![Temple - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e6/Temple_-_geograph.org.uk_-_30159.jpg)
Castle Semple (previously Castletoun) is a former
mansion
A mansion is a large dwelling house. The word itself derives through Old French from the Latin word ''mansio'' "dwelling", an abstract noun derived from the verb ''manere'' "to dwell". The English word '' manse'' originally defined a property l ...
house located in
Renfrewshire
Renfrewshire () ( sco, Renfrewshire; gd, Siorrachd Rinn FriĆ¹) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland.
Located in the west central Lowlands, it is one of three council areas contained within the boundaries of the historic county of Renfr ...
,
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
. It is situated near the eastern end of
Castle Semple Loch
Castle Semple Loch is a 1.5-mile-long (2.5 km) inland freshwater loch at Lochwinnoch in Renfrewshire, Scotland. Originally part of an estate of the same name, it is now administered by Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park as a watersports centre. ...
, within
Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park
Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park is the collective name for areas of countryside set aside for conservation and recreation on the South Clyde estuary in Scotland.
The park covers an area of of Inverclyde, North Ayrshire and Renfrewshire, stretchi ...
.
History
Erected, or more probably rebuilt, by
John Sempill, 1st Lord Sempill
John Sempill, 1st Lord Sempill of Eliotstoun (died 9 September 1513) was a Scottish peer.
Career
John Sempill was the founder of Castle Semple Collegiate Church near Lochwinnoch. He was created Lord Sempill in the Peerage of Scotland around 148 ...
, he changed its name from Castletoun to Castle-Semple. In
Willem Blaeu
Willem Janszoon Blaeu (; 157121 October 1638), also abbreviated to Willem Jansz. Blaeu, was a Dutch cartographer, atlas maker and publisher. Along with his son Johannes Blaeu, Willem is considered one of the notable figures of the Netherlandis ...
's ''
Atlas Maior
The ''Atlas Maior'' is the final version of Joan Blaeu's atlas, published in Amsterdam between 1662 and 1672, in Latin (11 volumes), French (12 volumes), Dutch (9 volumes), German (10 volumes) and Spanish (10 volumes), containing 594 maps and a ...
'', published in 1654, the castle is represented by a mark denoting the largest size of castles. In George Crawford's ''History of Renfrewshire'' (1710), he noted, ''"Upon the brink of the loch stands the castle of Sempill, the principal messuage of a fair lordship of the same denomination, which consists of a large court, part of which seems to be a very ancient building, adorned with pleasant orchards and gardens."'' According to Gardner, Castleton was built in 1492-3, but Millar states that it was built closer to 1550, as a successor to
Elliston Castle.
The estate was sold by
Hugh Sempill, 12th Lord Sempill
Hugh Sempill, 12th Lord Sempill (after 16 May 1688 – 25 November 1746) was a Scottish soldier.
Life
He was the fifth son of Francis Abercromby, Lord Glasfoord by his wife Anne Sempill, 9th Lady Sempill, daughter of Robert Sempill, 7th Lord ...
, in 1727, to Colonel William M'Dowall (d. 1748), a younger son of
M'Dowall of Garthland.
In 1735, M'Dowall demolished the house and erected a new one on its site. The new Castle Semple was an elaborate
gothick
Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...
mansion which became renowned for its extensive gardens which formed the centrepiece of the estate. In 1818, M'Dowall sold Castle-Semple to John Harvey, Esquire, of Jamaica. Some workmen repairing drains in 1830 found part of the foundations of the castle still existing below ground.
It burned down in 1924 and the ruins of the central mansion house were demolished in 1960 leaving only the four outbuildings which flanked the central house, two of which were joined by windowed corridors which are still intact. These buildings still remain on the northern end of the loch and include the billiard room, stables, servants quarters, kitchens, coach house, and head groomsmen cottage. These have since been converted into 4 private homes and are now grade B listed buildings. Impressive gate-arches, a walled garden and a small temple
folly
In architecture, a folly is a building constructed primarily for decoration, but suggesting through its appearance some other purpose, or of such extravagant appearance that it transcends the range of usual garden buildings.
Eighteenth-cent ...
on a knoll are also remains of the Castle Semple estate.
Estate grounds
A copper cannon, having the arms of Scotland, and J.R.S. engraved on it, was found in the loch near the
peel. This relique was preserved at Castle Semple.
At one time,
Glasgow and Ayr Railway passed through the Castle Semple estate and in the immediate neighbourhood of the loch.
Castle Semple had its own
railway station
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
which never opened to the general public.
[Wham, p. 23] A simple platform existed here, used mostly by the workers on the estate.
Had the station opened to the public, it would likely have been called Howwood or St Bryde's (after nearby St Bryde's House and burn).
The trackbed is now part of
National Cycle Route 7
Route
For mapping purposes, the route is split at Glasgow into Lochs and Glens (south)
and (north)
Sunderland to Carlisle
This route follows the Sea to Sea (C2C) cycle route for much of its length before the C2C departs to Whitehaven and N ...
.
Lord Semple founded a
collegiate church In Christianity, a collegiate church is a church where the daily office of worship is maintained by a college of canons: a non-monastic or "secular" community of clergy, organised as a self-governing corporate body, which may be presided over by a ...
near the lake; a stone in the outer wall of
Castle Semple Collegiate Church
Castle Semple Collegiate Church is located in Renfrewshire, Scotland. It is situated near the eastern end of Castle Semple Loch, within Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park, and west of Howwood on the B787, then on to the B776. The late Gothic church ...
bears the letters R. L. S., and the arms of Sempill and Montgomery. Eastward of the lake, and on the south side, are the remains of the old tower of Elliston Castle, the residence of the Semple family prior to 1550.
The 'Temple' on Kenmuir Hill by Castle Semple is a Category B listed building.
See also
*
The Peel of Castle Semple
The ruins of The Peel of Castle Semple or the Castle Semple Loch Peel Tower, once designated in Scottish Reformation times as the ''Defender of the Faith'' lie in Castle Semple Loch, Parish of Lochwinnoch, Renfrewshire, Scotland. The castle stan ...
References
* ''This article includes text incorporated from A. Fullarton's "The Topographical, statistical, and historical gazetteer of Scotland: with a complete county-atlas from recent surveys, exhibiting all the lines of road, rail, and canal communication; and an appendix, containing the results of the census of 1851" (1853), a publication now in the public domain.''
External links
Page at RCAHMSCastle Semple Peel Tower
{{Authority control
Castles in Renfrewshire
Buildings and structures completed in 1492
Country houses in Renfrewshire