Clan Rising
Calderwood Castle today

Scotland · Demolished

Calderwood Castle

Calderwood Castle was a fortified country house on a promontory above the Rotten Calder Water in Calderwood Glen, East Kilbride, Scotland. Originating as a 15th-century tower house and successively altered, it received a large castellated Gothic Revival extension completed in 1841 before falling into disuse and being demolished in the mid-20th century. Nothing of the main building survives above ground today apart from buried foundations and terrace walls.

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Photograph via Wikimedia Commons

Its prime

1841

Today

Demolished

As it stood in 1841

What Calderwood Castle looked like in its prime.

Set on a steep promontory on the western bank of the Rotten Calder Water, the house presents a castellated silhouette dominated by a complex octagonal tower about 50 ft high, flanked by gabled wings and crenellated parapets. The composition mixes an older rectangular tower-house mass with later Gothic Revival additions, linked by a terraced south front and walled driveway; extensive retaining walls and vaulted underbuildings step down to the river. At its prime the whole was an intact stone-built, battlemented country house.

Its story

The story of Calderwood Castle.

Calderwood Castle stood on a precipice above the western bank of the Rotten Calder Water in Calderwood Glen, East Kilbride, now part of Calderglen Country Park. The peel tower was most likely built in the early-to-mid fifteenth century by the Maxwell family: charter rolls and legal records point to the lands of Calderwood being broken up during the Wars of Scottish Independence, with a major portion later coming to the Maxwells. An older, traditional association with a Calderwood family is not borne out by surviving genealogical records.

The original tower collapsed in 1773 after several days of stormy weather, its appearance is known from a mid-eighteenth-century drawing, and was replaced by an extension to the pre-existing late-17th-century Calderwood House, itself enlarged with a castellated Gothic Revival extension completed in 1841.

In 1904 the estate was sold to the Scottish Co-operative Wholesale Society, which turned it to agriculture, soft fruit, oats and dairy farming. The buildings were demolished between about 1943 and 1951, and nothing of the main house now stands above ground beyond buried foundations and terrace walls.

Step inside

8 places to explore in 1841.

The record describes 8 distinct spots at Calderwood Castle, including 2 interiors: the 'abbotsford morning room' (interior), vaulted cellars and underbuilding chambers. Create your own photoreal reconstruction and explore every one, more scenes means more rooms, more angles, and more of the place to stand in.

Approach from the southeast riverbankPromontory edge overlooking the riverExterior of the octagonal towerEast wing façadeThe 'Abbotsford Morning Room' (interior)Vaulted cellars and underbuilding chambersSouth drive and walled terraceView across to Craigneith folly

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Whose castle

Clans who held Calderwood Castle.

The families that held Calderwood Castle for a decade or more across its history, follow a name to its clan.

  • Maxwell

    Held by the Maxwells from the fifteenth century, when the family most likely built the original peel tower.

From the archive

Calderwood Castle on paper: the measured plan and period views.

The survey plan and photographs below are the ground truth this page's reconstructions are checked against, drawn and photographed while the castle was still a working garrison. Every image is public-domain or openly licensed, with its source named.

Fig. 371.—Calderwood Castle., Calderwood Castle

Fig. 371.—Calderwood Castle.

1889 · MacGibbon & Ross, vol. 3 (1889)

Public domain

Nearby

Landmarks within reach of Calderwood Castle.

Hampden Park, ScotlandStadiumHampden Park10 km awayLesser Hampden, ScotlandStadiumLesser Hampden10 km awayCeltic Park, ScotlandStadiumCeltic Park10 km away

Questions about Calderwood Castle

What is the history of Calderwood Castle?

Calderwood Castle began as a fortified peel tower in the early-to-mid fifteenth century, most likely built by the Maxwell family. The tower collapsed in 1773 after several days of storms and was replaced by additions to Calderwood House. A castellated Gothic Revival extension was completed in 1841, before the buildings were demolished between about 1943 and 1951.

What is inside Calderwood Castle?

Inside Calderwood Castle were the Abbotsford Morning Room, vaulted cellars and underbuilding chambers. The morning room was modelled on Scott’s Oak Room at Abbotsford. The surviving underbuilding included vaulted chambers used for drainage, while the cellars and foundational moisture gaps were later sealed off during the 1980s.

Why was Calderwood Castle built, and what was it used for?

Calderwood Castle was built as a fortified country house, beginning with a peel tower on a defensible promontory above the Rotten Calder Water. Its use later changed: the estate supported agriculture, including soft fruit, oats and dairy farming, and the castle was briefly used as a co-operative museum and to house Belgian refugees.

Where is Calderwood Castle?

Calderwood Castle was in East Kilbride, in South Lanarkshire. It stood in Calderwood Glen on a steep promontory above the western bank of the Rotten Calder Water. The site is now part of Calderglen Country Park.

When was Calderwood Castle built?

Calderwood Castle was first built in the early-to-mid fifteenth century, although the first-raised year is not recorded. It developed in phases: the original peel tower was followed by additions to a late-seventeenth-century country house, with a Gothic Revival extension completed in 1841.

Which family or clan held Calderwood Castle?

Calderwood Castle was held by the Maxwells from the fifteenth century, when the family most likely built the original peel tower. Charter rolls and legal records indicate that a major portion of the Calderwood lands later came into Maxwell hands after the lands were broken up during the Wars of Scottish Independence.

What did Calderwood Castle look like in its prime?

At its prime, Calderwood Castle had a castellated silhouette dominated by a complex octagonal tower about 50 ft high. Gabled wings, crenellated parapets, a terraced south front and a walled driveway formed an intact stone-built country house. Retaining walls and vaulted underbuildings stepped down towards the river.

Is Calderwood Castle still standing or is it a ruin?

Calderwood Castle is demolished and no longer stands above ground as a main building. Buried foundations, terrace walls, the walled driveway and substantial underbuilding survive, including retaining walls and vaulted chambers near the promontory. The remaining sections were demolished with explosives in 1951 after most of the castle had already gone.

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