Lost Ayrshire

In “Lost Ayrshire”, Dane Love tracks down the lost architectural heritage of Ayrshire. Over the centuries countless buildings have been erected and demolished, and this informative and beautifully illustrated book looks at a wide selection of these, from castles that have been destroyed or replaced by modern mansions to country houses that have succumbed due to dry rot or lack of funds for their upkeep. Dane Love also visits various townscapes and uncovers the former everyday architecture of the burghs and villages, including churches, banks, tollbooths, public halls, schools, shops and houses. Ayrshire was once rich in mining and other industries that have now gone. This book contains illustrations of the county’s lost coalmines and the associated miners’ rows, as well as former cotton mills, power stations, shipyards, factories and other places of work. As well as lost buildings from the distant past, Dane Love includes some more recent examples of what has been destroyed. In some cases these losses are welcome, but in many, they are regrettable – such buildings should have been preserved and found new uses.Lost Ayrshire shows just how much of the area’s heritage has lamentably vanished over the years.