By Elizabeth McQuillan
Hidden within the Stirlingshire countryside, on the north-facing slopes of the Campsie Fells and obscured by plantations of conifers and feral rhododendron bushes, is a rather unexpected building. A large baronial castle sits proudly looking over the old estate of Ballikinrain.
Ballikinrain Castle was originally built to a design by David Bryce, and is foreboding in appearance despite the many turrets and ornate archways. The approach to the castle is breathtaking: a long driveway passes over the Dichty Burn via the vertiginous Ballikinrain bridge – which has small passing places built into the stone walls to allow pedestrians to step aside for visiting horse and carriages. A Vauxhall Corsa is more likely to be encountered in the 21st century.
The huge quantities of red sandstone for both the castle and mighty bridge were quarried from the estate itself. Stone was also hewn to build five miles of wall along the roadside to delineate the estate property.
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The castle represents the generation of wealth by a Scottish family who were masters of industry. Where industrialism was growing in the west of Scotland, the Orr-Ewings made sure they had a piece of the action. The family first established the bleach works at Renton in 1791, and later (1850) Job Orr-Ewing added printing and engraving to the portfolio. A younger brother, Archibald, invested in print works and a yarn-dyeing works at Jamestown in the Vale of Leven. In 1898, the family amalgamated all their cash-cow assets to form the United Turkey Red Company (turkey red being a specific colour of dye). Forming an association with other print companies in the west of Scotland, the United Turkey Red Company became a giant, and specialised in bleaching, finishing, dyeing and printing. The family made pots of cash. Sir Archibald Orr-Ewing (1819–93) also had substantial shares in railway, shipping and sundry other companies. He used the wealth generated to buy the entire Ballikinrain Estate in 1862, and then to build his des res – Ballikinrain Castle – in 1868. He did do a bit of charitable work and was integral to the building of the local Killearn kirk. He also had a close association with Glasgow University and donated £5,000 to the fund for the erection of the university buildings at Gilmorehill, as well as founding the Orr-Ewing Bursaries in 1877. After serving as a Conservative MP for Dunbartonshire, he was created a baronet in 1886. According to the book The Parish of Killearn, published by the Killearn Trust, Ballikinrain Castle would have been very grand. The walled garden extended to two acres, there were four vineries, two peach houses and individual "houses" that catered for the palms, carnations, roses, orchids, gardenias, melons, tomatoes and mushrooms. There was also a curling pond. The castle itself had beautiful wood panelling and carving, speaking tubes and a luggage lift – and was heated by its own gasworks, located on the estate between the castle and Old Ballikinrain House (and serving both). The gas house is now a separate residential property. In 1911, Sir Archie’s son Norman sold the 6,000-acre estate to an English syndicate which then failed to find to find a buyer for the whole lot. The estate was fragmented – Old Ballikinrain House and Claylands went to Sir Frederick Gardiner, Mr Charles Edmonstone bought up the local tenant farms and rough moorland, while Sir Charles Cayzer of Gartmore bought the castle and remaining land on the north of the River Endrick. The castle was left uninhabited for a time and a mysterious fire wrecked the interior, with suffragettes being blamed for pyromania. However, a newspaper account of the time points the finger at two individuals, suspected of being men dressed as woman, lurking suspiciously in the woods behind Ballikinrain Smithy. Therein lies another story. The castle and lands were sold off. Most of the farmland was bought by the tenant farmers, and these same families continue to work the land in the valley. The castle was eventually restored and opened as Ballikinrain Castle Hotel, but floundered with the start of the second world war, and re-emerged as St Hilda’s girls' school until its demise in the mid-1960s. Eventually the castle and grounds were bought by the Church of Scotland and became a List D residential and day school for boys. The grandeur has faded, the shrubbery is wild and overgrown, a scattering of huts have been erected and a floodlit astroturf pitch has replaced the front lawn. However, the hidden gem of Ballikinrain Castle is still worth a peek, if you can find it.Want to discuss other issues? Join the debate on our new Scottish Voices forum
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