A tale of two houses in Carstairs

Most people believe that the present Carstairs House is the original but that one was built in 1821 by William Burn for Henry Monteith who was then the MP for the Lanark Burghs.
Pictures of the original house are very rare; the one illustrating this article is, I believe, the only one now in existence. It was drawn by James Denholm. Inset: The Fullertons mausoleum has survived.Pictures of the original house are very rare; the one illustrating this article is, I believe, the only one now in existence. It was drawn by James Denholm. Inset: The Fullertons mausoleum has survived.
Pictures of the original house are very rare; the one illustrating this article is, I believe, the only one now in existence. It was drawn by James Denholm. Inset: The Fullertons mausoleum has survived.

This collection of Burghs not only included Lanark but Linlithgow and Peebles.

Henry was also Provost of Glasgow in 1820/1821, a time of great unrest. In 1820, for example, Purly Wilson led a small band of Radical Weavers towards Glasgow but the protest was easily dealt with and Wilson was hanged for leading an insurrection.

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Henry wanted to have a mansion that reflected his status so he had the previous Carstairs House demolished. Pictures of this house are very rare and the one illustrating this article is, I believe, the only one in existence. It was drawn by James Denholm who not only did Carstairs but a number of other houses along the Clyde Valley, including Stonebyres.

The Denholm print shows a rather unusual house of many different periods stretching back as far as the 16th century with the last addition made in 1720.

It was built by the Fullerton family who purchased the land, which belonged to the Diocese of Glasgow, just after the Reformation.

The print shows a tower with battlements, around which the rest of the house was built. As the power of the Fullertons increased more parts were added.

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In the early part of the 17th century a couple of wings were added to the tower house – the south wing with its characteristic square windows and the west wing with its crowstepped gable.

In the late 17th century, the north wing was added; with its turrets and circular staircase, it was similar to the old Stonebyres house.

The final piece in the jigsaw is the west window which dates to the early part of the 18th century. It is a pity that the Monteiths chose to demolish what would have been one of the most historic houses built in Clydesdale.

One building associated with the Fullertons which survived is the 18th century mausoleum which stands alone in a field, 400 metres to the east of the former gardens of Carstairs House.

A domed octagonal building, an inscription states it was constructed by William Fullerton in 1784.​​​​​​​

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