The abandoned, ruined home of a 16th-century Scottish peer

Cathcart Castle, located in Linn Park in Glasgow, Scotland, was a 15th-century castle that served as the residence of the Cathcarts, later Semples, till the 18th century. The head of the Cathcart family, Lord Cathcart, was raised to the peerage around the time the castle was built, but it passed to the Semples in the 16th century. The castle was abandoned after the 1st Earl Cathcart bought it in 1814.

The castle was built on the rocky north-east bank of the White Cart Water and comprised a rectangular tower house of five storeys with a vaulted basement. The tower had round corner towers and a large gatehouse.

It is unlikely that Mary, Queen of Scots, spent the night before the Battle of Langside at Cathcart Castle. Archaeological investigations uncovered a fragmentary plaster armorial from the 1630s, with the arms of Bryce Semple and Jean Lauder of Hatton, suggesting the royal presence could not have happened.

The castle was torn down in 1980, and the remaining ruins are now a Scheduled Monument.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons