In 1650 the parish of Cumnock was sub-divided into the two new parishes of Old Cumnock and New Cumnock. The existing parish church of Cumnock became the parish church for Old Cumnock whilst a new parish church was required for New Cumnock. It was built in 1659 on what is now the Castlehill, New Cumnock adjacent to the site of Cumnock Castle, the ancient seat of the Dunbars, Barons of Cumnock from the late 13th century through to the early 17th century.

The first 50 years of the new parish of New Cumnock were traumatic.On a local level, the Earl of Dumfries and now Baron of Cumnock and patron of the church successfully challenged the sub-division of the parish of Cumnock and had the decision reversed in 1667. On a national level, Scotland was fighting for it's spiritual freedom. The National Covenant had been signed in 1638 only 20 years before New Cumnock's church had been built. Hugh Crawford, New Cumnock's first minister, and one of the 'true band of Ayrshire's Covenanters', like many other ministers was ejected from his church in 1662 and left the parish for his own safety. The Killing Times visited the parish in 1684-1685, no need for kirkyard burials as the Covenanters were buried on the moors where they were martyrded. Crawford returned in 1688 and parish status was re-instated in 1691, a year before Crawford's death. It would be five vacant years before the Reverend James Gilchrist was ordained as Crawford's successor, staying for four years before leaving for Dunscore in 1701 and the parish of New Cumnock was left without a minister for a further five years.

It was the Reverend Hunter that began keeping records of baptisms in the parish, starting from 1706. He died in 1760, aged 95 and his gravestone can be found in the Auld Kirkyard nestling against the ruinous wall of the Auld Kirk. His wife Christian Ker lies buried with him, dying in 1745 at the age of 84. This is the earliest date of death I can find on any tombstone within the Auld Kirkyard (however the stone was not erected until at least 1760, the year of her husband's death). Many of the Reverend Hunter's parishioners would not have been in the position to afford tombstones and will lie buried in unmarked graves in the Auld Kirkyard, whilst other gravestones of his time will have been damaged or destroyed.

The Reverend Young writing in the Statistical Account of 1793, records that following the building of two villages (Pathhead and The Castle) near the church, the population of the parish had risen from about 1000 souls to about 1200 during his time there. He gives some insight into the activity in the kirkyard by estimating that 'there may be 40 births, near as many deaths, and about 10 marriages per annum'. The Reverend Young died a few years later and his tombstone can also be found in the Auld Kirkyard, huddled against another wall of the Auld Kirk. There are a number of examples of surviving headstones of the Reverend Young's parishioners, where only the husband and spouse initials are given along with the year - presumably the year of death of the last of the partners to die !

The Reverend Matthew Kirkland arrived following the Reverend Craig's departure. In 1838 he had the responsibility of writing the New Statistical Account of the parish, where he reported that a few years beforehand in 1831 the population was 2184, with an average of 86 births, 21 marriages and 42 deaths per annum. The Auld Kirk no longer functioned as a parish church but the kirkyard was still the final resting place for New Cumnock souls. However, it was not to be the final resting place of the Reverend Kirkland. In 1843, the year of Disruption, he left the parish church to form New Cumnock's first Free Church. Most of his parishioners followed him to the new church which was built on the Castlehill on the site of Cumnock Castle and a stone's throw from the Auld Kirk and Auld Kirkyard. He died a few years later and was buried in the Gorbals, Glasgow but a fine stone to his memory can still be seen in the grounds of the Arthur Memorial United Free Church.

George Sanderson plots the history of last years of the Auld Kirkyard. An extension to the kirkyard was required and a local heritor, Buchanan of Knockshinnoch matched the amount of ground released by the Reverend Murray from the church glebe. In 1873, he came to the rescue again by allowing funeral processions to enter the Auld Kirkyard via the Stank Brae or the Castlehill, since the existing kirkport had become wholly unsuitable for anyone's final journey. By 1888 the Parochial Board and the local heritors had taken on joint responsibility for the upkeep of the 'overflowing kirkyard . Sadly, this joint responsibility fell between two stools and neglect and decay were the ultimate joint winners. Some superificial improvements were made to the appearance of the kirkyard with new paths laid out and maintained.