One of the most notable sons of Lugar was the inventor William Murdoch, who was born at Bello Mill on the 21st August 1754. Between 1759 and 1767 Murdoch was educated at School in Cumnock and followed on by training as a millwright. 

William Murdoch began experimenting with gas from coal to form light around 
1777. His first experiments took place in a cave below the Mill-House overlooking the River Lugar. It was in 1777 that Murdoch left the Lugar area to work for James Watt and Matthew Boulton at their Soho Foundry near Birmingham. 

Murdoch had many inventions but was always interested in vehicular propulsion by 
steam. He built a prototype engine in 1784 but never pursued the project commercially, although he did build a steam carriage in which he travelled on the firm's business. 

Murdoch became the first man to put the idea of producing gas lighting from coal to practical use. In 1792 he installed gas lighting at the Company's Offices as well 
as lighting his home by this method. He spent the remainder of his life in England and died at the age of 85 years. His remains were interred beside his old friends 
James Watt and Matthew Boulton. 

In August 1985, Cumnock & Doon Valley DC who proposed a museum at Lugar to commemorate Murdoch, commissioned a survey. The design proposals incorporated the ruined Bello Mill in a plan to provide exhibition space, small audio/visual theatre and a shop in a see-through building. 

The elaborate plans and a model of the proposed museum can be seen at the Baird Institute in Cumnock. 
 

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