Dalreoch Cave

At one time there was a cave in a rock outcrop on the hillside above Dalreoch farm (now Dalreoch Mains), in the Stinchar valley. According to Paterson's History of the County of Ayr, 'the proprietors often found shelter from the soldiery', a reference to the dragoons hunting the Covenanters. Paterson continues, 'the circumstance gave rise to a belief amongst the peasantry that the hill was the abode of fairies.' The cave had already been destroyed by the time Paterson wrote (1847). The illustration is the Ordnance Survey map of 1856, which is at odds with Paterson's reference to the cave having been 'expanded into a quarry'. Even the 1896 Ordnance Survey map indicates the cave, though it may have been destroyed by then.

Ordnance Survey Map - 1896