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Visitor Information: Burns Monument |
Alloway's various attractions associated with Robert Burns fall naturally into two groups. At the southern end of Alloway are the Burns Monument, Garden and Statue House; the Brig o' Doon; and the Tam o' Shanter Experience which together form the largest part of the Burns National Heritage Park. Not far away is Alloway Old Kirk which played a starring role in the poem Tam o' Shanter. And at the northern end of Alloway you find Burns Cottage and the Burns Cottage Museum which also form part of the Burns National Heritage Park, but which we have covered on a separate page.
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The starting point for any exploration of the attractions at this end of Alloway is usually the large and well signposted car park in front of the Tam o' Shanter Experience. The Experience forms the main visitor centre for the Burns National Heritage Park and is home to a gift shop and a licensed air-conditioned restaurant. Admission to the Tam o' Shanter Experience is free (as it is for all the attractions covered on this page), though a small charge is made for admission to the the audio-visual presentation of the story of Tam o' Shanter on show within the centre.
After visiting the Experience you should make your way along a path that leads past the end of the car park and the rugby club to the gardens that were established here when the Burns Monument was built between 1820 and 1823. It is interesting to note that although Robert Burns died, still a very young man, in 1796, his fame was already spreading widely. As early as 1814, a committee formed under the chairmanship of Sir Alexander Boswell (son of the writer James Boswell) to discuss the establishment of a monument to Burns in his birthplace, Alloway: almost in a sense of competition with a similar committee which was at the same time discussing the erection of a mausoleum at Burns' burial place in Dumfries.
 Gates to the Burns Monument Garden |
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 Upper Walkway, Burns Monument |
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 View of the Top of the Monument |
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 Interior of the Monument |
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700 subscribers contributed to building costs of £3,247. The competition to design the monument was won by Sir Thomas Hamilton, whose 70ft high temple of Grecian style is as striking today as it would have been when built. The base of the monument is triangular, with each face looking towards one of the traditional divisions of Ayrshire: Kyle, Carrick and Cunninghame. The roof is supported by nine pillars, representing the nine muses of Greek mythology.
As you approach the monument, you more than half expect to see a large statue of Robert Burns standing within the nine pillars supporting the roof: and at first the absence of one seems a little odd. All is explained as you enter the base of the monument through a door in its triangular base. This gives access to a circular room, which within its far wall houses a modest bust of the great poet.
Another door gives access to a set of stairs, which lead up to a walkway around the top of the main body of the monument. This offers excellent views over the ornamental garden surrounding the monument, and of the River Doon below, complete with the old Brig o' Doon. When originally built, the monument also gave views north to Burns Cottage, but these were cut when the new Alloway Church was built in 1857-8.
The path downhill from the monument through the rest of the surrounding garden brings you to the Statue House, built in 1832 specifically to house a series of life-size sandstone statues of characters from Burns' work by the self-taught sculptor, James Thom. These remain on view today, and remain every bit as lifelike and naturalistic as they were when originally carved.
Emerging from the bottom gate of the Burns Monument Garden brings you to the Brig o' Doon, famous for providing the setting for the climax of Burns' poem Tam o' Shanter. The bridge was built in the 1400s and forms a strikingly tall and narrow arch. In Burns' day it was the only bridge over the River Doon. A new bridge was built a couple of hundred yards downstream in 1816. The original plan was to demolish the old bridge once the new one was complete, but by then moves were afoot to build the Burns Monument and it was decided to preserve the Brig o' Doon as part of the wider commemoration of Robert Burns.
 Brig o' Doon |
