Maybole Castle was a townhouse, built by the Kennedy family, Earls of Cassilis. It dates from around 1560, is the oldest inhabited house in Maybole, and an example of the 28 gentlemen’s houses that were built around the town.

It’s an impressive medieval building, occupying a central spot in Maybole. Architecturally, it’s a four-storey L-plan tower house and garret, with the later addition of a lower wing. It has large, round bartizans, corbelled out at two corners, and you can see lots of decorative stonework.

The castle’s colourful history includes the story of Lady Jean Hamilton, who ran away with Johnnie Faa, the King of the Gypsies. He and his followers were pursued and met a grisly end at the hands of her husband, while she was later imprisoned in ‘The Countess’s Room’.