MonoMonday216 - Buildings Mains Castle

Mains Castle lies just to the north of East Kilbride, and is visible from the public path as you walk around the loch of the James Hamilton Heritage Park. It is a free-standing rectangular tower house on a mound, with a square caphouse providing access to the wallwalk in one corner of the tower. At one time there were additional buildings around the tower, but there is no trace of these now. The Lindsays were the builders of the castle, which is said to date from the late 15th century.  I don’t want to go into the history and politics of that period, but suffice to say that the Lindsays remained owners of the castle until it fell into decay in the 17th century. The tower was the last part to remain habitable, but was abandoned in 1723. Restoration that took place in the 19th century preserved the tower for posterity, but it wasn’t until the 1970s that it was renovated.  The Castle is privately owned and is occupied although sadly it is not open to the public. The windows that are visible from the path are very small and I imagine that the interior is quite dark, although there may be larger windows on the far side.  You can see chimney pots on the roof and also the top of a wood burning stove so can imagine that the building is well heated.  Although I didn’t know it at the time, in 2015, I met the lady who lived in the castle and thus missed an opportunity to  find out more about the interior.