Calderglen Country Park is a country park in the town of

East Kilbride East Kilbride (; gd, Cille Bhrìghde an Ear ) is the largest town in South Lanarkshire in Scotland and the country's sixth-largest locality by population. It was also designated Scotland's first new town on 6 May 1947. The area lies on a rais ...

, South Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is situated along the eastern edge of the town and is its principal greenspace and recreation area.

Description

The park opened officially in 1982 and features a small zoo, children's play facilities, display and exhibition venues, a tropical hothouse, and several sports clubs including Torrance Golf Club. The visitor centre and adjoining facilities are based in the 17th-century Torrance House – a

Category A listed building Category, plural categories, may refer to: Philosophy and general uses *Categorization, categories in cognitive science, information science and generally *Category of being * ''Categories'' (Aristotle) *Category (Kant) * Categories (Peirce) * ...

– and the remains of its adjoining landscaped policies. The central area of the park is approached from the old entrance lodge house via the tree-lined driveway of the old estate. The park comprises the gorge portions of the once much more extensive Calderwood and Torrance Estates, with Calderwood Glen occupying the northernmost stretch of the Rotten Calder Water, and Torrance Glen the southern part. Several miles of nature trails run through the park (some prone to landslips),Repair work on crumbling paths at Lanarkshire beauty spot underway
Daily Record, 6 January 2022. Retrieved 10 January 2022 with the longest routes running along the western banks from Flatt in the south to the Hamilton to East Kilbride Expressway (A725) in the north. The northern part of the park is a site of special scientific interest for is carboniferous geology, and the river features a number of waterfalls along its course. The designated woodland within the park totals . Calderglen is situated near to the

industrial suburb An industrial suburb is a community, near a large city, with an industrial economy. These communities may be established as tax havens or as places where zoning promotes industry, or they may be industrial towns that become suburbs by urban spr ...

Kelvin The kelvin, symbol K, is the primary unit of temperature in the International System of Units (SI), used alongside its prefixed forms and the degree Celsius. It is named after the Belfast-born and University of Glasgow-based engineer and phy ...

, the established residential district of St. Leonards and a small 21st century development,

Crutherland Crutherland is a new area of East Kilbride, backing onto Torrance House Golf Course (part of Calderglen Country Park Calderglen Country Park is a country park in the town of East Kilbride, South Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is situated along the ...

Gallery

File:Snowy driveway to Torrance House - geograph.org.uk - 970449.jpg, driveway through the park after snowfall File:The Sports Club, Calderglen Country Park - geograph.org.uk - 605142.jpg, The Sports Club, Calderglen Country Park File:Riverside Path in Calderglen Country Park - geograph.org.uk - 1022164.jpg, Typical forest walking path along the banks of the Rotten Calder File:Torrance House, Calderglen Country Park, East Kilbride - geograph.org.uk - 60278.jpg, Torrance House courtyard with picnic tables

Recreational Facilities

* Mini

zoo A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility in which animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for conservation purposes. The term ''zoological garden'' refers to zoo ...

, featuring small animals such as meerkats, prairie dogs and owls outdoors, and reptiles and fish in a tropical glasshouse * Ornamental gardens and pond with a chilling statue of

Falstaff Sir John Falstaff is a fictional character who appears in three plays by William Shakespeare and is eulogised in a fourth. His significance as a fully developed character is primarily formed in the plays '' Henry IV, Part 1'' and '' Part 2'', w ...

(previously located at

Castlemilk House Castlemilk House was a country house located in what is now the Castlemilk district of Glasgow, Scotland. The house was the ancestral home of the Stirling-Stuart family and was built around the 15th-century Cassiltoun Tower during the 18th and 1 ...

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 ...

- Castlemilk and Torrance House were both owned for centuries by the Stuart family) * Football facility K-Park Training Academy and small stadium which is home to East Kilbride F.C. * Rugby grounds which are home to

East Kilbride RFC East Kilbride RFC are a rugby union side who are based in East Kilbride. History Established in 1968, their home games are played at Torrance House. The team currently compete in the and play all their home games at the Magnificent Torrance H ...

* Tennis facilities operated by

East Kilbride Lawn Tennis Club East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fa ...

* Cricket pitch, home to ''East Kilbride Cricket Club'' formed in 1962 * ''Torrance House Golf Club'' opened in 1969, available for public bookings50th anniversary plans in full swing
Torrance House Golf Club, 18 March 2019 * Woodland walks through glens and gorges formed by the Rotten Calder river near to the Calderwood residential district, including the site of

Calderwood Castle Calderwood Castle was located in East Kilbride, Scotland. The castle was situated near the banks of the Rotten Calder Water in what is now Calderglen Country Park. Most likely constructed in the early to mid fifteenth century by the Maxwell fam ...

* Modern outdoor playground for children * Gift shop and cafe within the historic Torrance House

References

External links

*
Calderglen Sports HubTorrance House Golf Course

South Lanarkshire Council park profile

VisitScotland park profile
{{authority control Zoos in Scotland Country parks in Scotland Areas of East Kilbride Urban public parks Buildings and structures in East Kilbride Parks in South Lanarkshire Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Clydesdale and South East Glasgow 1982 establishments in Scotland