page_title: Lochlea, South Ayrshire
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Lochlea, South Ayrshire / History
caption_attribution_description: English: The Water of Fail near Fail Mill. South Ayrshire, Scotland.
context_page_description: Lochlea or Lochlie was situated in a low-lying area between the farms and dwellings of Lochlea and Lochside in the Parish of Tarbolton, South Ayrshire, Scotland. The loch was natural, sitting in a hollow created by glaciation. The loch waters ultimately drained via Fail Loch, the Mill Burn, and the Water of Fail. It is well-documented due to the presence of a crannog that was excavated and documented circa 1878, and its association with the poet Robert Burns, who lived here for several years whilst his father was the tenant. Lochlea lies two-and-a-half miles north-east of Tarbolton, and just over 3 miles north-west of Mauchline.
context_section_description: The loch also recorded as 'Lochly', 'Lochlee' and 'Lochlie' may derive its name from 'Liath', Gaelic for the 'Grey Loch'. It was once much more extensive, and changes in the water level are indicated by the successive alterations identified within the site's crannog.
  The Duke of Portland abolished thirlage on his estates in the mid-19th century, making Millburn Mill, and its head of water, Lochlea, redundant, resulting in active attempts at drainage causing its demise circa 1840. The lands became part of the fields of Lochlea Farm. Adamson records that the loch was drained in 1839, during which two canoes were found near the crannog. The waters still contributed to the flow to Fail Mill that stood on the rivulet of the Water of Fail. This mill survived into the 20th century. Much of the surrounding lands in the area and those of Lochlea originally belonged to the monks of Fail Monastery. The natural drainage, the Mill Burn, was from the south-east corner, running into a narrow valley that ran eventually into Fail Loch.
  William Muir was the tenant of the Mill of Fail at the time of Robert Burns.
  Blaeu's map of 1654 clearly shows the loch and indicates that it was somewhat smaller, less than half the size, of Fail Loch. Roy's map of 1747 shows the loch and indicates a 'Lochleehill'. Thomson records a 'Lochbar'.
  In 1842 drainage was underway and it was being converted into arable land and the associated mill was abandoned.
  The early Ordnance Survey maps show the site as fully drained, however drainage is now inadequate and the area is becoming re-established as a seasonal loch.
  Shaw relates in the 1950s that "Lochlee, Fail Loch and Tarbolton Loch are no longer so full of water as when they were required to supply water for the meal mills, and gave good skating and curling in a hard winter. They are now to a large extent drained away, but are still the haunt of snipe, goose, duck, and swan."
caption: The Water of Fail near Fail Castle Cottage
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "", "Image Make": "NIKON", "Image Model": "E4600", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "300", "Image YResolution": "300", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Microsoft Windows Photo Gallery 6.0.6000.16386", "Image DateTime": "2010:07:02 16:22:26", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "254", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "1/96", "Thumbnail YResolution": "1/96", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "2296", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "8578", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/110", "EXIF FNumber": "49/10", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "50", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2010:07:02 13:50:32", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2010:07:02 13:50:32", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "3", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "3", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, auto mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "57/10", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1712", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2288", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "2164", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "0", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "34", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "None", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "0", "EXIF OffsetSchema": "-276"}