A former textile village located on the Calder River on the southwest side of Castle Semple Loch, and 10 miles (16 km) west of Paisley, Lochwinnoch is mainly a residential village with links to the large Muirshiel Regional Park which includes the Lochwinnoch Nature Reserve and Castle Semple Country Park. Former industries include textiles (silk weaving and printing) and furniture making.
Notable buildings include the remains of Barr Castle (16th Century), Castle Semple House (18th century), The Temple (1770, a folly), The Peel (c.1550), and a Collegiate Church (1504-5) with the tomb of John, first Lord Sempill. In 1727 the Semples sold the estate to the MacDowalls of Garthland whose mansion house (1735) burned down in 1924.