Gilbertfield Castle is a ruined 17th-century castle in

South Lanarkshire gd, Siorrachd Lannraig a Deas , image_skyline = , image_flag = , image_shield = Arms_slanarkshire.jpg , image_blank_emblem = Slanarks.jpg , blank_emblem_type = Council logo , image_map ...

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

Cambuslang Cambuslang ( sco, Cammuslang, from gd, Camas Lang) 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 ...

, to the south-east of

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

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 ( gd, Comhairle Siorrachd Lannraig a Deas) is the unitary authority serving the South Lanarkshire council area in Scotland. The council has its headquarters in Hamilton, has 16,000 employees, and a budget of almost £1b ...

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 Hamilton (1665? – 24 May 1751) was a Scottish poet. He wrote comic, mock-tragic poetry such as "''The Last Dying Words of Bonny Heck''" - a once-champion hare coursing greyhound in the East Neuk of Fife who was about to be hanged, ...

(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) or Allan Ramsay the Younger (1713–1784), Scottish portrait painter *Allan Ramsay (diplomat) (1937–2022), British diplom ...

, 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 wa ...

'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 a ...

''.

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 location ...

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, in order to command and defend strateg ...

. 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 jutting from a wall to carry a superincumbent weight, a type of bracket. A corbel is a solid piece of material in the wall, whereas a console is a piece applied to the s ...

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 and d ...

Nearby development

In March 2017, an application by

Persimmon Homes Persimmon plc is a British housebuilding company, headquartered in York, England. The company is named after a horse which won the 1896 Derby and St. Leger for the Prince of Wales (the future Edward VII). It is listed on the London Stock Ex ...

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 is a policy and land-use zone designation used in land-use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wild, or agricultural land surrounding or neighboring urban areas. Similar concepts are greenways or green wedges, which hav ...

. Various concerns were raised by local residents, community councillors (representing

Halfway Halfway or Half Way may refer to: Places Canada *Halfway, New Brunswick, a community in Durham Parish * Halfway, Ontario, a community in Madawaska Valley Ireland *Halfway, County Cork, a village in the Republic of Ireland United Kingdom * Halfwa ...

/''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 serving as Minister for Children and Young People since 2021, having previously served as Minister for Mental Health from 2018 to 2021. A member of the Scottish Natio ...

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 Environmental Protection Agency The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA; gd, Buidheann Dìon Àrainneachd na h-Alba) is Scotland's 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 Ancient Monuments in South Lanarkshire Buildings and structures in Cambuslang Tower houses in Scotland Category B listed buildings in South Lanarkshire