Caldwell Castle

In 1294 the estate of Caldwell had boundaries abutting the Steward's forest of Fereneze. Sir Reginald Mure of Abercorn held the lands of Cowdams near Symington before 1328, and his son Gilchrist acquired the lands and castle of Caldwell through marriage to the heiress of Caldwell of that Ilk. The most ancient seat of the family was Polkelly, near Kilmarnock.

When King David II was taken prisoner at the battle of Neville's Cross, Sir William Mure of Caldwell was appointed one of the twelve nobles who negotiated the terms of his release, and was held hostage himself until the ransom was paid in full. A John Mure was designed 'of Caldwell' in 1409, and about 1450 the lands of Ramshead, Biggart and Little Highgate, in the Barony of Giffen, were granted to the family.

In 1515 Glasgow's Bishop's Castle was rifled by John Mure, Laird of Caldwell, in the earliest days of what was to become the Scottish Reformation. He besieged the castle with artillery and took it, then made off with the bishop's principal goods and chattels as fair and legitimate booty. James V was still a child and the Duke of Albany regent; Mure was made to answer to the Lords of Council, found guilty, and forced to pay reparation.

In 1570 William and Alexander Cunninghame of Aiket Castle were accused of the murder of Sir John Mure of Caldwell on the lands of Bordland, but were acquitted. Alexander was involved in the murder of Hugh Montgomerie, 4th Earl of Eglinton, at the Annick Ford in Stewarton, and was murdered in turn as a result; the father was poisoned by his own wife. Sir John's son Robert Mure of Caldwell bought lands at Kittochside, which resulted in decades of feud with the Reid family.

The old castle sat on a knoll of the sloping hillside to the south-west of Lochlibo. Caldwell Tower, which stands on that elevation, is a small free-standing tower of probable 16th-century date, and may represent part of a larger castle now lost through the robbing of stone for other uses; it is thought to have been part of the courtyard-type Caldwell Castle. Only one tower remained as a prominent landmark after the times of the Covenanters; this is that remnant.

Ainslie's map of 1775 marks a pigeon house or doocot at the tower's position, and John Thomson's 1832 map of Renfrewshire shows it labelled 'Bacon H.', suggesting it was then in use for curing hams. In 2011 the tower was restored for use as a dwelling, with a small ground-floor extension added, work featured on the series The Restoration Man and the subject of much controversy.

In 1666 an armed rising of the Covenanters took place under Colonel Wallace, ending in disaster at the Battle of Pentland. William Mure of Caldwell, the Laird of Blackston in Renfrewshire, led a group of about fifty, including the famous zealot Robert Ker of Kersland, who hoped to join up but were prevented by the presence of the King's troops. Despite assisting those troops in prosecuting the others in his group, Mure lost his lands to General Dalziel. Barbara Cunninghame, daughter of Sir William Cunninghame of Cunninghamhead and wife of William Mure of Caldwell, suffered greatly for her presbyterian beliefs in the bad times of the Highland Host, as did her father. The family regained the property after the overthrow of King James VII in 1688.

A new mansion house was built about 1712 by William Mure on the lands of Ramshead, but the present house, designed by Robert Adam, was built by his son William, 'Baron Mure', about 200 yards lower down. Caldwell is the last in a series of early experimental houses in the castle style, and is protected as a Category A listed building.

The house remained the family home until 1909, when Colonel William Mure, married to Lady Georgiana Montgomerie, eldest daughter of the Earl of Eglinton and Winton, decided the running costs were too high, leased the mansion and moved the family to the extended Hall of Caldwell. In 1923 the estate, 280 acres with offices, walled garden and mansion house, was sold to the Govan District Board of Control for 7,500 pounds. The Govan District Health Board converted the building in 1927 into a hospital for the mentally insane, and later a children's home, which operated until 1985. The Secretary of State sold the estate off in lots in 1987, a serious fire in 1995 caused the loss of most of the roof, and the house has spent years on the Scottish Civic Trust's Buildings at Risk register; in 2006 attempts were initiated to secure restoration through a council-led project.