Crosbie Castle and the Fullarton estate

Crosbie Castle and the Fullarton estate lie near Troon in South Ayrshire. The Fullarton family held the land for centuries, starting with a grant from Robert II in 1344. The old castle was rebuilt several times before becoming an ice house for the later Fullarton House. The ruins today show mainly the dungeon, once used to hold criminals before their barony court. Stones from the castle were reused in building the first Fullarton House. An underground stream once ran through the dungeon, making it a natural cold store. The estate includes Crosbie church, first recorded in 1229 and rebuilt in 1691. Tradition says its roof blew off on the day Robert Burns was born in 1759. The cemetery holds graves of the Fullarton family and David Hamilton, linked to the assassination of Regent Moray in 1570. Janet McFadzean’s tombstone in the cemetery tells of her death in 1761. The chapelry was once attached to Dundonald and later to Paisley Abbey. A village once stood near the church, and the cemetery served Troon until 1862. Fullarton House was built in 1745 and altered by the family before being demolished in 1966. The Duke of Portland changed the house’s entrance so grand views of Arran and the Firth of Clyde faced the front. The stables, built in the 1790s, survive as flats. The park still shows traces of the old house, including the stable block, walled gardens and an ice house. Heather House, a thatched lodge, stood at the entrance until it burned down in the 1950s. The estate road once carried tenants to the shore to gather seaweed for fertiliser.