Castlemilk House


Castlemilk House was an 18th-century country house and estate located in Carmunnock parish, south of Glasgow, Scotland. The house was built around the 15th-century Cassiltoun Tower, but was demolished in 1969 after its use as children's home had ended the previous year.

History

The lands of Cassiltoun of Carmunnock, 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 in the 13th century. In the 16th century, they renamed the Cassiltoun estate Castlemilk. Five generations of the Stuart family formed a dynastic baronetcy from the 1660s to the 1790s.
In 1937 the estate was acquired by Glasgow Corporation for housing, but the outbreak of the Second World War delayed building work - the Castlemilk housing scheme was constructed in the 1950s, and soon modern tenements surrounded the house's grounds on all sides.
The mansion had also been 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 by 1972; a children's play area now occupies the site. 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.

Castlemilk Stables

Other than a small park featuring the landscaped fish pond and a stone bridge which once formed the driveway to the mansion, and the entrance gateways which are sited to the north-east on the edge of Rutherglen, the accompanying stables block is the main surviving legacy of the grand estate. After being damaged by a fire in 1994 and left abandoned, it was restored in 2007 and now contains the local housing offices, community facilities and a nursery.