page_title: Lowes Loch (Ayrshire)
section_title: Micro-history
hierarchical_section_title: Lowes Loch (Ayrshire) / Micro-history
caption_attribution_description: English: The Cuff Hill Lochan, Beith, North Ayrshire, Scotland
context_page_description: Lowes Loch, The Lochs or Loch of Hill is now a small natural freshwater loch in the North Ayrshire Council Areas, lying in a glacial kettle hole, once of greater extent, lying below Brownmuir and Lochland Hills on the Threepwood Road, near Beith, in the Parish of Beith. The loch may once have had a small island within it.
context_section_description: It has been speculated that the Cuff Hill range was the Moor of Beith, and that
  this moor is the same as the "Wood of Belt" in which, at the close of the day, a battle, supposed to have taken place in
  the latter half of the sixth century.
  Curling stones were produced at a site near Kirklee Green Reservoir for a number of years in the 19th century and it is said that a considerable number were used in the construction of the reservoir's dam.
  An old cheese press stone is located outside Low Cottage.
  Cuff Hill Lochan
  This small lochan (0.214 acres) is located on the south-facing slopes of Cuff Hill and may be artificial, as suggested by the number of old whinstone quarries in the vicinity. It is marked on the 1858 OS map and was deepened and modified for use as a reservoir, with a sluice and filter bed, probably once serving The Cuff Farm below it. The site is rich in wildlife, including Common Hawker dragonflies. The rare climbing corydalis Ceratocapnos claviculata grows amongst gorse nearby.
caption: The Cuff Hill Lochan
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