. The castle would have been originally held by the De Morville family. In 1527 Cuthbert Cunninghame is said to have lived at both Jocksthorn and The Place,
"assuming that Jocksthorn is indeed Kilmaurs Castle and that the now ruined late-16th or early-17th range at The Place was itself preceded by an earlier building. After the building of the later Place, the castle must have quickly fallen into disuse and decay." In 1612 John Monipennie stated that Kilmaurs Castle was the residence of the Earls of Glencairn, indicating that
Kilmaurs Place had not yet been constructed The Statistical Account of 1791-99 says of the
Earl of Glencairn ''"that noble family then resided in this parifh, where they had a houfe, fome fmall ruins of which yet remain on the farm which is called Jock's-thorn, near to the road leading from Stewarton to Kilmarnock, ..."'' Roys military map of the area dating from the 1750s indicates a large area of probable woodland/land that is not being cultivated where Kilmaurs Castle is said to have once stood. Armstrong's map of 1775 indicates a castle-style building at the supposed site although the name 'Jock's Thorn' appears to be linked with it. Adamson relates in 1875 that the ancient castle was in the vicinity of Jackisthorn, Jock's or Jack's Thorn farm, now 'Jocksthorn' and several old people from Kilmaurs in 1875 remembered playing amongst the ruined remnants of masonry which occupied the site of this old castle of the Cunninghames. . Adamson also talks of the typical woodland policies of such a dwelling still existing in the 1870s with venerable old trees, what sounds like roundels of trees, avenues that may have defined lanes or rides, etc. All of these are not normally associated with farms The RCAHMS records cartographic evidence of a castellated building at this site, probably a typical Scottish
tower castle. The lack of stone on the site and the clear written records of ruins at this precise location indicate a high degree of 'robbing' for use in building projects such as Jocksthorn Farm, The Place and other sites. The old castle stood on a lane that provided easy transport of building materials to other sites.
Other site evidence The term 'Thorn' in Jocksthorn may derive from 'torn, thorn, a tower', as in Jocks-Thorn on
Cumbrae,
"alias Jock-Torn; and head, an eminence; hence tower-hill." 'Thorn' occurs in words meaning ‘assembly’, ‘meeting place’ and ‘piece of land' or ‘clearing’. The traditional site has a great deal of field clearance stones laid along the line of the hedge leading to Jocksthorn Farm where medieval coins have been found. Although the site is not set in a strong defensive position it has exceptional views of the surrounding area as shown in the gallery below. ;Views from the Site of Kilmaurs Castle File:Bellsland Farm from the site of Kilmaurs Castle, Kilmaurs.JPG|Bellsland Farm and the view to the north-east. File:Grassmillside Farm from near Jocksthorn Farm, Kilmaurs.JPG|Grassmillside Farm and the view to the south-east. File:Jocksthorn Farm from the site of Kilmaurs Castle.JPG|Jocksthorn Farm and the view to the north-west. File:Site of Kilmaurs Castle, Tour woods and St Maurs-Glencairn Church, East Ayrshire.JPG|St Maurs-Glencairn church, Tour and the view south-west. The RCAHMS Canmore site records that
"Slight undulations suggest previous disturbance and many large, shapeless stones are dumped against an adjacent hedge. The farmer at Jocksthorn reports that this is a difficult, stony area to plough, ..." Metal detectorists have found a number of medieval coins in this area amongst what may be old building and foundation stones. The 19th-century 6 inch OS Map of Kilmaurs marks the supposed site of Kilmaurs Castle as lying off the side of the farm road leading to Jocksthorn Farm from the old Stewarton Road. Dobie in 1874 that the old baronial residence was about a mile South-East of
Kilmaurs and ruins could still be pointed out on the farmlands of Jocksthorn. ==Micro-history==