Auchensail Farm, Farmsteading

Long single storey rectangular-plan steading at rear forming long T-plan with associated farmhouse. House harled and whitewashed; steading whitewashed rubble.

This modest farmhouse and steading is listed for its historical connections with the innovative aviator Percy Sinclair Pilcher. Low Auchencail was the site from which Pilcher made his later flying experiments using the Bat, a glider built by Pilcher and his sister Ella in lodgings in Glasgow's West end. The method of launching was to run downhill against the wind and take short jumps and Low Auchensail's prominent location made this possible. He had earlier carried out gliding experiments at Wallacetown Farm in Cardross. Pilcher was killed in his glider "The Hawk" in 1899 at Stanford Hall, Kent. (Historic Scotland)