Whitehill Loch
8 December
Whitehill Loch, previously known as Hillhouse Loch was a freshwater loch, now drained, lying in a glacial hollow above Whitehill Farm. It was one of several small lochs within the area, such as Lochs Brown, Gate, and Bruntwood.
Blaeu's Atlas of Scotland, 1654 shows a 'Hilhos Loch' lying between Hilhous (Hillhouse) and Whythil (Whitehill), with a single outflow running into the Little Sorn Burn near Little Sorn. In 1857 the dwelling at Lochhouse is shown with a major ditch running down from the site of the loch and the stump of the original outflow and confluence with the Little Sorn Burn. The 1895 6" OS map still shows a dwelling named Lochhouse, abandoned by 1910 and now demolished, on the course of a major drain running down from the site of the loch down towards the Little Sorn Burn. A track ran up to Hillhouse Farm from the dwelling at Lochhouse. The satellite image of the site shows ploughed fields with anerobic soil markings typical of loch beds, etc.
The loch shore formed part of the boundary of the Parish of Riccarton. The 1971 OS map indicates the remnants of the loch as an enclosed marshy area, probably that retained for curling, drained through ditches leading down to the Little Sorn Burn
Curling is recorded on Whitehill Loch, namely Loudoun v Tarbolton, on 25 February 1830. Craigmill Mill was located further down the Cessnock Water but does not appear to have been powered by the loch's waters. The loch was drained for agriculture well before the nearby lochs of Bruntwood and Brown, last being recorded clearly circa 1654.
Follow us on: