Capelrig House is an 18th-century house in

Newton Mearns Newton Mearns ( sco, The Mearns; gd, Baile Ùr na Maoirne ) is a suburban town and the largest settlement in East Renfrewshire, Scotland. It lies southwest of Glasgow City Centre on the main road to Ayrshire, above sea level. It has a populat ...

East Renfrewshire East Renfrewshire ( sco, Aest Renfrewshire; gd, Siorrachd Rinn Friù an Ear) is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. Until 1975, it formed part of the county of Renfrewshire for local government purposes along with the modern council areas of ...

, Scotland, upon whose lands is situated Eastwood High School. The house is protected as a Category A

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. The lands of Capelrig were held by the

Knights Templar , colors = White mantle with a red cross , colors_label = Attire , march = , mascot = Two knights riding a single horse , equipment ...

in the 12th century. Upon the suppression of the Templars, their property passed to the

Knights Hospitaller The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic Church, Catholic Military ord ...

. At the time of the

Scottish Reformation The Scottish Reformation was the process by which Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland broke with the Pope, Papacy and developed a predominantly Calvinist national Church of Scotland, Kirk (church), which was strongly Presbyterianism, Presbyterian in ...

, the Hospitallers' lands were surrendered to the Crown, but were returned by

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 Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567. The only surviving legitimate child of James V of Scot ...

to Sir James Sandilands, the last

preceptor A preceptor (from Latin, "''praecepto''") is a teacher responsible for upholding a ''precept'', meaning a certain law or tradition. Buddhist monastic orders Senior Buddhist monks can become the preceptors for newly ordained monks. In the Buddhi ...

of the Hospitallers in Scotland. Capelrig was later acquired by the Mure family of

Caldwell Caldwell may refer to: People * Caldwell (surname) * Caldwell (given name) * Caldwell First Nation, a federally recognized Indian band in southern Ontario, Canada Places Great Britain * Caldwell, Derbyshire, a hamlet * Caldwell, East ...

. The Mures sided with the

Covenanter Covenanters ( gd, Cùmhnantaich) were members of a 17th-century Scottish religious and political movement, who supported a Presbyterian Church of Scotland, and the primacy of its leaders in religious affairs. The name is derived from ''Covenan ...

s during the religious conflicts of the 17th century, and Capelrig was briefly taken by the Royalist General

Tam Dalyell of the Binns Sir Thomas Dalyell of The Binns, 1st Baronet (1615–1685) was a Scottish Royalist general in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, also known by the soubriquets "Bluidy Tam" and "The Muscovite De'il". Life Dalyell was born in Linlithgowshire, th ...

. The family regained their lands upon the

Glorious Revolution The Glorious Revolution; gd, Rèabhlaid Ghlòrmhor; cy, Chwyldro Gogoneddus , also known as the ''Glorieuze Overtocht'' or ''Glorious Crossing'' in the Netherlands, is the sequence of events leading to the deposition of King James II and ...

of 1688. In 1765 Capelrig Estate was bought by Robert Barclay, whose mentor was William Mure and who gave him a lucrative post as a tax collector, becoming Depute Admiral of the Clyde. Barclay was regarded as the best whist player in Glasgow in his day and was a lawyer in the city in the firm of Barclay & Grahame. In 1769 a new house was erected, the present house in the

Georgian style Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1714 and 1830. It is named after the first four Monarchy of the United Kingdom, British monarchs of the House of Hano ...

. It and the Estate descended through his family to James Barclay Murdoch, noted historian and antiquarian - and himself a descendant of the Browns and of the Murdochs who were Provosts of Glasgow. A wing was added to the south-west in 1913 by its new owner Kenneth Weir, on the occasion of his marriage. He later became the 2nd Viscount Weir of Eastwood. Much of the Estate continued to be owned by the Murdoch Trust families. In 1948 Kenneth Weir sold the House and farmlands to John Lawrence & Co Ltd, housebuilders, To provide for a new school Capelrig House and its immediate policies were purchased by the then Council of

County of Renfrew Renfrewshire or the County of Renfrew is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. It contains the local government council areas of Inverclyde, Renfrewshire and East Renfrewshire, as w ...

who wished to demolish the building but were dissuaded after a public outcry. It was refurbished as an arts centre, and has been used as offices by East Renfrewshire Council.

References

{{reflist Category A listed buildings in East Renfrewshire Listed houses in Scotland Country houses in East Renfrewshire Newton Mearns