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Monkton

Traffic between Glasgow and Ayr used to thunder through Monkton, but now it is more or less bypassed. It sits on the edge of Prestwick Airport, and at one time the main road cut right across the main runway. This meant that traffic was held up every time an aircraft took off or landed - a magnificent sight, but inconvenient for cars and buses.

The Muckle Stane is an “erratic” (a boulder brought by an ice flow towards the end of the last Ice Age), and previously stood in a field outside the village. In 1998 it was relocated within the village.

To the north of the village is a curious monument known as MacRae’s Monument that looks like the truncated top part of a church tower and spire. It commemorates James MacRae, Governor of Madras in the early 18th century. He was born in Ochiltree in humble circumstances, his father having died before he was born. He was then brought up by a carpenter called Hugh McGuire, and when MacRae returned from India in 1731 a rich man he bought the Orangefield estate (a site now occupied by part of Prestwick Airport). He also found his old benefactor living in poverty. He bought him the estate of Drumdow at Stair, east of Monkton, and introduced his daughters into polite society, each of them making good marriages. One of them even became the Countess of Glencairn. MacRae was buried in the churchyard at Monkton, though no stone now marks his grave.