Early history Kilmaurs was known as the hamlet of Cunninghame until the 13th century. The population in 1874 was 1,145. Alex Young suggested that the name Kilmaurs comes from the Gaelic meaning Hill of the Great Cairn. Young’s suggestion for the Gaelic origins of the placename Kilmaurs is extremely unlikely. Earliest medieval records refer to an early medieval church dedicated to a saint (probably a Saint Maura) closely associated with the origins of the ancient settlement. The authoritative Ainmean-Àite na h-Alba website endorses the ecclesiastical origins of the name though exact identity of the saint remains unclear.
Economic and religious It was once noted for its cutlery, shoe and bonnet workshops, and there were iron and coal mines in the neighbourhood. A hanger is a type of hunting sword, the only remaining Scottish example of which was made in Kilmaurs; it is in the keeping of the Kelvingrove Museum in Glasgow. The hanger sword is marked 'Kilmares' and is marked 'DB' for the maker or cutler, David Biggart, who also made knives and forks. This sword is highly ornate with the grip made of tortoiseshell with floral patterns in extremely fine twisted silver wire. Fork over fork, is part of the kilmaurs coat of arms, relating to the history of the village cutlery heritage and for forking out prisoners and those hiding in hay to avoid capture. Kilmaurs was famous for its
kale which was an important foodstuff. A story is told of how a neighbouring village offered to pay a generous price for some kale seeds, an offer too good to turn down. The cunning locals agreed, however a gentle roasting on a shovel over a coal fire ensured that they never germinated. The Parish church, Saint Maurs, now St Maurs-Glencairn, dates from 1170, and was dedicated either to the Virgin or to a Scottish saint of the 9th century called Maura. It was enlarged in 1403 and in great part rebuilt in 1888.
Cunninghams and the Glencairn Aisle Adjoining it is the
Glencairn Aisle, burial-place of the
Earls of Glencairn, the leading personages in the district during several centuries, some of whom bore the
style of Lord Kilmaurs. James, the fourteenth Earl of Glencairn broke the centuries-old connection of the Cunningham family with the area by selling the Barony and estate of Kilmaurs, including
Kilmaurs place, in 1786 to the Marchioness of Titchfield.
Laigh Milton viaduct is the oldest surviving railway bridge in Scotland One sad story redolent of its era is that of a 'professional class' couple from England, Mr. & Mrs. Barker, who committed suicide in Victorian times (1844) by tying themselves together and jumping from Laigh Milton Viaduct into the Irvine, which has a depth of only around at this point. They were buried in the Kilmaurs churchyard in an unmarked grave. They are known to have spent a few weeks in lodgings and apparently enjoyed the 'sights and sounds' of Ayrshire. It transpired that they had recently become bankrupt and were fearful of the shame and disgrace that poverty would inevitably bring.
The Tolbooth (also known as the Jougs) Kilmaurs Tolbooth accommodated the council chambers and jail of the former Burgh of Barony and latterly of the Parish Council. It is known locally as the '
jougs', 'Jugs' or 'Juggs' after the metal collar and chain that still hangs from the wall. The village also once had stocks for holding and humiliating miscreants. A tower of some description existed before the present steeple was built in 1800. The Burgh of Barony with its forty "tenementers" was established in 1527 so an earlier Council House is likely to have existed. The Kilmaurs jougs themselves were used in last used in 1820 when a housebreaker was held in them. He was so small that he had to be stood on a stone block.
William Aiton in 1808 commented on the Kilmaurs town-hall and jail, saying they "are contemptible, of little use, and ought to be pulled down." In 1874 the steeple was hit by lightning and of masonry were destroyed. Rebuilding severely stretched the burgh's finances. The original tolbooth stood nearby at the crossroads and may have been used to hold prisoners when the Council House was just a single storey.
The Mercat Cross and Butter Market Kilmaurs has a fine example of a stepped
Mercat Cross in an enclosure behind it; this cross is surmounted by a large sandstone ball and dated 1830, once enclosed by railings. On market days a holed board was placed on top and used as basic scales for weighing goods for sale. A record of a cross being repaired survives from 1743 indicating that an older cross once stood here. Latterly the butter market was held here.
Public Hall This fine building was designed by Robert McHoull, constructed at a cost of £1,400 and completed in 1893. This town hall building had a stage, changing rooms, and a kitchen on the ground floor, a reading room, a recreation room and a viewing gallery on the upper floor. Unfortunately the architect did not have a stairway on the drawings, and had to construct a very narrow and winding staircase to reach the upper floor, as a last resort, before the official opening. It is now used by the District Council as a home for the homeless, or as a shelter for single parent families, while waiting for a permanent residence.
Modern history Kilmaurs has a particularly fine war memorial situated in the Morton Park (gifted to the village by George Morton of Lochgreen,
Troon in 1921.) The memorial itself, which was designed by
William Kellock Brown, was erected at a cost of £900 raised by public subscription and unveiled on 3 April 1921. 45 men gave their lives in the Great War and 10 men and 1 woman in the Second World War. "They took free quarters; they robbed people on the high road; they knocked down and wounded those who complained; they stole, and wantonly destroyed, cattle; they subjected people to the torture of fire to discover to them where their money was hidden; they threatened to burn down houses if their demands were not at once complied with; besides free quarters they demanded money every day; they compelled even poor families to buy brandy and tobacco for them; they cut and wounded people from sheer devilment." The cost of all this amounted to £3,250 15s 0d Scots in Kilmaurs parish alone. Paterson records that in the 1790s inoculation for smallpox had not become general,
owing, according to the minister, "to the prevalence of a religious persuasion that the Divine Government, without any care on the part of man, will accomplish whatever is best for him. So deeply are the tenets of this kind impressed, that all attempts to show the necessity of using those means by which the Providence of God operates, both in temporal and spiritual concerns, are 'houted' and despised. Much,
" he adds, "have the teachers of religion to answer for, who establish faith upon the ruins of practice." It is likely that the Cunningham Fair mentioned in the
Jolly Beggars was held in Kilmaurs and it is known from his letters to
Frances Dunlop that as a farmer Robert Burns attended the fair. ==Landmarks==