The ruins of Broadstone Castle or Braidstone remained until approximately 1850, but when the Broadstonehall Farm was being rebuilt, the entire castle was demolished and its stones were taken for its building works. However, the Broadstone Crags, the castle’s original site, still remains today. The vestiges of a garden and an avenue of trees also remained until the farm was constructed.

Broadstone Lime Kiln Wall

Due to the underlying geological condition of this place, many limestone quarries are found nearby. Lime kilns are used to produce lime for soil improvement, a common feature of this area before the Great Britain became fully industrialised. The last large traditional lime kiln could be found in Nettlehirst near Barrmill, and survived until the 1970s. Broadstone also has significant remains of one of the biggest of the early stone-built lime kilns. Lime kilns created substantial pollution in the whole area, which was only offset by the large employment opportunities it had created.

The Beith Moot Hill (also known as “Court Hill”) – is located a short drive away from Hill of Beith, Gateside. It is the spot on which the leader of the Tironensian monastic community, Abbot of Kilwinning, often administered justice to his tenants and vassals.

Speir’s School – is located on Barmill Road close to the Marshalland Farm. It was established Mrs Margaret Speir in 1887 to commemorate her son John Speir, who had deceased at the tender age of twenty-eight. The school began as a fee paying boarding and day school, integrated to the county’s education system in 1930′s. After the construction of Garnock Academy, it was immediately closed in 1973 and all buildings were pulled down in 1984. The 65,000 m2 (16 acres) of gardens and woodlands remain a popular spot for bird watchers, dog walkers, and those who enjoy the rural scenery.

Geilsland House – a writer and bank agent, William Fulton Love, constructed Geilsland House and established this small estate very close to the Gateside in the 19th century. Geilsland House is run by the Church of Scotland and considered as a special school. It is located next to Speir’s school grounds, separated by the Geilsland Road.

Beith’s Townhouse – was constructed and run by the Church of Scotland; the lower part of the Townhouse previously consisted of two small shops, one of them was an ironmonger ran by George B Inglis from 1862 to early 20th century. You will also find a small room where captives were held before they appear in the JP court, which was located in the upper hall, the court was also often used as the public meeting room.

Scapa Cottage (also known as Dummy Cottage), the whole exterior of the sandstone building has indentation marks giving it a most peculiar appearance; in its earlier years it was used as a Toll House. A deaf-mute young man stayed in the cottage many years ago, hence it acquired the name “Dummy Cottage”, a politically and morally unacceptable term nowadays.

Crummock House – this estate and mansion house stood on the fringes of Beith in a location now cut through by a main road from Dalry to Glasgow, sadly, it had been demolished. James Dobie and his family resided here in the 19th century. He was an author and historian. A cottage and some boundary walls still remain.

In the 1870s, Faulds was involved in a few archaeological digs throughout Japan and found shards of old pottery with fingerprints of a craftsman who had produced them. He began a study on modern application of fingerprints and informed Charles Darwin about his ideas. Darwin forwarded these thoughts to a friend, Francis Galton.

In 1880, Faulds wrote a paper in ‘Nature’ magazine about fingerprints, speculating that they might be used in crime investigation and proposing how it could be done. Shortly afterwards, a civil servant serving in India, Sir William Herschel, wrote a letter in ‘Nature’, where he reported that he had been utilizing fingerprints as a method for identification.

In 1886, Faulds arrived in Britain and proposed his fingerprint identification system to Scotland Yard and he was rejected. However, two years later, Galton sent a report to the Royal Institution, expressing that Herschel had proposed forensic usage of fingerprint identification slightly before Faulds, under an erroneous impression that his paper was the earlier of the two. It prompted a correspondence battle between Herschel and Faulds that would continue until 1917, when finally Herschel admitted that Faulds was the first to propose the use of fingerprints in forensic.

After his arrival from Japan, Faulds stayed in London and then worked in Staffordshire as a police surgeon. In March 1930, he died, bitter at the lack of recognitions he had received for his hard work.

You may want to move to a quieter place during your retirement years. Beith and its surrounding areas are well known locations for seniors who are seeking a place to live out their retirement years. It is a favored choice because of its beautiful and quiet surroundings and there are many fine-looking properties for sale in or around Beith.

If you are considering to relocate to Beith, you can choose from a few local estate brokers, many of whom run online services. House prices in Scotland are substantially lower than in larger towns or cities. The average in Beith is more or less £150,000, while in Greater London, the average is nearly £300,000.

Driving in Beith is easier, if not less expensive! Apart from the large city centres in Scotland (although they are not in the same league as New York or London for traffic congestion), driving is certainly a pleasure because you will find less car on the road and more trees on the side of the road.

The air in Beith is cleaner, the scenery is impressive, the wildlife is abundant and not endangered; and with a short trip, you will find a full range of recreational outdoor activities in other parts of Scotland – walking, munro-bagging, sailing, stalking, fishing, to name just a few. You can be sure that none of the common sports are ignored. Even the smallest of Scotland villages contributes soccer players to the nearest local team.

But, first and foremost, the people of Beith are wonderful. These people, by and large, are cultured, civilized, friendly and welcoming of newcomers.