village centre have found a signifi ...

in the other. The branch to Irvine once ran along the side of the road that runs from Dreghorn, past Towerlands and Bourtreehill to Irvine via Mill Road.25 inch to the mile OS Map, 1856
/ref> The tram road was out of use by 1890 following the closure of the colliery.OS one-inch to the mile, 1890
/ref> The colliery offices and stores appear on later maps as Towerlands Cottage.

Micro-history

In 1640 the lands of Towerlands held by John Hay were valued at £126 18s 10d. The Irvine Town Council accounts for March 1686 record that the town magistrates met with the lairds of

, Corshill, Tourlands and Busbie together with several others and were supplied with generous refreshments, namely three

pint The pint (, ; symbol pt, sometimes abbreviated as ''p'') is a unit of volume or capacity in both the imperial unit, imperial and United States customary units, United States customary measurement systems. In both of those systems it is tradition ...

s and a chapine (half a Scottish pint)) of wine. In 1862, 25-year-old Alexander Crawford from Towerlands Colliery won the first prize in Glasgow School of Mines And The Society of Arts' Examinations in mining and

metallurgy Metallurgy is a domain of materials science and engineering that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their inter-metallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are known as alloys. Metallurgy encompasses both the sc ...

for the Society of Arts' prizes and certificates. Prior to a six-month period of study, he was maintaining his wife and family by hewing coals. His only previous period of formal education was twelve months at a village school.Scottish Mining Website
Accessed : 12-12-14

References

;Notes ;Sources # Dillon, William J. ''The Trinitarians of Failford''. AA&NHS. Collections 1955–57. Vol. 4. # Dobie, James D. (ed Dobie, J.S.) (1876). ''Cunninghame, Topographized by Timothy Pont 1604–1608, with continuations and illustrative notices''. Glasgow : John Tweed. # Paterson, James (1863–66). ''History of the Counties of Ayr and Wigton''. IV. - 4 - Cunninghame. Edinburgh: J. Stillie. # Robertson, George (1823). ''A Genealogical Account of the Principal Families in Ayrshire, more particularly in Cunninghame''. Irvine. # ''Muniments of the Royal Burgh of Irvine.'' Vol. 2., 1891. Pub. The Ayrshire & Galloway Archaeological Association.

External links

Commentary and video on the Towerlands Tram Road
{{DEFAULTSORT:Towerlands Villages in North Ayrshire Demolished buildings and structures in Scotland Country houses in North Ayrshire Former country houses in Scotland Irvine, North Ayrshire