Castlemilk House

Castlemilk House was a country house located in what is now the Castlemilk district of Glasgow, Scotland. The house was the ancestral home of the Stirling-Stuart family and was built around the 15th-century Cassiltoun Tower during the 18th and 19th centuries. The house and Castlemilk Estate were purchased by Glasgow Corporation in 1938, with the house serving as a children's home until it was closed in 1969 and demolished in 1972.

Castlemilk House, 1870

History
Sketch of Castlemilk published in 1793

The lands of Cassiltoun of Carmunnock,[1] located on high ground south of Glasgow between the hills of the Cathkin Braes and the burgh of Rutherglen near the River Clyde, were acquired by the Stuarts of Castlemilk in Dumfriesshire (an estate near Lockerbie which still exists also featuring a grand mansion)[2][3][4][5] in the 13th century. In the 16th century, they renamed the Cassiltoun estate Castlemilk.[6][7][8][9] Five generations of the Stuart family formed a dynastic baronetcy from the 1660s to the 1790s.[6][10]

Ruins of Castlemilk House, 2008
Fish pond in the park, adjacent to the location of the house

In 1937 the 445 hectare (1100 acre) Estate of Castlemilk were acquired by Glasgow Corporation for housing.[11] The estate was acquired under a compulsory purchase order as William Stirling-Stuart, the Laird of Castlemilk, had misgivings over the land being used for high-density housing so far from locations of industry.[12] The outbreak of the Second World War delayed building work on the Castlemilk housing scheme, which was constructed in the 1950s, and soon modern tenements surrounded the house's grounds on all sides.[11]

Castlemilk House was acquired by Glasgow Corporation in 1939, and was used to accommodate evacuees from the city until the end of the war. It was then used as a children's home from 1948 until the expense of maintaining the house forced it to close in January 1969. Castlemilk House was demolished in 1972;[7][8][6][13][14][15] a children's play area now occupies the site.[16] In the 21st century the many green areas between the clusters of housing, including the remaining features of the rural estate, are managed as Castlemilk Park and Woodlands, an award-winning project aimed to benefit the community.[17][18]

Castlemilk Stables
Restored stable block

Other than a small park featuring the landscaped fish pond and a stone bridge (1833, Category B listed)[6] which once formed the driveway to the mansion, and the entrance gateways which are sited to the north-east on the edge of Rutherglen,[19] the accompanying stables block (built 1794, designed by David Hamilton, also Category B listed) is the main surviving legacy of the grand estate.[14] After being damaged by a fire in 1994[20] and left abandoned,[9] it was restored in 2007 (with the project winning awards)[21] and now contains the local housing offices, community facilities and a nursery.[22][23]

See also

References
  1. Map of the Parish of Carmunnock in the Historical County of Lanark, Gazetteer for Scotland
  2. Castlemilk [Dumfriesshire], Canmore
  3. Castlemilk [Dumfriesshire], Gazetteer for Scotland
  4. Castlemilk, Annandale, British Listed Buildings
  5. Castle Milk, Lockerbie, Dumfriesshire, Scotland, Children's Homes Website
  6. "Castlemilk, Glasgow - origins & history". Glasgow's South Side. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  7. "Castlemilk House (Glasgow University Library, Special Collections, Dougan Collection, 1870)". The Glasgow Story. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  8. "Castlemilk House (Mitchell Library, Glasgow Collection, Postcards Collection, 1904)". The Glasgow Story. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  9. History, Cassiltoun Trust
  10. Of the Extent of Kilbride, its Population, Places of Note, &c., Part II., pp.151-161., History of Rutherglen and East-Kilbride, David Ure, 1793, via Random Scottish History
  11. Castlemilk from Cathkin Braes (Glasgow City Archives, Department of Architectural and Civic Design, 1957), The Glasgow Story
  12. "Housing, Everyday Life & Wellbeing over the long term: A brief history of Castlemilk housing estate". University of Glasgow. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  13. "Castlemilk from Cathkin Braes". The Glasgow Story. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  14. Stable place to be, Evening Times, 12 September 2008
  15. Dark and mysterious Castlemilk House, Glasgow, Spooky Isles, 3 November 2014
  16. Castlemilk Castle (Lanarkshire) - Past & Present, Scottish Castles Association, 19 January 2012
  17. Castlemilk Park Project, Cassiltoun Housing Association
  18. Cassiltoun Housing Association wins prize for their work at Castlemilk Woods, Scottish Federation of Housing Associations, 18 August 2016
  19. Croftfoot Road, Mill Street, Gatepiers, Formerly to Castlemilk House, British Listed Buildings
  20. "Castlemilk House stables (West of Scotland Archaeology Service)". The Glasgow Story. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  21. "MyPlace Awards: Castlemilk Stables". Scottish Civic Trust. Archived from the original on 13 February 2018. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  22. "Case study: Castlemilk Stables, Glasgow". The Prince's Regeneration Trust. Archived from the original on 26 October 2017. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  23. "Castlemilk Stables". Glasgow Building Preservation Trust. 10 June 2016. Archived from the original on 13 February 2018. Retrieved 13 February 2018.

55.809°N 4.220°W / 55.809; -4.220

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