Overview of Cathcart Castle

The foundations of Cathcart Castle lie on the right bank of the White Cart Water, within what is now Linn Park, 1¼ miles (2 km) southwest of Rutherglen in Glasgow City Council Area. Built in the late-15th C. for Lord Cathcart, this was once a five-storey tower house of some considerable strength. The Cathcarts were given the lands here in the 12th Century and Sir Alan of Cathcart, fought alongside Robert the Bruce at Loudon Hill in 1307. From this castle the family were able to control the ford over the White Cart on the route from Glasgow to Ayr.

In 1546 the castle passed to the Semple family. Mary, Queen of Scots, is supposed to have stayed here on the night before the Battle of Langside (1568), although this seems unlikely given that Sir William Semple fought on the side of her opponent, the Earl of Moray.

The castle was abandoned in favour of nearby Cathcart House c.1740 but bought by the 1st Earl of Cathcart in 1814, without a roof but still complete and surrounded by a courtyard of buildings. The castle and its environs - amounting to around 7.3 ha (18 acres) - were purchased by Glasgow Corporation for £2300 in 1927, they adjacent buildings were taken down and the land became part of Linn Park. The ruins were pronounced dangerous and demolished in 1980, despite local opposition. Now only the foundations remain, but still recorded as a scheduled ancient monument.