Rutherglen Castle was located where Castle Street meets King Street in

Rutherglen Rutherglen (; , ) is a town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, immediately south-east of the city of Glasgow, from its centre and directly south of the River Clyde. Having previously existed as a separate Lanarkshire burgh, in 1975 Rutherglen lo ...

, Scotland. It was a large and important castle, having been built in the 13th century; the walls were reportedly 5 feet thick.The Statistical Account of Lanarkshire
(page 374), Society for the Benefit of the Sons and Daughters of the Clergy (publisher W. Blackwood, 1841) The castle fell under the control of the English during the

First War of Scottish Independence The First War of Scottish Independence was the first of a series of wars between Kingdom of England, England and Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland. It lasted from the English invasion of Scotland (1296), English invasion of Scotland in 1296 until ...

and was later besieged several times by

Robert The Bruce Robert I (11 July 1274 – 7 June 1329), popularly known as Robert the Bruce (), was King of Scots from 1306 until his death in 1329. Robert led Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland during the First War of Scottish Independence against Kingdom of Eng ...

. It was eventually retaken by his brother

Edward Bruce Edward Bruce, Earl of Carrick (Norman French: ; ; Modern Scottish Gaelic: or ; 1280 – 14 October 1318), was a younger brother of Robert the Bruce, King of Scots. He supported his brother in the 1306–1314 struggle for the Scottish cro ...

and Sir James Douglas but was spared destruction, unlike so many of the other castles recaptured from the English. However, the castle was burned to the ground by

James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray (c. 1531 – 23 January 1570) was a member of the House of Stewart as the illegitimate son of King James V of Scotland. At times a supporter of his half-sister Mary, Queen of Scots, he was the regent of Scotl ...

, in 1569, in retribution against the Hamiltons of

Shawfield Shawfield is an industrial/commercial area of the Royal Burgh of Rutherglen in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, located to the north of the town centre. It is bordered to the east by the River Clyde, to the north by the Glasgow neighbourhood of Oat ...

for having supported

Mary, Queen of Scots Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was List of Scottish monarchs, Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567. The only surviving legit ...

, at the

Battle of Langside The Battle of Langside was fought on 13 May 1568 between forces loyal to Mary, Queen of Scots, and forces acting in the name of her infant son James VI. Mary’s short period of personal rule ended in 1567 in recrimination, intrigue, and disast ...

.Local and family history: Rutherglen - history in the making

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 ...

References

* Mason, Gordon. ''The Castles of Glasgow and the Clyde'', Goblinshead, 2000 Castles in South Lanarkshire Buildings and structures in Rutherglen Former castles in Scotland Buildings and structures completed in the 13th century Buildings and structures demolished in the 16th century 16th-century disestablishments in Scotland 13th-century establishments in Scotland {{scotland-castle-stub

See also

References