It is located in Symington parish, covering 0.41 square kilometres (3⁄16 sq mi), and lies close to the A77 road from Ayr to Glasgow.

Symington has a primary school, church, a restaurant, War Memorial,[12] an abandoned water tower and a library.

[13] Public Transport Symington is served by the Number 4 bus service, operated by Stagecoach West Scotland.

This service runs every 30 minutes on weekdays, offering convenient connections to Ayr via Prestwick Airport and, in the opposite direction, to Glasgow city centre, passing through Kilmarnock via Shortlees/Caprington, Fenwick, Newton Mearns, and Giffnock.

The nearest railway station to Symington is Prestwick International Airport, approximately 4 miles (6.4 km) to the south-west.

This restoration by P. MacGregor Chalmers[16] revealed that the earlier alterations of 1797[17] had covered up some fine architectural features, including the 13th century windows[13] and the open-work timber roof.

Three windows with semi-circular heads are located in the gable, with heavy hood moulds and dog-tooth ornamentation, the finest of their style in Scotland.

In the 1870s William Houldsworth owned the property and added a new wing, conservatory and a private chapel designed by Alfred Waterhouse.

She published her Early Reminiscences in which she comments on her servants, in particular she refers to the daughter of a local gamekeeper in glowing terms she is perfectly lovely; just seventeen, tall with the figure of a nymph, quantities of golden hair, a skin like milk and eyes like the pearls of a forget-me-not.

I never saw anyone more exquisite ..[26] John Kelso Hunter (1802–1873) was born at Gillhead Cottage, close to Symington cemetery, on the Dankeith Estate and was at first employed here during his indenture as a herd boy, his father being a gardener.

The site at Rosemount today functions as an equestrian centre, comprising stables and a livery yard,[31] and the house itself as a place of residence.

The village stands 3½ miles NNE of Monkton station, and 6 SSW of Kilmarnock, under which it has a post office.

It thus exhibits a pleasing diversity of swells and slopes, and contains many vantage-grounds commanding extensive views of great part of Ayrshire, the Firth of Clyde, and the Isle of Arran.

Trap rock has been quarried for road metal, and sandstone for building; whilst limestone and coal exist, but not under profitable conditions.

[34] A Law or Moot Hill once stood at the foot of the village and upon its removal some iron arrow-heads and horn combs were found.

The original Slough of Despond is a deep bog in John Bunyan's allegory The Pilgrim's Progress into which the character Christian sinks under the weight of his sins and his sense of guilt for them.

The burn in this area, rising near the old Broadhirst Farm, has long been known as the Slough, the Scots equivalent spelling is Sleugh, meaning a marsh or quagmire.

It is not known how the name 'Slough of Despond' was added to the area, however it is recorded since the mid 19th century and may be linked to the nearby limekilns that were generally notorious for the acrid 'hell-like' smoke that issued from them.

The Slough Burn runs down past Dankeith House, Templeton and Fortacres, Todrigs and Caprington, to join the River Irvine near Gatehead.