Straiton is neatly placed a hundred yards above a sweeping bend of the winding Water of Girvan. Probably the first feature to impress the visitor is the width of the village street with its attractive stone-built cottages. The outline of Craigengower (the Hill of the Goats in Gaelic) forms a backdrop to the settlement itself. On the skyline stands the obelisk erected to the memory of Lt Col James Hunter Blair, killed at the battle of Inkerman in 1854.
The present village was created at the direction of Thomas Kennedy, Earl of Cassillis, in the late 18th century. Some modifications have been made to the original dwellings, notably the addition of another story to some cottages. Stone from a derelict water mill a mile upstream was used. Additional houses have been erected in Dalmellington Road, Knockbreck Road and Fowler’s Croft.
Originally the houses were thatched. Some were weavers’ cottages in the 18th and 19th centuries, but there were many other occupations for the local folk; joiner, smith, cobbler, innkeeper, coachman etc.
The name of the village has been variously spelled; Stratton, Stratoun, Straittoun. It is probably of Celtic origin and may mean a settlement in a deep or wide valley.
The text above is by the late Andrew Wilmot, an inspirational teacher who loved Straiton deeply, who was responsible, with South Ayrshire Council, for creating the Straiton path network.
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