Kilmaurs Castle

Kilmaurs Castle stood on the farmlands of Jocksthorn, near the village of Kilmaurs in East Ayrshire. The site lies about two miles from Kilmarnock and four miles from Stewarton, beside the Carmell Water. Timothy Pont’s early 17th-century map shows a tower castle enclosed within a wooded park called Carmell Wood. The castle belonged to the Earls of Glencairn, who held the title of Baron of Kilmaurs for over half a century. By the late 18th century, only small ruins remained on the farm of Jocksthorn, where old people remembered playing among masonry fragments. The castle’s history begins with the De Morville family, followed by the Cunninghames in the 16th century. John Monipennie noted in 1612 that the Earls of Glencairn still lived there before moving to Kilmaurs Place. Maps from the 1700s show the site but no surviving structures, only traces of woodland and a motte. Field clearance stones and medieval coins found nearby suggest the castle’s stone was reused for nearby farms. The traditional site has a circular mound, likely the motte, and offers wide views of the surrounding countryside. Visitors today find a quiet farmland setting where the castle once stood. The RCAHMS records describe slight undulations and scattered stones near a hedge, difficult to plough. Metal detectorists have uncovered medieval coins and pottery in the area. Carmell Wood and the Tour Burn add to the landscape’s character, though the burn now runs underground. The remains are subtle, but the place still carries the weight of its past, marked by old maps and local memory.