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Sorn is situated in a pleasant rural
setting. Sorn village is comparatively unchanged over the last 200 years. It was originally part of the Parish of Mauchline – but became a Parish in its own right when it was officially separated from Mauchline in the 1690s. The Parish of Sorn was created from the villages of Sorn and Catrine. The village was originally called Dalgain after the Squire of Dalgain, a local noble – but the name Sorn was slowly adopted because of the nearby Sorn castle which dates from the 14th Century. Sorn Castle was the ancient seat of the Loudoun Family.
By the 1790s the population numbered about 300 – and has roughly the same number of residents today. Former industry consisted of mining - coal, iron ore and limestone - but
now farming and forestry dominate.
Sorn Parish Church stands at the west end of the village. Set into the
Church wall are 2 stones, an original and a replacement, commemorating
the Covenanter George Wood, who was shot at Tincorn Hill outside Sorn
in 1688 during a dragnet operation following the rescue of Rev. Houston.
George Wood, who was 16 at the time, was perhaps the youngest covenanting
martyr, is said also to be the last. Sorn Parish was the birthplace of
the great field-preacher Alexander Peden, who had the uncanny gift of
prophecy. He also died within the boundaries of the parish in 1686 after
a life of wandering, persecution and imprisonment.
Dates seem to be uncertain for the earliest parts of Sorn Castle, but the original tower seems to have been of late 14 th century origin, or perhaps even earlier. The Castle occupies an admirable defensive position poised on a cliff above the River Ayr. Around the end of the 15 th century, the tower was extended, and the distinctive corbelled parapet was probably added at this time. Additions on the landward side seem to have been made in 1793 – partly in the Adam style reminiscent of Culzean Castle. The Somervell Family remodelled the castle in the 1860's. William Railton of Kilmarnock submitted a design in 1862, but a scheme by the famous Edinburgh architect of the Baronial style David Bryce was implemented in 1864.
Bryce's entrance front was modified shortly after 1908 to the designs of H.E. Clifford for the new owner Thomas W. McIntyre, who bought Sorn Castle in October of that year. Clifford added a new billiards room wing on the left of the entrance and also remodelled the interiors. A turbine house was added near the castle and the dam was raised in order to produce electricity. Sorn Estate contains several other houses including Cleugh Cottage, Burnside Cottage and Sawmill Cottage.
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