Lambroughton - Alton, Wheatrig and Hillhead and Cranshaw Farms

Alton, Wheatrig and Hillhead and Cranshaw Farms

Little Alton (Alton end in 1788 - 91) had a sluice and a dam indicated in the 1860 OS, causing the Garrier Burn to form a pond in the area on the opposite side of the lane. The purpose of this arrangement is unknown, however a Crumshaw or Crunshaw Mill (Cranshaw) is mentioned in several early 17th-century documents and this may have been the site or possibly up at Lochend, which is also mentioned as existing at that time. The name Cothouse is given to these two cottages in Aitken's 1829 map. A cothouse was a cottage tied to a farm labourer and latterly they were often used as homes for the old and infirm, usually widows. According to Aiton they had 'no internal partitions, no smoke-funnels or glass in the windows and had damp clay floors about 12 feet (3.7 m) square. Masons, wrights, smiths, shoe-makers and weavers sometimes lived in buildings of this general description.

Alton Farm (1912 & 1923), also Aulton (1820), Auldton, Auldtoun, Old Town (1807) and Oldtoun (1654 & 1775) has therefore been referred to as 'old' as far back as the early 17th-century and it may have been one of the first 'touns' in the area. The term alltan in Gaelic is however the diminutive of allt, therefore a little stream, which fits well. Altonhead Farm lies nearby. As noted elsewhere, in 1675 Sir John Cunninghame Bart., conveyed to Robert Cunningham, druggist / apothecary, Edinburgh, the lands of 'Auldtoun, Langmuir, Langsyde and Lambrochtoune in whose family they seem to have remained until 1820, when George Cunninghame was the owner. The 1788 - 91 Eglinton Estate plans mark an Aulton Law just above the farm and below the small wood.

A track ran from Wheatrig, (previously Whatrig, Whiterig in 1775, Whiteriggs in 1832 and Whyrigg in 1654) Farm to Hillhead Farm. A Cranshaw Farm is marked in 1832 and 1821, but not marked in 1775. A 'Cran' in Scots was a 'Crane or Heron' and the 'shaw' or small wood is still present. In the days when the loch was present cranes would have been a common sight and may even have nested in the wood, hence the name. Herons are still very common in the area. Cranshaw was a farm located near Little Alton on the northern side of the lane, clearly indicated in the Montgomerie Estate plans of 1788 - 91.

James Templeton and his spouse Agnes Steele farmed 'Hillhead' in the late 19th century, with James dying on 14 March 1905 aged 84 and Agnes on 16 August 1902, aged 79. They were buried in the Kilmaurs-Glencairn church cemetery.

Robertson records that the widow of Mr. James Ross of Whiteriggs (Wheatrig), Christian Wallace daughter to the Laird of Auchans, married William Rankine of Shiel and thereafter became Lady Dreghorn. She had two children by this marriage, Robert and Catherine. John Cowan and his spouse Martha Martin farmed Wheatrig in the early 19th century, John dying aged 63 on 8 March 1836 and Martha on 16 October 1860. They are buried in the Kilmaurs-Glencairn church cemetery. The Eglinton estate improved the farm in 1862, building a turnip shed, milk house, etc.

Between Hillhead Farm and Wheatrig Farm is a dwelling marked as Lochend on the 1860 OS, although it is not marked on earlier or later maps. It is mentioned, together with Crumshaw Mill in 1618. It lies on the old track that connected the two farms and it is close to the confluence of the Garrier and Lochridge Burns, suggesting that a small loch or lochan could well have existed here. A wet meadow still exists at this point, suggesting that the loch was drained during the period of agricultural improvements around 1775. A very large underground culvert was built to carry the large volumes of water away from this area, although its course is no longer known locally. The Lochridge Burn, Garrier Burn and Brackenburn all merge before Alton Bridge. The old bridge here, with its proximity to the 'Old Toun', may have been the Lambroch Bridge marked on Pont's 1654 map.