If you can, approach Alloway from Ayr along the B7024 go into Rozelle Estate on your left just before entering the village which will be about 200yds ahead of you. Park at Rozelle House, built around 1770, and view Goudie’s paintings of Tam O’Shanter before enjoying a coffee in the tearoom there – that will set you up nicely for your walk.
Scottish artist Alexander Goudie’s paintings are a magnificent series of 54 paintings inspired by Robert Burns’ famous poem ‘Tam O’Shanter’, and were purchased by South Ayrshire Council.
Originally the Royal Burgh of Ayr held the land as part of the Barony of Alloway. In 1754 the lands were sold for £2000 to Robert Hamilton, whose family’s wealth had been acquired through trade in sugar and tobacco from the West Indies.
The first mansion house was finished by 1760. Archibald Hamilton rebuilt the house in the 1830’s. By the 1960’s the Hamilton family’s prosperity had waned, leading to the sale of much of the surrounding land. In 1968 it was gifted to the Royal Burgh of Ayr becoming the Local Authority Museum and Art Gallery. In 1975-76 the servants’ quarters and stable block were converted into The Maclaurin Art Gallery with funds from the bequest of Mrs Mary Ellen Maclaurin.