Thorntoun School was opened by Barnardo's in September 1971 for children with emotional difficulties aged 11 to 16 years. The school closed in 1990 and Thorntoun is now a Nursing Home. The complex lies between the villages of Springside (North Ayrshire) and Crosshouse, Kilmarnock in East Ayrshire, Scotland. The old Thorntoun mansion house was demolished in the late 1940s, leaving the West Lodge, some of the home farm outbuildings, the stables and the walled garden as 'memorials' to the ancient history of the site. Many fine trees remain from the estate policies and the surviving gardens are very well maintained (2007). An entrance with a slight deviation from the old course has been created to serve the large modern buildings which house the nursing home.