St John’s Tower is the tower that remains from Ayr’s original parish church, which was built around 1300. On 26^th April 1315, a meeting of the Parliament in Scotland and the Scots nobility was convened in St. John’s Kirk, and at this meeting, the crown was officially passed to Robert the Bruce and his line.

The church was also used by Oliver Cromwell’s troops at the time of the ‘Commonwealth Occupation’ following the English Civil War, and used as a storehouse and watchtower. We know it was in good condition in 1693, but likely to have been demolished soon after, and now St. John’s Tower is all that remains.