Gilbertfield Castle is a ruined 17th-century castle in

South Lanarkshire South Lanarkshire (; ) is one of 32 unitary authorities of Scotland. It borders the south-east of the Glasgow City council area and contains some of Greater Glasgow's suburban towns, as well as many rural towns and villages. It also shares bor ...

, Scotland. It is located at , on the north slope of Dechmont Hill, just outside

Cambuslang Cambuslang (, from ) is a town on the south-eastern outskirts of Greater Glasgow, Scotland. With approximately 30,000 residents, it is the 27th-largest town in Scotland by population, although, never having had a town hall, it may also be cons ...

, to the south-east of

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

History

The castle is within the former

barony Barony may refer to: * Barony, the peerage, office of, or territory held by a baron * Barony, the title and land held in fealty by a feudal baron * Barony (county division), a type of administrative or geographical division in parts of the British ...

of Drumsagard, which was a possession of the Hamiltons.Local and family history: Cambuslang and King Arthur

South Lanarkshire Council South Lanarkshire Council is the unitary authority serving the South Lanarkshire council area in Scotland. The council has its headquarters in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Hamilton, has 16,000 employees, and an annual budget of almost £1bn. Th ...

The castle was built in the early 17th century, and the date 1607 is displayed on a heraldic panel above the door. The castle was later lived in, around the turn of the 18th century, by

William Hamilton of Gilbertfield William is a masculine given name of Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle Ages and into the modern era. It is ...

(1665-1751), a retired soldier and writer. A friend of

Allan Ramsay Allan Ramsay may refer to: *Allan Ramsay (poet) or Allan Ramsay the Elder (1686–1758), Scottish poet *Allan Ramsay (artist) Allan Ramsay (13 October 171310 August 1784) was a Scottish portrait Painting, painter. Life and career Ramsay w ...

, he was responsible for translating

Blind Harry Blind Harry ( 1440 – 1492), also known as Harry, Hary or Henry the Minstrel, is renowned as the author of ''The Actes and Deidis of the Illustre and Vallyeant Campioun Schir William Wallace'', more commonly known as '' The Wallace''. This is ...

's epic poem ''

The Actes and Deidis of the Illustre and Vallyeant Campioun Schir William Wallace ''The Actes and Deidis of the Illustre and Vallyeant Campioun Schir William Wallace'' (Modern ), also known as ''The Wallace'', is a long "romantic biographical" poem by the fifteenth-century Scottish '' makar'' of the name Blind Harry, probably ...

''.

The castle

Gilbertfield is a well-planned

L-plan An L-plan castle is a castle or tower house in the shape of an L, typically built from the 13th to the 17th century. This design is found quite frequently in Scotland, but is also seen in England, Ireland, Romania, Sardinia, and other locations ...

tower house A tower house is a particular type of stone structure, built for defensive purposes as well as habitation. Tower houses began to appear in the Middle Ages, especially in mountainous or limited access areas, to command and defend strategic points ...

. The stair tower, which projects to the north, was large enough to accommodate a series of rooms as well as a square turnpike stair. The basement level was vaulted, and contained cellars and a kitchen, which had a large fireplace and oven. A service stair connected the basement with the hall above. The hall itself had a smaller fireplace, as well as large windows with gunloops in between. Above the hall were two further floors, each with three rooms; two in the main block, and one in the wing. At the highest level, the garret, two round turrets projected at the south-east and north-west corners. There was no parapet. The castle is now a neglected ruin, the east wall having collapsed in the 1950s. Only the

corbel In architecture, a corbel is a structural piece of stone, wood or metal keyed into and projecting from a wall to carry a wikt:superincumbent, bearing weight, a type of bracket (architecture), bracket. A corbel is a solid piece of material in t ...

ling of the north-west turret remains.which fell down in the late 1960s. It is now deemed extremely dangerous as a lot of the brick work has fallen each year. The turret fell in the 1970s. Gilbertfield Castle is a

Scheduled Ancient Monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage, visu ...

Nearby development

In March 2017, an application by

Persimmon Homes Persimmon plc is a British housebuilding company, headquartered in York, England. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. History Persimmon was founded by Duncan Davidson in 1972. The company is n ...

to build over 400 houses in land immediately to the north of Gilbertfield Castle was approved by

's planning committee; this was somewhat controversial as the land had previously been designated

Green belt A green belt or greenbelt is a policy, and land-use zone designation used in land-use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wilderness, wild, or agricultural landscape, land surrounding or neighboring urban areas. Similar concepts ...

. Various concerns were raised by local residents, community councillors (representing Halfway/''Cambuslang East'' district), the Lowland

Reserve Forces and Cadets Association Reserve Forces' and Cadets' Associations (RFCAs) are Crown bodies in the United Kingdom which give advice and assistance to the Defence Council, and to the Army, Royal Navy and RAF, on matters that concern reserves and cadets. They are contracted ...

who have a rifle range adjacent to the site, and

Clare Haughey Clare Joan Haughey (née Donnelly, born April 1967) is a Scottish politician who served as Minister for Children and Young People from 2021 to 2023, having previously served as Minister for Mental Health from 2018 to 2021. A member of the Scot ...

and James Kelly, MSPs for the area, which were presented to the committee along with a 1300-signature petition opposing the development, without success. Revisions had already been made to the plans after the

Scottish Environment Protection Agency The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA; ) is Scotland's Environmental regulation, environmental regulator and national flood forecasting, flood warning and strategic flood risk management authority.A ruined castle with a bloody history could be at the centre of a housing development
The Scotsman, 18 May 2020

References

*Mason, Gordon ''The Castles of Glasgow and the Clyde'', Goblinshead, 2000 *Salter, Mike ''The Castles of South West Scotland'', Folly Publications, 1993 *

National Monuments Record of Scotland The National Monuments Record of Scotland (NMRS) was the term used for the archive of the sites, monuments and buildings of Scotland's past maintained by the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. The Commission was ...

Site Reference NS65NE 12

External links

Information and photos
{{Castles in South Lanarkshire Castles in South Lanarkshire Scheduled monuments in South Lanarkshire Buildings and structures in Cambuslang Tower houses in Scotland Category B listed buildings in South Lanarkshire