Thomaston Castle

Thomaston Castle is a medieval castle located west of Maybole, South Ayrshire, Scotland. It looks much as it did hundreds of years ago. Little has changed, except for the addition of a house located on the property. The castle is run down and has debris falling in on it. Thomaston Castle was originally built in the 13th century for a nephew of Robert The Bruce, and first owned by Alan McIlvaine (b. 1500 in Ayrshire) whose family supplied wine to the Earls Kennedy, owners of nearby Culzean Castle. Upon his death, Thomaston passed to Patrick McIlvaine on his marriage to Isobel Kennedy, a daughter of Gilbert Kennedy, 3rd Earl of Cassilis.

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Glenside railway station

Glenside railway station was a railway station near Culzean Castle, South Ayrshire, Scotland. The station was part of the Maidens and Dunure Light Railway.

Culzean Castle

Culzean Castle ( kul-AYN, see yogh; Scots: Culzean, Culȝean, Colean) is a castle overlooking the Firth of Clyde, near Maybole, Carrick, in South Ayrshire, on the west coast of Scotland. It is the former home of the Marquess of Ailsa, the chief of Clan Kennedy, but is now owned by the National Trust for Scotland. The clifftop castle lies within the 240 acres (97 ha) Culzean Castle Country Park, which also contains a walled garden, other estate buildings that are open to the public, shops and cafés, and a playground. The castle is open to the public throughout the summer, and the wider estate is open all year. There are eight self-catering properties available for holiday rental within the country park, include the Brewhouse Flat which is located within the castle itself. The castle can also be hired for private events. From 1972 until 2015, an illustration of the castle was featured on the reverse side of five pound notes issued by the Royal Bank of Scotland.

Kirkoswald, South Ayrshire

Kirkoswald (Scots: Kirkossald) is a village and parish in the Carrick district of Ayrshire, Scotland, 1+3⁄4 miles (3 kilometres) from the coast and four miles (six kilometres) southwest of Maybole. It takes its name from its kirk (church), dedicated to Oswald of Northumbria, who is said to have won a battle here in the 7th century. The old church, which was built in 1244 and houses the baptismal font of Robert the Bruce, is now a ruin in the grounds of the modern church, which was built in 1777 to a design by Robert Adam. Kirkoswald is also noted for its connection with Robert Burns, whose maternal ancestors, the Brouns, were from the village. Burns also attended school here, and would later base the characters Tam o' Shanter, Kirkton Jean and souter Johnnie on village locals Douglas Graham, Jean Aird and John Davidson, the shoemaker. Kirkoswald village had a population of 194 in 1991. Kirkoswald parish is 23.3 square miles (60 square kilometres) in area, and also contains the coastal village of Maidens. Landmarks include Turnberry Castle, the ancient seat of the Earls of Carrick, Culzean Castle, Thomaston Castle and Crossraguel Abbey. Rev Robert Hunter Arbuckle was minister of the Free Church from 1860 and 1897.

Kirkoswald Parish Church

Kirkoswald Parish Church is located in the small village of Kirkoswald (on the A77 road), South Ayrshire, Scotland. It is a parish church in the Church of Scotland. The church is unusual in that its design was, at the very least, strongly influenced by Robert Adam, one of Scotland's outstanding architects. He was working at the time on his masterpiece, Culzean Castle, and there are many Adam features about the church. It was built in 1777 and is essentially unchanged since. A fire in 1997 was confined within the ducted central heating system, and when that was being removed, wet rot, dry rot and plaster fungus were discovered. The building underwent a substantial renovation at that time, but the interior of the church was restored with only minor changes. The church was fortunate in being able to call on the architectural historians working at Culzean, and the colour scheme is now as close to the original as could be achieved. This church was built as a replacement for an older church—built around 1220—the ruins of which are still visible in the village, in the middle of the old graveyard (55.3300°N 4.7779°W / 55.3300; -4.7779 (Remains of Kirk Oswald)). The graveyard has a number of interesting graves, mainly because of the strong links with Robert Burns, whose mother (Agnes Broun) came from this village. The poet also spent around 9 months in the village in 1776, when he was 17, and most of the characters in his poem "Tam o' Shanter" are based on local people whose graves are in the old kirkyard and are suitably marked. One noteworthy grave not linked to Burns work is that of Scipio Kennedy, a black African slave who was brought to Scotland in 1702 and lived on the Culzean estate, and given his freedom in 1725. The church, which is linked with Fisherton Parish Church, is without a minister since the retiral of Arrick Wilkinson at the beginning of February 2013.