Craigend Castle: The Castle We Didn't Mean to Find

Photo of Craigend Castle

So, remember when I told you in my Mugdock Country Park post that we accidentally ended up at Craigend Castle? Well, this is the story of that little discovery. When we were walking around Mugdock, we spoke to an older couple who told us it would take about 20 minutes to get to the castle. Because we were in Mugdock Country Park, we naturally assumed they meant Mugdock Castle. We followed the route, kept walking and eventually arrived at what looked like the remains of a castle, except it didn't look quite like the castle I had seen in pictures of Mugdock Castle. That was when we realised we had actually found Craigend Castle. At first I was a little confused because I thought we had somehow taken a completely wrong route, but then I realised this was one of the interesting things about Mugdock: there are two very different historic castle sites within the wider country park area. Mugdock Castle is the much older one, a medieval stronghold associated with the Graham family and dating back to the 14th century, while Craigend Castle is a much later country house built in the early 19th century in a dramatic Gothic style. Mugdock Castle is a scheduled ancient monument, whereas Craigend Castle is a Category C listed building. So although both are called castles and sit within the same wider landscape, they tell completely different stories. And honestly, once I knew what I was looking at, I found Craigend Castle much more interesting. What remains today is roofless and partly covered in vegetation, with sections of the old walls, towers, window openings and decorative stonework still standing. Historic Environment Scotland describes it as the fragmentary remains of an extremely well-detailed Gothic country house, and when you stand in front of it, you can still see hints of how impressive it must have been. The castle was built in 1812 by Alexander Ramsay, using designs associated with James Smith of Jordanhill, for the Smith family, who had owned the Craigend estate since the 17th century. The Smiths had originally been tenants on the land before Robert Smith acquired part of the former Barony of Mugdock in 1660. What began as a much simpler country house was gradually transformed, and by the early 19th century it had become this elaborate Regency Gothic mansion, complete with towers, decorative parapets, arched windows, landscaped grounds and an impressive entrance. The family wealth behind the estate was connected to the West Indian sugar trade, including business interests involving the produce of enslaved people, which is an uncomfortable but important part of the history of Craigend and the wider wealth of some Scottish families of the period. Craigend was eventually sold in 1851 to Sir Andrew Buchanan, a diplomat who had served as ambassador at the Habsburg court in Vienna. The castle later had a number of notable residents and tenants, including James Outram, and in the early 20th century Sir Harold Yarrow, the shipbuilding businessman, lived there with his family. By then, however, the estate was moving towards the end of its life as a grand private country house.

And then Craigend Castle had one of the strangest chapters in its history because it became a zoo. In 1948, businessman Andrew Wilson and his zoologist son William acquired the estate and transformed parts of Craigend into a zoo, which opened to the public in 1949. Imagine walking around what is now a quiet country park and knowing that this same place once had exotic animals, including lions, monkeys, crocodiles and an elephant. One of the zoo's best-known residents was Charlie the elephant, who was kept in the old stable block and was reportedly taken for swims in nearby Ebbie's Loch. The zoo had more than 2,000 animals according to the Strathblane Heritage Society, but it struggled commercially and eventually closed in 1955. The old stable block survived, and this is another detail I found fascinating because the building that now serves as the Mugdock Country Park Visitor Centre was once part of the Craigend Castle estate. So when you visit the visitor centre, you are actually standing inside part of the old world of Craigend Castle. The main house itself did not have the same fate. It gradually deteriorated during the 1950s and 1960s, and what remains today is the beautiful ruin we came across on our walk. Historic Environment Scotland says there is still enough of the original fabric to show the quality of the house, including distinctive parapet carving and remnants of its Gothic interior, even though much of the building has disappeared. Today, Craigend Castle stands within the wider Mugdock Country Park landscape, while the adjacent Craigend Estate remains privately owned and is used as farmland. The castle ruin itself is not a place where you can simply walk inside or explore the rooms, which explains why we found it fenced and had to admire it from outside. It is protected as a listed historic building, and the wider park is jointly owned and managed by East Dunbartonshire Council and Stirling Council through the Mugdock Joint Management Committee. If you want to see Craigend Castle yourself, the easiest way is to visit Mugdock Country Park and start from the main Visitor Centre and car park. The council specifically describes the walk to Mugdock Castle as passing by Craigend Castle, and the park has a network of paths through woodland and open ground, so Craigend can be incorporated into a longer walk rather than treated as a separate attraction. The main car park is beside the Visitor Centre, and the park is accessible by car, bicycle, on foot and by public transport, with Milngavie being the nearest railway station. The grounds are free to enter and are open every day, although the main car parks currently operate from 9am to 6pm. Looking back, I actually love that we found Craigend Castle by accident. If we had followed the instructions perfectly, we probably would have walked straight towards Mugdock Castle and never paid much attention to this ruin. Instead, a wrong turn gave me another story to tell. Standing there looking at those old walls, I kept thinking about how many different lives this place has had, from a grand family home to a zoo filled with exotic animals and now a quiet ruin surrounded by trees and countryside. It is strange to think that the same ground where we were walking yesterday once echoed with the lives of wealthy families, servants, visitors and zoo animals. And maybe that is what I love most about old places. They don't just disappear when the people who built them are gone. They leave pieces of themselves behind, waiting for someone to stop, look closely and wonder what happened here.

I forgot to mention that during our visits to these places, my partner kept hiding! I would be walking in front while he stayed at the back, and while I was busy admiring a place, he would sneak off and hide. Suddenly, I’d realize it was all quiet, start shouting his name, and sometimes I’d find him—other times he’d just jump out of hiding. He loves to play hide-and-seek; he is really playful by nature and just enjoys it so much.

Well, what do you think about this castle? For me, it reminds me that no matter how much love we put into things, the moment we are gone, the way that thing is handled is determined entirely by someone else, and just like this castle, it might be left to ruin. I asked myself, can it be restored? But it also teaches me to live and enjoy things to the fullest. What did you learn from this, and what comes to your mind?