[2][5] As stated, the loch once belonged to the Cunninghames of Glengarnock, but the Craufurds of Kilbirnie disputed their rights over rowing and fishing;[5] these families broke one another's boats, etc.

the Chivas Regal (Pernod Ricard Ltd) own the strip of land running from the railway to the loch shore opposite their whisky bond site.

This was the only island on the loch and was thought as late as the 1860s[14] to have been built by one of the lairds as a retreat for swans, geese, or other water fowl during the breeding season.

By the 1860s 'The Cairn' had become distorted and shifted by the movement of the sediment on the loch caused by the weight of the infill, revealing the presence of a crannog lake dwelling (see 'Archaeology').

Lochside Farm was present on the north-west side of the loch in the 19th century, lying below and to the south-west of Lochrig, later Lochridge, as shown on the 19th century OS map; a 'Flax Pond' for rhetting flax, as part of the process of linen manufacture, is also shown nearby on the loch bank; it is now visible as a wet area dominated by rushes.

The Dubbs Water was originally dug as a canal in the late 18th century for transporting coal and iron ore to the steelworks and to take finished products to their markets.

A nearby road was locally known as the 'Back-Stair-Heid' and it has been suggested that this refers to the location of a pit ladderway used to carry coal out of the mines before winding engines were in use.

The drift geology includes a layer of peat to the North and boulder clay and lake alluvium over the lower catchment zone.

[22] In May 1952 part of a logboat was found on the west side of the loch and on the property of the Glengarnock Steelworks; slag-dumping operations were responsible for revealing it.

[23] The southern end of the loch was the site of infill with slag and other wastes from 1841 onwards, the greatest loss of open water being between 1859 and 1909.

[4] The loch's southern end is dominated by large areas of mown grass with mature grown bushes and wood copses.

The dominant plant of the waters edge is reed canary grass running from the East round to the South and into the West side.

[19] Surveys have identified the following rare species: reed grass (Glyceria maxima); Carex aquatilis; viper's bugloss (Echium vulgare); mare's tail (Hippuris vulgaris); field scabious (Knautia arvensis); spiked water-milfoil (Myriophyllum spicatum); shoreweed (Littorella uniflora); butterfly orchid (Platanthera chlorantha); ivy-leaved crowfoot (Ranunculus hederaceus); weld (Reseda luteola); marsh yellow-cress (Rorippa islandica); bay willow (Salix pentandra); creeping yellow-cress (Rorippa sylvestris);[19] and the relatively rare plant, bogbean (Menyanthes trifoliata), that grows in sheltered areas on the west bank of the loch.

[37] Circa 1604 it is recorded by Timothy Pont that Loch of Killburney it is ye goodliest frech vatter in all Cuninghame and in 1641 Sir John Crawfurd was ratified as holding the fishing rights.

Mallard, tufted duck, Eurasian coot and mute swan are present throughout the year, but it is towards the end of September before numbers and species begin to increase.

[27] The willow plantations, other deciduous species and scrub on the western slopes provide cover for great spotted woodpecker, tits, thrushes, finches, and warblers and other passerines.

Historical records include storm and Leach's petrel, ruff, Atlantic puffin and black-legged kittiwake in the period 1889 to 1915.

This large puffball fungus releases its spores by the decay of the head portion, leaving a pestle-like stem that persists through to the following summer.

By the end of the 18th century Willowyards was a well established farmstead and the Edinburgh Advertiser describes it as: consisting of about 175 English acres of arable land, well enclosed and subdivided into fifteen fields, and let by one lease to three substantial tenants for 19 years at £130 per annum.

Upon this property there is a good house, and garden stocked with fruit trees, a malt mill and an elegant court of offices newly erected.

There are about ten acres of wood and a good deal of timber on this farm; and thriving belts of planting surround the greatest part of it.

[49] The rubble walls of the building were harled and the window and angle margins left as exposed dressed stone; the roof was thatched originally.

The main railway line from Ayr to Glasgow runs below the industrial estate and forms the eastern margin of the loch in places.

[46] A farmhouse is shown marked as Mains Hamilton on the OS map of 1856 together with an L-plan outbuilding, which may now form part of the former coachhouse at 'The Meadows' on Arran Crescent.

The Muir family owned the Bath Lane Tannery, near the Beith Health centre of today (2011) and built the Bark Mill.

However, the site was isolated and inconvenient for the workers and was eventually sold to Robert Balfour, who later built a new factory near Beith Town Station, the West of Scotland Cabinet Works.

[51] An early Bronze Age flanged axehead was found near East Kerse in 2004 by a metal detectorist and is now in the Kelvingrove Museum, Glasgow.

The axehead belongs to the so-called Bandon type with a long, straight-sided body, raised edges or low flanges and widely expanded blades.

[57] A possible relic of the smuggling days of Beith is the Ley tunnel that is said to run from the site of the Grace Church on Eglinton Street to Kilbirnie Loch.

In 2022 to mark the 'Garnock Connections' project a 'water drop' art feature was installed at the lochshore with QR codes linked to details of the area's history.