WELCOME TO ARDGOWAN ESTATE WELCOME TO ARDGOWAN ESTATE Welcome The Estate Guidelines We gladly welcome you to Ardgowan Estate - a registered Steeped in history and romance, Ardgowan is an The Estate is a great place to enjoy but it is also a Inverclyde heritage site and designated place of outstanding enchanting ten thousand acre Scottish Country Estate working environment so please exercise your access natural beauty. Open throughout the year, and free of situated on the banks of the River Clyde on the west rights responsibly and be aware of other land users and charge, Ardgowan is a haven for walkers, joggers, cyclists coast of Scotland. land management requirements. and all outdoor enthusiasts. Located in the central belt, just 30 minutes from Please obey any signs that you see – a road closed will be Long before legislation made it mandatory we have been Glasgow Airport, 45 minutes from Glasgow city centre, for good reason such as tree felling or an activity that proactive and positive in our attitude towards encouraging 55 minutes from Prestwick Airport and 90 minutes from puts you at risk. informal public access. However as footfall increases, so do Edinburgh city centre, Ardgowan benefits from the rare Please use roads, paths, gates and stiles provided – please the burdens associated with it - so where you can, please combination of privacy and accessibility. do not stray into woods and fields and adhere to the do your bit in helping us keep Ardgowan a clean, safe and country code of closing all gates behind you. With an abundance of wildlife, sea life, flora and fauna, people friendly environment for everyone to enjoy. Dogs are very welcome on the Estate but please keep as well as a number of historical points of interest, the them on a lead at all times. Please pick up your dog’s Although the house and the gardens are closed to the Estate makes for a great day out with all the family. For waste - there are dog litter bins by the Laird’s Dyke and public they are available for private hire for overnight those interested in exploring the Estate’s rich history, the Inverkip Footbridge by the South Gate Entrance. accommodation, dinners, drinks receptions, photo shoots, please visit the History and Tours pages on our website. filming, conferences and weddings. Please visit our website Please respect the privacy of the residents on the Estate Keep an eye on our Facebook page www.ardgowan.co.uk for more information or contact the The Estate is not a through road and vehicular access is facebook.com/ardgowan.estate for news about Estate Office on [email protected] or 01475 521 656. restricted only to authorised vehicles only. upcoming indoor and outdoor events happening Motorbikes, scramblers and off-road vehicles are not on the Estate. permitted on the Estate. page 2 visit us online www.ardgowan.co.uk like us www.facebook.com/ardowan.estate follow us on twitter @ArdgowanEstate A Guide To The ESTATE: INTRODUCTION The Grounds Trees in the Estate The Wildlife James Ramsay, the Scottish equivalent of Capability Brown, On your travels you will see a rich and varied selection of This natural habitat has become home to a startling array laid out the beautifully landscaped 400-acre parkland in trees in and around the Estate, from ancient, indigenous, of woodland creatures such as hares, badgers and foxes. If 1797. He produced a fashionable design in the informal native hardwoods such as Oak, Birch and Ash through to you’re lucky you might be able to photograph the deer that style popularised in Scotland by Thomas White Senior, their more exotic, fast-growing, softwood cousins, such as roam the park, however you must be quick as they will with curving drives, contrived viewpoints and ribbons of Sitka Spruce, Corsican Pine and Japanese Larch. There are be gone as quickly as they appeared. Each day the dawn is planting. It still, to this day, retains its original form as well also an array of ornamental shrubs and several unique welcomed in by a chorus of songbirds. On your travels you as a number of its original features, such as picturesque species of rhododendron, planted by Lady Octavia - will likely see Herons, Eider duck, Kingfishers, Buzzards, roundels of trees and Ha-Has in the so-called Ditches Park. Ardgowan is a welcome haven for sylvaculturists. Oyster Catchers, Curlews, and Woodpeckers. There are also minibeasts galore visible only to the eagle-eyed. Climate & Cultivation Colourful Flowers The Surrounding Area Since the implementation of its design, generations of the Throughout the year the ever-changing woodlands are Known locally as the ‘gateway to the western highlands’, family have taken a keen interest in the cultivation of the matched only in colour by the carpet of wildflowers this area of Scotland is famed for the beauty and variety park. It was customary amongst the family to plant trees on the Estate such as daffodils, crocuses, primroses and of its landscape. The House itself, designed to exploit the to mark important events. The high rainfall and mild snowdrops. Ardgowan has become justly famouse for natural topography to its best effect, commands superb temperatures, associated with this Gulf Stream climate, the millions of snowdrops that carpet the Estate each views across the Clyde towards Arran, Bute and the Cowal have proved a fertile breeding ground for an unusual and year, heralding in spring. They were planted by Frances Peninsula with the rugged Goatfell range prominent. This exotic array of flora and fauna, and many of these historical Colhoun, Sir John’s wife, and although little is known area in particular is renowned for its history, scenery, plantings can still be seen - each with their own story. about her, our annual snowdrop day in aid of local seafood, fine meats, crafts and its whisky. charities, keeps her name alive. page 3 visit us online www.ardgowan.co.uk like us www.facebook.com/ardowan.estate follow us on twitter @ArdgowanEstate page 4 visit us online www.ardgowan.co.uk like us www.facebook.com/ardowan.estate follow us on twitter @ArdgowanEstate A Guide To The OUTDOOR SIGHTS Ardgowan House The Waulkmill Fields The Laird’s Dyke Elizabeth’s Grave Built between 1797 and 1801 by Robert Adam’s Two lost villages of Netherton and Milltown Smugglers used this cove in the 18th century A memorial to mark the favourite walk of Clerk of Works at Culzean, Hugh Cairncross, appear here on the earliest plans. The Waukmill for the illegal importation of tobacco and Elizabeth, beloved wife of Sir Guy Shaw the grade A listed building is typically fields are so called because their use for ‘waulking’ sugar to circumvent excise taxes applicable Stewart, 10th Bt. who died in 1968. Palladian in style with a pedimented central in the medieval times, a process of thickening down the coast. Contraband was then stored in block and link wings leading to pavilions. material often done in close proximity to a water the Shielhill Glen caves. The dyke was built at The Cairn It is the only country house ever built by source, in this case the Kip. The fields are split the beginning of the 19th century to moor the Situated high on the bank amidst the Cairncross. William Burn and Robert Lorimer by the ‘Castle Drive’, which marks the original family yacht, “The Cavalier”. The remains of undergrowth is the remains of a Cairn, carried out subsequent improvements. To medieval approach to the Castle. a bathing house are still visible on the shore. reputedly built to mark the spot from which learn more about the history of the family and The Stables Ferry Tenders for the passing Paddle Steamers Robert the Bruce fired the decisive arrow in the 1314 Battle of Inverkip, killing the Castle’s the house, see the Guided Tours page of our Built in 1801 as offices, this is one of only a few used the Dyke until the Glasgow to Wemyss website. stable blocks in Scotland that is a quadrangle Bay Railway opened in 1865. commander and ending English occupation. The Chapel with a clock tower. Following a fire in the 1840s, American Garden Ardgowan Castle an upper storey was added to the quadrangle Built by John Henderson in 1854 in the to create flats, which are now available to rent. As a means of adding variety to the landscape, it Visible from Lady Octavia’s walk, the 15th Perpendicular Gothic Revival style, the chapel Alongside the stables is a Cattle Byre – each was a Victorian fashion to plant non-indigenous century stone tower is all that remains of a was originally connected to the house by morning a milkmaid would take the milk up species of trees often arranged by country of much larger complex with formal gardens. a corridor and was exclusively used by the the steep ‘Dairy Brae’ on a shoulder yoke to origin. This arboretum of American species An 11th century wooden tower, used to ward family and Estate staff. ‘The minister’s walk’ the House Dairy where it would be made into was planted in the late 19th century by Lady off Vikings, preceded it. The castle became a marks the route of the minister’s journey butter, cream and cheese. The Byre is now a Octavia and includes Californian redwoods and flashpoint in the Wars of Independence and home to his vicarage across the road. The converted stableblock available for horse livery American Sitka spruce. Robert the Bruce fought here twice, firstly in chapel fell into ruin after the war. – see our website for details.