Caldwell Castle

Caldwell Castle stands on a low rise beside the Lugton Water in East Renfrewshire. The remains take the form of a single 16th-century tower built of coursed rubble, now known as Caldwell Tower. A vaulted basement and two upper floors survive, reached by a modern forestair, while the crenellations were renewed long after the original build. The tower once belonged to a larger courtyard castle of the Mure family, who held the estate from the 14th century. Sir William Mure served on the committee that negotiated King David II’s release after the battle of Nevill’s Cross. Later generations quarrelled over land and inheritance, and the lairds’ burial vault lies beneath Neilston church. The tower later served as a doocot, a ham-curing house, and finally a private dwelling after 2011 restoration. Visitors walk up to the tower through the policies of the former Caldwell House. The house itself, designed by Robert Adam, sits lower down the slope, protected as a Category A listed building. The estate includes Blackstands Meadow, Melons Wood and Crow Wood, while Saugh Avenue crosses the Lugton Water on the route once used by the family. The tower’s small windows and built-up gun-loops recall its martial past, and the restored interior now forms a single dwelling.