History: Four Centuries At Craigengillan

John McAdam was a popular figure in the Doon Valley, an employer and a benefactor, and a sponsor of the arts. He subscribed to the works of Robert Burns and invited the poet to stay at Craigengillan in 1786. Burns wrote him a poem in thanks.

The McAdams were enthusiastic horse breeders and sportsmen, and by 1800 the Category A listed stable block was standing. During the Boer War the estate shipped forty horses to South Africa, where they were employed in the Relief of Mafeking.

By the turn of this century the estate was in decline: roofs leaking, dry rot spreading, fences down, bridges closed off, and the stable clock silent. Dalmellington, the neighbouring village, was searching for new purpose after the mines closed; the fortunes of village and estate have always been inseparable.

Mark Gibson OBE found Craigengillan and spent two decades bringing it back. The roof was re-slated and re-leaded, dormers and chimneys rebuilt, the Jansen interiors carefully recovered, and a biomass system installed that still feeds the original German radiators. The two cottages by the Glessel Burn, little more than ruins, were rebuilt stone by stone, one of them re-thatched with traditional water reed.

Craigengillan is now owned and run by Tommy Traylen Jnr and his father, Tommy Traylen, as part of Traylen Estates. It is an award-winning 3,000-acre working estate: an organic sheep farm, renowned riding stables, holiday cottages and sustainable forestry, sitting at the heart of a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve and the UK's first Dark Sky Park.

Over 100,000 visitors now come each year, and the estate is run for the long term under the Traylen family motto: Aeternum Fortis, forever strong.