Undiscovered Scotland

 

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. The author 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, where buildings should have been preserved and found new uses. Lost Ayrshire shows just how much of the area's heritage has vanished over the years.

Like other books in Birlinn's "Lost" series, Lost Ayrshire brings about in the reader a mixture of wonder at what once was; of sadness and sometimes anger at what has been lost; and of gratitude that someone has pulled all the threads together to present a picture that would otherwise remain entirely invisible. Many of the buildings may be lost but at least some knowledge of them has not. This is a great book for anyone with an interest in Ayrshire.