Located some three miles northwest of Kilmarnock, twenty miles from Glasgow, on A735 there is a tiny tollbooth which stands as a sentry over the village of Kilmaurs and its market place alike.

Kilmaurs Place is a substantial T-plan house built in about 1620 lying just to the south of the Carmel Water, only the latest in a series of grand residential and/or defensive structures which have been situated here, on the same site, since the 1100s. From 1413 on this was the residence of the Earl of Glencairn, who in that same year established a collegiate church nearby. A century or so later, in 1527, the village was created as a Burgh of Barony by Cuthbert, the 3rd Earl of Glencairn. The tollbooth was established in the center of town to serve as meeting place for local dignitaries, the magistrate, as a collection point for customs due, and as a place of imprisonment and punishment. The tollbooth is still known locally as the Jougs for the iron neck ring and chain which can be found on the external wall near the tower steps.

Graham and his wife Jill make Kilmaurs their home. For some months, in passing, he waited for the sun to cast its glow upon this local icon and then, right on cue, the children arrived! We're glad he was patient.

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