Legends A legend tells of
Saint Winning sending his monks to fish in the
River Garnock, however no matter how hard they tried or how long they persevered they could catch nothing. Saint Winning in response to the river's perversity placed a curse on the river, preventing it from ever having fish in its waters; the river responded by changing course and thereby avoiding the curse. It is clear that the river has substantially changed its course in recorded history, previously having entered the sea at Stevenston. Robin Campbell tells a story of the murder of the
Earl of Eglinton's wife on Ardeer by Nigellus, the Abbot of
Kilwinning Abbey in the 16th century. Pilgrims came to Kilwinning Abbey partly because of the miracles that were performed there and the Earl of Eglinton, a follower of
John Knox, strongly voiced his disbelief and also stated that he would stop paying tithes to the monks. In revenge the abbot arranged for the Countess of Eglinton to be waylaid on her customary journey to Ardrossan by way of Ardeer. The monks took her to a ruined bothy, below which was a stone lined cellar; she was imprisoned here and starved to death. The earl was never able to find her, although her drowned servant was discovered on the beach and tales of the screams of a woman's voice hidden in the crashing of the waves at Ardeer and of a distressed woman who vanished when approached began to spread. After the earl had died the last monk of Kilwinning Abbey is said to have confessed to his part in this awful crime and thereby revealed the truth behind the unexplained disappearance of the Countess of Eglinton. In 1906, drifting of sand revealed a small oval cairn about in size and high in the centre, composed of about eighty water-rolled boulders. This covered at least sixteen cinerary urns, mainly bucket-shaped. The site was destroyed by building works at the Nobel site. A
crannog site is located between Todhills Farm and the site of Bogend Farm. An area known as 'Snap Green', flooded at high spring tides, is shown near the tip of the peninsula in 1856. Extensive areas of saltings are shown to have existed at Misk in the 19th century. The movement of the sands onto the island of Ardeer must have been relatively rapid as records show that quarrying and mining at Misk Colliery exposed rich alluvial soil at Ardeer with clear signs of ploughing and artifacts such as earthenware and even a tobacco pipe that dates the ploughing to no earlier than the mid-16th century when tobacco was first introduced. ;The Castle Hill
Timothy Pont refers to the sand dunes as Knoppes and he states that at one time a substantial castle was located here upon a large dune or mole of earth, still known in his time as Castle Hill. It is debated whether or not he was actually referring to the well known Castle Hill that lies inland. Robin Campbell tells a tale of the House of Ardeer that was situated on the Ardeer sands and was built by the '
Picts', carrying the stones across from the 'mainland.' The buildings are said to have been destroyed by a huge storm, brought down upon the sands by the wife of the farmer at Misk when he was drowned in the nearby bog. By the 18th century only the remains of a dovecot and a few windblown trees are said to have survived.
Ardeer House This property, previously Dovecothall, was located at Stevenston, close to the site of the old
Piperheugh hamlet. One of the most distinguished owners was the
covenanter Patrick Warner, a minister who was forced to escape to
Holland after the
Battle of Bothwell Bridge. It once stood on the coast and is said to have been a favourite anchorage ground, anchors having been found at various points inland. A sea-washed cave is located a little behind the house.
Coal Pits The West Field coal pits largely lay within the present-day Ardeer Park. In circa 1800 the pits were named Raise, Dip, First East, Crank, Stair, Second East, Old Engine, Bowbridge, and Bridge Shank. These were served by the
Stevenston Canal, many with their own dedicated branches.
Nobel Explosives plant The Ardeer peninsula was the site of a massive
dynamite manufacturing
plant built by
Alfred Bernhard Nobel. Having scoured the country for a remote location to establish his explosive factory, Nobel finally acquired from the
Earl of Eglinton, and established the British Dynamite Factory in 1871, and went on to create what was described then as the largest explosives factory in the world. The factory had its own jetty on the
River Garnock in
Irvine Harbour serving ships disposing of time expired explosives or importing materials for the works. At its peak, the site employed almost 13,000 workers in a fairly remote location and had its own railway station. The station was used solely for workers and those special visitors with business in the
ICI plant, and was never a regular passenger stop. Until the mid-1960s, there were two trains per day to transport workers. Although the line no longer exists, the abandoned platform remains, hidden beneath dense undergrowth. Its first manager was
George McRoberts FRSE and other notable staff included
Edwin Mervyn Patterson who was manager from 1954 to 1982. ==Transport==