📌 Ayr, South Ayrshire
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St John’s Tower is the only surviving part of Ayr’s original parish church. The church probably built in the 12th century and was dedicated to St John the Baptist, the town’s patron saint; it had an impressively large floorplan which extended right across today’s Bruce Crescent. The tower itself wasn’t added until the 14th or 15th century but outlasted the body of the church, being left as a navigational landmark to seafarers when the rest of the building was demolished around 1700. The tower then became a private residence and was later restored by successive Marquesses of Bute before being gifted to the town in 1949. It now stands in an attractive, lightly wooded area within a residential district, but views are from a distance as the access gate is normally locked.
🌍 Location
📌 Citadel Place, 5-min walk west of Ayr town centre
🧭 O.S. Grid Reference: NS 334220
🛰️ GPS coordinates: 55.463582,-4.637123
🚌 Bus to Ayr | 🚆 Ayr (0.5 mi)
🚗 Street parking
📝 Key info
⌚ Always viewable – from street only
🎫 Free