1905 Calderwood Lodge House shared by G Cook
This postcard dates from around 1905-1910. Pictured is Calderwood Lodge House, on Stoneymeadow Road, High Blantyre. Part of East Kilbride Parish, this little lodge house sits immediately over the Blantyre Parish boundary and was the main gate entrance to nearby Calderwood Castle. A long avenue was constructed around the same time as the lodge leading up to the castle, believed to be built around the 1830s, at a time when General Sir William Maxwell (8th Baronet) was making extensive improvements upon his estate.
The postcard shows that prior to WW1, Stoneymeadow road had mature woodland and looked very beautiful. I’ve posted previously that the gate posts used to belong to Blantyre Village works, transferred up to High Blantyre sometime after 1904 when the Co-operative Society bought the Calderwood Estate. This postcard is nice though as it shows the iron gates, which somehow over the last Century have been removed (perhaps for war efforts?).
The lodge design is quite unique and although the building is over 180 years old, it has stood the test of time and looks well maintained even today. The ornate wooden rafters add an almost Scandinavian feel to the property. General Maxwell’s crest adorns the front facade of the building, in the same shape and configuration as the faded, stone relief on his nearby’s General’s bridge.
Hi,
It looks like my g-g-g-grandfather was living there in 1881 census…it looks rather grand for a labourer though.
Name: Robert Patterson
Age: 76
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1805
Relationship: Head
Spouse’s name : Elizebth Patterson
Gender: Male
Where born: East Kilbride, Lanarkshire
Registration Number: 643
Registration District: East Kilbride
Civil Parish: East Kilbride
County: Lanarkshire
Address: Calderwood Lodge
Occupation: (General) Labourer
ED: 4
Household Schedule Number: 34
Line: 10
Roll: cssct1881_213
the tree rings and map evidence are conclusive to 1790-1810, for the main avenue to Stoneymeadow, along with the styling of the lodge and stables block. The Avenue, Lodge and Stables (as they are now) date to 1790-1810(likely no later than 1800) due to exacting architectural styles. These were the work of the 7th Baronet. His son the 8th Baronet made the gothic additions and probably jazzed up the lodge to some extent later c. 1840. They were nobles, but recovering from nearly a century of financial troubles. The General seems to have applied wealth to the estate, possibly because he lived to such an old age and resided for much time at Calderwood. His son took things one step further. The 8th Baronet castellated Calderwood Castle, Craigneith, and Calderglen Farm, as well as various other features, but the lodge sticks out in its architectural style. The Shields have been left deliberately uncarved as they bear similar slight weathering as the surrounding stone which is of the same dense hard type, and has a smooth carved surface on both the bridge and lodge. This was intentional, and it does not seem obvious why, as its an unusual stylistic feature. They may have been awaiting a marriage to a wealthy landed family which perhaps never took place. This would have required an amended coat of arms..