Shaw Monument, Prestwick

The Shaw Monument is a circular tower built in the later 18th century, located west of Prestwick Airport. Constructed from random rubble, the tower rises from a coped cylindrical base. A doorway faces east, flanked by a window opening and an infilled opening. The tall shaft of the tower steps in from the base, with three vertically arranged windows above the doorway. A coped cornice sits above a machicolated eaves course, which in turn supports a three-arch open crown. The interior was not inspected in 1999, but is said to contain a long spiral staircase leading to the top of the tower. According to Cuthbertson, the Laird of Shaw, a keen falconer, built the monument so that he could observe his birds from the top. It is shown on Andrew Armstrong’s 1775 map of Ayrshire and appears on the 1860 and 1897 Ordnance Survey maps.