Kilmaurs – Church, Tolbooth and Town Trail

Kilmaurs offers visitors tangible connections to the past: the medieval St Maur's Glencairn Parish Church, the Tolbooth, The Jougs and the war memorial. The town’s history also includes its horn cutlery industry and the Kilmaurs Town Trail. These themes range from religious and civic history to a memorial and a route through the surrounding area. The buildings feature a variety of forms and materials, while their dates provide additional points of reference.

Church, Tolbooth and Kilmaurs Place

The medieval St Maur's Glencairn Parish Church was already owned by Kelso Abbey in 1170. In 1413, Sir William Cunninghame endowed the church as a collegiate church. These two dates mark different stages in the church’s history: its ownership by the abbey and its later endowment as a collegiate church. Kilmaurs Place added another chapter in the 17th century. The building was constructed to replace Kilmaurs Castle.

Kilmaurs Tolbooth has a four-stage tower topped by a spire and a clock dating from 1866. Thus, the same building combines the tower’s stepped form with a precisely dated clock. This provides a different point of reference in the town’s history from the medieval church or the 17th-century Kilmaurs Place.

Civic life, memorial and craft

The Jougs served as a meeting place for local dignitaries and the magistrate. An iron collar and chain are still attached to its outer wall, near the tower steps. The building’s former role as a meeting place and the surviving objects on it therefore represent two different aspects of its history.

The war memorial stands on a rise in Morton Park. It is a sandstone obelisk on four octagonal steps, with a bronze statue of a soldier by Glasgow sculptor Kellock Brown on the front. The obelisk, steps and statue give the memorial a clearly identifiable form, while its location in the park situates it in Kilmaurs.

The town’s history also includes its horn cutlery industry, for which Kilmaurs was known in the 18th and 19th centuries. This adds a local industry to the town’s religious and civic connections. In the wider Kilmaurs area, the original castle of Rowallan dates from the 13th century. It is an additional historical point of reference beyond the immediate history of the town.

Landmarks on the Kilmaurs Town Trail

The Kilmaurs Town Trail complements the historic buildings with a route featuring named stops. After crossing a field, the trail reaches Penny Bridge. It also leads to a bridge over the Carmel Water and into Morton Park. The route therefore includes the bridge beyond the field, the bridge over the Carmel Water and the park as points of reference.

A recently renovated museum is located at Lodge St Maurs in Kilmaurs. If you are planning a visit, check with Lodge St Maurs beforehand about visiting arrangements.

Discover more destinations: Cumnock, Kildonan, Dalry, Beith, Isle of Arran, Prestwick, Stevenston, Ayr

For the broader travel overview: Ayrshire.