This brief article below has now been updated by our detailed history of Bardykes House here
The Jackson family owned all the lands of Bardykes which included the possession of the grand house, located off Callaghan Drive at Bardykes Road, at the West End, junction of Glasgow Road. The ownership of this large house by this prominent Blantyre family continued right up to the second world war, with generations of ownership in between spanning those 400 years. The house is one of the earliest documented homes in our town.
In recent decades, the people of Blantyre knew this property better as Wilkie’s Farm and the fields in front of and to to the left were the scene for the few annual Blantyre Highland Games of the late 80s and early 90s.
Looking back in time, during the mid-nineteenth century Blantyre had 37 heritors, each of whom paid feu-duty to Lord Blantyre for their lands and properties. Usually this took the form of cash, but according to Neil Gordon’s research, not in the case of the Bardykes Estate. The Jacksons held on to the lands on the rather bizarre condition that they present Lord Blantyre with a red rose whenever he required; easier in the summer than in the depth of winter! Clearly a sign of loyalty. Look on our website for a Bonnie Prince Charlie brief connection to this house. Landowners were frequently involved in local decision-making, as is testified by the names of the various Blantyre heritors turning up at meetings for town improvement schemes.