Natural Sites
Galloway and Southern Ayrshire Biosphere Reserve
Galloway and Southern Ayrshire Biosphere
Biosphere Office
Kirroughtree Courtyard
Stronord
Newton Stewart
The Galloway and Southern Ayrshire Biosphere is a new UNESCO Biosphere because of its combination of special wildlife areas, rich cultural heritage and communities that care about their environment. Biosphere designation will help people understand, define, sustain and enhance those special qualities. As an internationally recognised label for s...
Historic Sites
Stumpy Tower
Knockcushan Street, Girvan, KA26 9AG
Stumpy Tower also known as Auld Stumpy sits in a prominent position in Girvan town centre. The tower was built in 1827 to replace the former jail that used to sit on the southwest corner of market square.
The old jail badly needed replacing as its thatched roof made it too easy for prisoners to make their escape. Law and order restored, Stum...
Natural Sites
Ailsa Craig (Paddy’s Milestone)
Off the coast of Carrick
An iconic island, Ailsa Craig can be viewed from all along the Carrick coastline. Jutting 1,114 feet out of the sea, with a base circumference of about 2.5 miles, this mass of very hard granite takes a different shape from each view point along the coast. Though its form may change from each angle it is viewed, the breathtaking nature of the vie...
Historic Sites
Souter Johnnie’s Cottage
Main Road, Kirkoswald, South Ayrshire, KA19 8HY
See Scottish literature come to life in this 18th-century thatched cottage in the heart of Kirkoswald, Ayrshire. The former home of cobbler – or souter – John Davidson, the real-life Souter Johnnie immortalised in the Robert Burns poem Tam o’ Shanter, it features a thatched tavern in the garden, complete with life-sized sandstone statues of the ...
Historic Sites
Varyag Monument
Lendalfoot Ayrshire, KA26 0JF
This memorial to the Russian cruiser “Varyag” can be found in Lendalfoot not far from the place where the legendary ship sank in 1920. “Varyag” is the first monument to Russian valor across the UK.
The Varyag was built in Philadelphia for the Russian Navy, she achieved fame when she battled five Japanese cruisers at the opening of the Russo-J...
Historic SitesCrossraguel Abbey, Maybole, KA19 5HQFounded in the early 13th century by the Earl of Carrick the remains include the church, cloister, chapter house and much of the domestic premises....