Origins Ardrossan's roots can be traced to the construction of its
castle 'Cannon Hill', thought to be in around 1140, by Simon de Morville. The castle and estate passed to the
Barclay family (also known as
Craig) and through successive heirs until the 14th century when it passed to the Eglinton family on the death of Godfrey Barclay de Ardrossan, who died without an heir. Sir Fergus Barclay,
Baron of Ardrossan, was said to be in league with the Devil and in one of his dealings, set the task for the Devil to make ropes from sand; on failing to do so, the Devil kicked the castle with his hoof in frustration and left a
petrosomatoglyph hoofprint. The castle stood until 1648, when
Oliver Cromwell's troops had it destroyed, taking much of the stonework to
Ayr to build the citadel at
Montgomerieston. The ruins of ''Cromwell's Fort'' still stand, but are overgrown and in a dangerous condition. In 1759,
The 10th Earl of Eglinton formed a herd of the ancient breed of White or
Chillingham cattle at Ardrossan, probably using stock from the
Cadzow herd. The numbers dropped and in 1820 the remaining animals were dispersed. All the animals in the herd were hornless.
Development and significance Ardrossan developed during the 18th and 19th centuries thanks to its position on the coast. Exports of
coal and
pig iron to Europe and North America were the main trade from the town's port, which became a centre for
shipbuilding. Fishing vessels and small cargo boats were the mainstay of the
shipyard until the 1950s, when the yard ceased to exist as a result of foreign competition. A smaller yard, McCrindle's, operated until the 1980s before it ceased trading. Passenger services from Ardrossan Harbour to
Brodick on the
Isle of Arran started in 1834, and services to
Belfast, in
Ulster in the north of
Ireland, and to the
Isle of Man followed in 1863 and 1892 respectively. Clyde sailings were operated initially by the Glasgow and South Western Railway Company from Winton Pier and the Caledonian Railway from Montgomerie Pier. The
Earl of Eglinton's ambitious plan for a
canal link to
Glasgow was never realised. Between 1841 and 1848, Ardrossan was a part of the "
West Coast Main Line" equivalent of its time. The fastest route from
London to Glasgow was by train to , and then by packet boat to Ardrossan. After 1848 the entire journey could be made by rail, avoiding Ardrossan. The link to the Isle of Man no longer operates, having first been moved to Stranraer until all Scottish services terminated.
Shell-Mex operated an [oil refinery] on behalf of the Air Ministry, from a
Second World War aviation-fuel canning factory, and the harbour was expanded for the company's tanker ships to berth. The harbour has been redeveloped as a
marina, and the passenger and vehicle
ferry to Brodick is operated by
Caledonian MacBrayne.
Burgh status Ardrossan became a
burgh, in 1846, with a
provost,
magistrates and commissioners. After the Second World War, the burgh was based at
Ardrossan Civic Centre. Its burgh status was lost in 1974 on the formation of
Strathclyde Regional Council, when it came under
Cunninghame District. It is now part of
North Ayrshire, created as a unitary authority in 1996. In 1921 Ardossan was the European site for the first successful reception of medium wave
radio signals from North America. Using a wavelength of about 230 to 235 metres (a frequency near 1.3
Megahertz) an
amateur radio group in
Connecticut sent
Morse code signals to a station set up in a tent. ==Infrastructure==