An article in the Kilmarnock Standard of August 1949 titled "Ancient Ayrshire Castles" is accompanied by a photograph that shows substantial ivy-clad ruins set in a garden landscape with lawns, shrubs, trees and a well maintained paths. In 1956 the Royal Commission recorded that "Hessilhead Castle has been demolished. Extensive quarrying around the site has removed any possible traces of a moat. No building vestiges remain."; this is however inaccurate as traces of rubble and foundations are still visible on the site, and the drainage from the quarry does use what was once a moat. Timothy Pont in around 1604 records that the castle was protected by substantial ditches and stood on a loch. This loch has long since been drained and the ditches filled in.