. designed Fullarton stables. Fullarton House was built by William Fullarton of that Ilk in 1745 and altered by his son, however it was demolished in 1966 by the council who had been unable to maintain the building after purchasing it in 1928. The stables had been built in the 1790s and were converted to flats in 1974. After centuries of occupation the Fullarton lines possession had thus come to an end when the Duke of Portland purchased the property in 1805. He lived here for a while as his principal residence in Scotland, however he had a greater interest in developing Troon harbour and the
Kilmarnock and Troon Railway. The grounds are now a park with some signs of the old house still apparent, such as the magnificent stable block, the ornamental pediments, walled gardens, doocot fragments and an ice house. A thatched lodge called Heather House stood at the entrance to the house until it burned down in the 1950s.
The Fullarton family The name is thought to come from the office of 'Fowler to the King', the purpose of which was to supply wild-fowl to the King as required. The dwelling which came with the post was called Fowlertoun and the family may have eventually adopted the name. The Fullartons of Angus had been required by
Robert I to supply him with wildfowl at his castle of Forfar. Alanus de Fowlertoun was in possession of the lands shortly before his death in 1280 and the family continued in a nearly unbroken line from father to son. The family house had originally been located in the area closer to the shore, presently named Fullarton Drive, however as the population of the village started to grow, the decision was made to relocate 2 miles east. The family had given lands, the Friars Croft, to the Carmelite friars and George Foullertoun held the lands from 1430 to 1471 and was often known as the Laird of Crosbie; he may have moved the family to Crosbie prior to Fullarton House being built. James Fullarton of Fullarton and Crosbie, received on 20 November 1634, a commission under the great seal, from King
Charles I, appointing him sheriff of the bailiery of Kyle Stewart. William Fullarton, the builder of the house, inherited the estate from his grandfather in 1710, he having inherited it from his brother in turn.
Orangefield and Fairfield near
Monkton, Ayrshire had been part of the Fullarton Estate, however they were sold by Colonel
William Fullarton circa 1803, prior to his taking up an official appointment in
Trinidad as one of the government's commissioners. When he and Marianne returned they brought with them
Luisa Calderton who was the primary witness in their case against
Thomas Picton. Colonel Fullarton died in 1808, the last Fullarton of that Ilk laird. Burns made a complimentary reference to Colonel Fullarton in 'The Vision'. The Colonel certainly visited Burns at Ellisland in 1791. Colonel Stewart Murray Fullarton of Bartonholm, a second cousin, married Rosetta, said to be the daughter of the Colonel Fullarton, and their two sons continued the line, however the estate had been sold in 1805 to the
Duke of Portland. Some of these houses may have been "brandy pots", safe houses with basements dug out to store contraband.
Views of the Fullarton grotto and stables File:Fullarton grotto, Troon.JPG|The old Fullarton grotto. File:Fullarton House grottos, Troon.JPG|Alcoves in the old grotto. File:Fullarton stables, Inner court, Troon.JPG| The courtyard of Fullarton stables.
The Temple with similarities to the Fullarton Temple. This observatory, octagonal, with a domed roof, was located on the isthmus at Troon. This temple or pagoda had eight pillars arranged around it and was built by William Fullarton; it is marked on old maps of the area as far back as Roy's map of circa 1747. Colonel Fullarton may have altered it at some point as it was said to have some Indian design characteristics and he spent some years there in his army days. It had an inscription on it :
Baccho laetitiae datori, amacis et otio sacrum, which translates as
Erected to Bacchus, the giver of happiness, for friends and for leisure. The Templehill area of Troon recalls this structure, also known as Fullarton's
folly or the 'Temple on the Hill'. It was demolished to allow for the construction of a new harbour road. The surface of the Garnock was seen to be ruffled and it was discovered that a section of the river bed had collapsed into mineworkings beneath. The river was now flowing into miles of mineworkings of the Bartonholm,
Snodgrass, and
Longford collieries. Attempts were made to block the breach with clay, whin, straw, etc. with no success. The miners had been safely brought to the surface and were able to witness the sight of the river standing dry for nearly a mile downstream, with fish jumping about in all directions. The tide brought in sufficient water to complete the flooding of the workings and the river level returned to normal. The weight of the floodwater was so great that the compressed air broke through the ground in many places and many acres of ground were observed to bubble up like a pan of boiling water. In some places rents and cavities appeared measuring four or five feet in diameter, and from these came a roaring sound described as being like steam escaping from a safety valve. For about five hours great volumes of water and sand were thrown up into the air like fountains and the mining villages of Bartonholm, Snodgrass, Longford and
Nethermains were flooded. The
thirteenth Earl of Eglinton purchased all the lands concerned in 1852 and cut a short canal at Bogend, across the loop of the river involved, bypassing the breach and once the river course had been drained and sealed off he was able to have the flooded mineworkings pumped out. ==Parish of Fullarton==