View source for Orangefield House, South Ayrshire

{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2023}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2013}}
{{coord|55.5164|-4.6028|type:city(800)_region:GB|display=title}}
[[File:MacRae Memorial, Monkton, Ayrshire.JPG|200px|thumb|The Macrae of Orangefield Memorial above the Dutch Barn Caravan Park.]]
'''Orangefield House''', previously known as 'Monkton House', was located near the village of [[Monkton, Ayrshire]] in the Parish of Monkton and Prestwick in [[South Ayrshire]], Scotland; the settlement borders upon [[Glasgow Prestwick Airport]], for which it served for a while as the control tower.
==History of the house and estate==
===James Macrae===
[[File:Map of Dunduff castle & roads.jpg|thumb|upright|William Aiton's map of 1811 showing Orangefield and Macrae's Monument.]]
Monkton House was rebuilt by [[James Macrae]] (1684–1746) who had been the [[Governor of Madras|President]] of [[Madras]], 1725–1730 and came back with a fortune amounting to £100,000. He purchased the estate in 1736<ref name="C33">Cuthbertson, Page 33</ref> and renamed the house 'Orangefield' as he was a great admirer of William of Orange, [[William III of England|William III]]; he died here in 1746<ref>Love (2005), Page 53</ref> and left the property to his daughter, who married Charles Dalrymple, the sheriff clerk of Ayrshire.<ref>McClure, Page 165</ref> He gave a statue of King William to the city of Glasgow which stood at the cross for many years. This statue cost £3,000 at the time.<ref name="C35"/>
Macrae's mother, née Gairdner, had been a poor widow, supporting her family by washing and charing for others. James, probably born in [[Ochiltree]],<ref name="S254">Smith, Page 254</ref> was befriended by a poor joiner, Hugh McGuire, who had married his sister.<ref name="S254"/> James's life changing moment was a severe punishment following being caught stealing apples from a local orchard; he decided to emigrate and stowed away aboard a ship and was left Ayrshire for forty years. He became a ship's captain and served as such on a Madras Government mission to [[Sumatra]]. He later became Governor of [[Fort Saint David]] and finally, in 1725, the President of the [[Madras Presidency]].<ref name="C34">Cuthbertson, Page 34</ref>
Upon his return Macrae discovered that his mother had died, however Hugh McGuire was still living, but impoverished, as were his son and three daughters. With great generosity he purchased the small estate of Drumdow, near [[Stair, East Ayrshire|Stair]], for his old friend and brother in law, and ensured that his nephew and nieces had the best education available.
The eldest daughter, Elizabeth, married the 13th [[Earl of Glencairn]], her dowry being the estate of Ochiltree and a fortune in jewels.<ref name="S254"/> Margaret married James Erskine, Lord Alva, of [[Barjarg Tower|Barjarg]], an advocate and only son of [[Charles Erskine, Lord Tinwald|Lord Tinwald]].<ref name="S255">Shaw, Page 255</ref> Christian, the third daughter, married the Sheriff-clerk of Ayrshire, Charles Dalrymple, and inherited the Orangefield estate after her benefactor's death.<ref name="C34"/> The one son, took the name Macrae, as James McGuire Macrae and was presented with the lands of [[Houston]],<ref name="C35">Cuthbertson, Page 35</ref> however he squandered his inheritance and sold the estate, dying in a duel.<ref name="S254"/>
A story is told of how Lord Cassillis commented in public on Lord Glencairn's wife being the daughter of a fiddler and the pithy response insinuating that Lord Cassillis was descended from a gypsy; as indeed is the Ayrshire legend.<ref name="S255"/>
===The Macrae monument===
[[File:Macrae's Monument - geograph.org.uk - 178864.jpg|thumb|upright|The [[Macrae Monument, Ayrshire|Macrae monument or mausoleum]]]]
The [[Macrae Monument, Ayrshire|Macrae Monument]], mausoleum, memorial or Orangefield Family Burial Ground was built around 1750 by John Swan and is of the Corinthian style, with alcove, urns and obelisk.<ref>Close, Page 39</ref> Macrae himself died before it was completed and was buried in Monkton church. Smith records the story that a few years after his death, some of Macrae's friends assembled at Orangefield and decided to remove his bones from the Monkton churchyard and to place them in the mausoleum. After two days and nights of constant drinking they selected the largest skull and longest shank bones they could find out of reverence for the Governor and took them to the mausoleum.<ref>Smith, Page 59</ref>
The structure collapsed shortly after construction and had to be rebuilt before slowly deteriorating and suffering a partial collapse of the west elevation in 1996.  A comprehensive programme of consolidation and repair, including rebuilding of the upper part of the obelisk, was undertaken with grant assistance from Historic Scotland and the Heritage Lottery Fund in 2000–2001. During repair works carved stones were found built into the wall core, possibly remnants of the first structure.  The small chamber in the centre of the monument was found to contain coffins of a likely 18th century style and the skeletons of two men, two women and two children of unknown identity. The bones were replaced after examination.<ref>Allan, Page 52</ref><ref>Pers Comm., Peter Drummond, Project Architect</ref> The site has been referred to as the Orangefield family burial-plot.<ref name="C33"/>
===The later history of Orangefield===
John Dalrymple owned Orangefield in the time of [[Robert Burns]]; they were fellow-Masons and Dalrymple introduced Burns to [[Earl of Glencairn|Lord Glencairn]], a patron to whom Burns owed much and acknowledge such in verse. Burns wrote that ''"I have met in Mr. Dalrymple of Orangefield what Solomon emphatically calls 'a friend that sticketh closer than a brother'." ''<ref name="H134"/>
[[Lesley Baillie]] was a descendant of the family who had previously owned Orangefield; she featured in Burns's ballad, "''Saw ye bonnie Lesley.''"<ref name="H134">Harvey, Pages 134–135</ref>
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''"The owner of a pleasant spot''<br>
''Near sandy wilds"''<br><ref name="H134"/>
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Colonel William Fullarton had acquired Orangefield in 1786, however he sold it, together with Fairfield, circa 1803.<ref>McClure, Page 69</ref>
In the 1860s James Sinclair of Orangefield died and this {{convert|106|acre|km2|adj=on}} estate was added to the {{convert|685|acre|km2}} of Fairfield. The associated farms were Orangefield and West Orangefield.<ref>Strawhorn, Page 135.</ref>
The estate was purchased by the Campbells of Fairfield and later in 1943 the building became the main terminal building for Prestwick Airport. An extraordinary alteration was the placing the airport control tower on the roof. The building of a new airport building resulted in the demolition of Orangefield in the 1960s.<ref>Love (2005), Page 54</ref>
==Micro-history==
The previous name of Fairfield had been 'Overmains' and had been held by three generations of the family of [[James Hamilton (assassin)|Hamiltons of Bothwellhaugh]] before passing to the Blairs of Adamton House. Overmains itself had been part of the lands of Monkton Castle, later Monkton Hall, and finally Monkton House.<ref>Strawhorn, Page 51</ref>
The old [[Monkton Windmill, Ayrshire|vaulted tower windmill]] that stands near the Macrae Monument was built for the Orangefield Estate.
== References ==
;Notes
{{Reflist}}
;Sources
{{refbegin|2}}
# Allan, Shiela et al. (2003). ''Historic Prestwick and its surroundings''. Ayr Arch & Nat Hist Soc. {{ISBN|0-9542253-1-7}}.
# Close, Robert (1992), ''Ayrshire and Arran: An Illustrated Architectural Guide''. Pub. Roy Inc Arch Scot. {{ISBN|1873190-06-9}}.
# Cuthbertson, David Cuningham (1945). ''Autumn in Kyle and the Charm of Cunninghame''. London : Jenkins.
# Harvey, William. ''Picturesque Ayrshire.'' Dundee : Valentine & Sons.
# Love, Dane (2006). ''Lost Ayrshire : Ayrshire's Lost Architectural Heritage.'' Edinburgh : Birlinn Ltd. {{ISBN|978-1841584362}}.
# McClure, David (2002). ''Ayrshire in the Age of Improvement.'' Ayrshire Monographs 27. Ayr Arch & Nat Hist Soc. {{ISBN|0-9542253-0-9}}.
# Shaw, James Edward (1953). ''Ayrshire 1745-1950. A Social and Industrial History of the County.'' Edinburgh : Oliver & Boyd.
# Strawhorn, John (1994). ''The History of Prestwick''. Edinburgh : John Donald. {{ISBN|0-85976-405-2}}.
{{refend}}
==External links==
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srXyMcmkoE8 Video footage of the James Macrae Monument.]
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zL3yc49_apE The story of James Macrae]
[[Category:History of South Ayrshire]]
[[Category:Former country houses in Scotland]]
[[Category:Scottish country houses destroyed in the 20th century]]