Broomlands is district of Irvine

Irvine, North Ayrshire

Irvine is a new town on the coast of the Firth of Clyde in North Ayrshire, Scotland. According to 2007 population estimates, the town is home to 39,527 inhabitants, making it the biggest settlement in North Ayrshire....

 in North Ayrshire

North Ayrshire

North Ayrshire is one of 32 council areas in Scotland with a population of roughly 136,000 people. It is located in the south-west region of Scotland, and borders the areas of Inverclyde to the north, Renfrewshire to the north-east and East Ayrshire and South Ayrshire to the East and South...

, Scotland. Situated on a series of bends in the River Annick

River Annick

The Annick Water is the largest tributary of the River Irvine. The river runs from Long Loch, just inside East Renfrewshire, in a generally south-western direction through North Ayrshire and East Ayrshire, to confluence with its parent river at Irvine, North Ayrshire on the west coast of Scotland...

, Broomlands and its original features are now almost lost within the south-Bourtreehill

Bourtreehill

Bourtreehill is a housing scheme which forms part of the Irvine New Town in North Ayrshire, Scotland.- Etymology :A 'Bour Tree' is the Ayrshire name for the Common Elder tree, Sambucus nigra, often found in the older and more biodiverse local woodlands....

 and Broomlands housing scheme.

History

The remaining features take the form of road and path networks which are still in use after several hundred years. More recent networks and routes were created in the 17th and 18th century when the railways first arrived in Broomlands. Long before the age of steam, people were not unused to seeing railway networks carrying minerals and wood and being pushed by strong but buckled men. In Broomlands, the remains of a late 17th century railway path can still be discerned.

The prehistoric history of Broomlands is more plentiful. At the end of the last ice-age, Broomlands was on the coast. When the sea receded from the area, it left behind a huge coal field which would be exploited by the people of Broomlands and Bourtreehill

Bourtreehill

Bourtreehill is a housing scheme which forms part of the Irvine New Town in North Ayrshire, Scotland.- Etymology :A 'Bour Tree' is the Ayrshire name for the Common Elder tree, Sambucus nigra, often found in the older and more biodiverse local woodlands....

 almost ten thousand years later.

Those later exploiters opened various coal-pits, open-cast mines and collieries in the district. Railways were networked to carry the coal away from the fields.

A standard gauge railway ran through Broomlands until the late 1960s, originally built by the Glasgow and South Western Railway Company, linking the towns of Irvine and Kilmarnock

Kilmarnock

Kilmarnock is a large burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland, with a population of 44,734. It is the second largest town in Ayrshire. The River Irvine runs through its eastern section, and the Kilmarnock Water passes through it, giving rise to the name 'Bank Street'...

. Although the nearby station was titled as Dreghorn station, it was closer to Broomlands. The track bed has been paved over and now is in use as a footpath. Mineral railways from various local coal mines branched on to this line.

Broomlands was eventually sold to the owner of Bourtreehill house

Bourtreehill House

Bourtreehill House and the enclosed land on which it was built form the original estate of Bourtreehill. The wooded hill-top, a distinctive feature of the estate, is now a landmark that sits at the centre of modern North Bourtreehill in the district of North Ayrshire on the west coast of...

.

Education in Broomlands is provided by Broomlands Primary School.