The Museum of Ayrshire
Country Life and Costume

More/

In 1984 Alfred Ferguson and Mrs John Ferguson; widow of the last miller; gifted the buildings and land to Robert Ferguson, the youngest son of John Ferguson ,who being an Architect immediatly resolved to rescue it, and attempted to raise the funds and sponsorship needed to restore the Mill and to convert the remainder of the buildings into a Museum of Ayrshire Country Life.

In 1985-87 some fifty tradesmen and labours sponsored by the Manpower Services Commission and Cunningham District Council with capital provided by Mr & Mrs Ferguson, began the ambitious programme of conservation. In parallell, the Fergusons began augmenting their large collection by visiting local farms and cottages for additional material to expand the exhibits. The contents of the mill are testament to the generosity of many such local families.

From 1987 until 1994 Mr and Mrs Ferguson ran the mill as a family concern until it's popularity outstripped their ability to continue on a part time basis; after long negotiations with, and financial support from Cunninghame District Council, Enterprise Ayrshire and Strathclyde Regional Council, Mr and Mrs Ferguson handed over control of the buildings, the land and the collection to a new Charitable Trust in September 1994. Thus ending a family connection stretching back to John Ferguson's arrival in 1883.

The Trust has been able to carry out a considerable amount of landscape and renovation work since it's inauguration, and the Trustees look forward with confidence to another century or more in the history of this fascinating and irreplacable piece of our Industrial Heritage. More/