Castlemilk
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Castlemilk (Caisteal Mheilc in Gaelic) is a huge district of Glasgow, Scotland. It lies to the south of the city adjacent to Rutherglen and Carmunnock. There is no longer a castle in Castlemilk. Castlemilk House, a stately old mansion built around Cassilton Tower, which was started in 1460 on the site of a 13th century castle, was demolished by Glasgow Corporation in 1969. The area was developed by the Corporation as a peripheral housing scheme in the 1950s to accommodate 34,000 people from inner city slum areas such as the Gorbals. These people were provided with open spaces, a clean environment and indoor toilets and bathrooms. Like other schemes at the time, it was poorly planned, with little thought given to providing amenities such as schools or pubs next to the unattractive rows of houses and concrete towers, so ensuring that there were no centres where the inhabitants could socialise and develop a community. Children travelled to schools and their parents travelled to work. Shopping for more than basics had to be done in the city. The lack of community together with rising unemployment and crime saw the deterioration of the scheme back almost to the slum conditions it had been designed to replace. It became ironically referred to as Chateau Lait, in typical Glaswegian black humour.
The deterioration of the scheme took place over 20 years with many people moving out. The population had dropped from 37,000 in 1971 to roughly half that number in 1991. However, despite the social problems associated with poverty and unemployment, the area has seen the benefits of a regeneration strategy implemented in the 1980s which has focused on improved housing and the development of local arts. Community groups and Cooperative housing associations have done a lot to regenerate the housing and improve the amenities for local people. A swimming pool, sports centre, shopping arcade and community centres have been developed.
In November 2005, the area's infamous Mitchellhill tower blocks were blown up as part of a £500,000 demolition project.
The Castlemilk tower blocks are the setting for The Jeely Piece Song (sometimes called Skyscraper Weans), a popular modern folk song by Adam McNaughton.
In 2001 the Rev John D. Miller, minister of Castlemilk East Parish Church (from 1971 until his retirement in 2007), was elected Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. Miller Primary School in Castlemilk was named after him and his wife.
[edit] Local community and resources
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Castlemilk has a thriving local community and many resources available to those living there.[citation needed]
(Taken from "The Incomplete History Of Castlemilk" by the Castlemilk History Group). Carmunock did not escape the religious turbulence of the years following Mary Queen of Scots flight to and later imprisonment in England. While Carmunnock church remained with the Established Church, several of its ministers fought for the National Covenant. The Rev James Mowbrae was dismissed in 1639; his successor Rev Matthew McKail was transferred to Bothwell in 1649, while Rev Andrew Morton was also dismissed for non-conformity in 1662. Rev Morton was to return in 1687 upon the decline of the rule of bishops. According to Mrs Herbert (Author of the History of Carmunnock), 'The villagers, joyfully taking the opportunity, forcibly threw the unpopular Rev Mr Boyd out of the manse'.
Over this period the Stuarts added to their estate. Again confusion surrounds the date in history of the Stuart connection with Cassliltoun. According to some sources, the Stuarts sold their Dumfriesshire estate of Castlemilk to Lord Maxwell in 1579, and from that date the Lanarkshire property of Cassiltoun became known as Castlemilk. Other sources give the date of this development as 1759. Certainly in writing up his Statistical Account of the parish in 1796 the Rev Adam Forman seemed comfortable in his use of the term Castlemilk for the former estate of Cassiltoun.
This period saw further additions to the Stuart fortunes through their links with the parish of Torrance and the estate of Milton. Torrance House was built in 1605 and sold to the Stuarts of Castlemilk in 1650. It remained with the Stuarts until 1947, when it was acquired by the East Kilbride Development Corporation as their Headquarters. During the 18th Century, the valuable estate of Milton on the north side of Glasgow came by marriage into the possession of the family. It included a large area north of Cowcaddens and Parliamentary Road, Hyndland, Barmulloch and Barlornock, besides the site of the present large housing scheme of Milton. In 1706 a deed of entail was obtained, obliging every future holder of the Milton estate to assume the name of Crawfurd. This fact, coupled with inter-marriage with the Stirlings of Keir and the failure of the Stuart male line in 1797 explains the present family name of Crawfurd Stirling Stuart. This complex family history was explored be Andrew Stuart of Torrance and Castlemilk who published The History of the Genealogy of the Stewarts in 1798. (From Chapter 3, Incomplete History Of Castlemilk) From Cassiletoun to Castlemilk!
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