Belleisle Conservatory

In 1879 William Dixon, owner of the Belleisle estate in Ayr, decided to add to the amenities of his mansion with a conservatory in its extensive gardens, and commissioned a specialist firm, James Boyd and Sons of Paisley, to build it. Dixon died in 1880, and the estate passed to George Coats, of the Paisley thread-making family, who added decorative features to the conservatory, among them a terracotta statue that is still there.

In 1925 Ayr Town Council bought the estate and took the decision to repair the conservatory as a public attraction, with seasonal, exotic and perennial plants and flowers on show all year round. In the 1950s the ageing structure was rebuilt by Mackenzie and Moncur of Edinburgh, who kept its original dimensions and design; the charity's website dates the replacement to 1955.

Maintenance costs and vandalism led to its closure in 2005. In 2010 local people set up Belleisle Conservatory Limited, a volunteer-run charity. A professional survey put the cost of restoration at £583,000; the Heritage Lottery Fund awarded £400,000 and community fundraising brought in a further £190,000. The work, carried out by Richardson and Starling, was completed in 2016, and the conservatory officially reopened on Saturday 23 July 2016.

The 1879 conservatory had a curvilinear roof on metal and timber frames, set on a base wall of red sandstone. It measures 70 feet long by 34 feet wide, about 21 by 10 metres, and rises to 25 feet, about 7.6 metres, at the apex of the roof.

The 1950s rebuilding by Mackenzie and Moncur respected those dimensions and the main features of the original design. Several elements from 1879 survive: the eight cast-iron pillars that support the structure and the central cross aisle laid with decorative floor tiles. The terracotta statue added by George Coats in the late nineteenth century still stands inside.

The conservatory is listed at Category B. Its restoration, completed in 2016, was carried out by Richardson and Starling, and the charity reckons that at least £50,000 a year is needed to keep it running and maintained.

From 1925 the town council intended the conservatory to offer displays of seasonal, exotic and perennial plants and flowers all year round. Since the reopening, the charity has published a list of its plants: around sixty, arranged alphabetically.

Among them are the Swiss cheese plant (Monstera deliciosa), weeping fig (Ficus benjamina), zebra plant (Calathea zebrina), copper leaf plant (Acalypha wilkesiana), painted leaf begonia (Begonia rex cultorum), rose grape (Medinilla magnifica), flamingo flower (Anthurium), China rose (Hibiscus rosa-sinensis), paper reed (Cyperus papyrus), money tree (Crassula ovata), spider plant (Chlorophytum comosum) and even a cider gum (Eucalyptus gunnii). The collection is modest, but it is cared for by volunteers, and the conservatory also runs educational activities.

The conservatory stands in Belleisle Park, on Doonfoot Road in Ayr, a public park that also contains two golf courses and a deer enclosure. Half an hour is enough to see it, though a walk in the park can easily extend the visit. The charity holds seasonal events, concerts and educational programmes and hires the conservatory out for weddings and family ceremonies, so it is worth checking its calendar before setting out. Burns Cottage, in Alloway, lies less than a kilometre away.