~In a statistical account Gilkerscleugh belonged to the Hamilton’s, a cadet of the Hamilton of Crawfordjohn family in 1632.
In the late 1700s the family sold all their property in the parish, and by now it belonged to the Colebroke’s. The old house at Gilkerscleugh was a well-preserved specimen of the mansions, which took the place of the fortified strengths of an earlier age. It had thick walls, small windows, and high stepped gables. The staircase was carried up in a projecting turret, and the whole building, though the details were somewhat rudely executed, had much architectural beauty. It was thoroughly renovated and added to by the Colebrokes to be used as a shooting lodge in 1907.
The house changed hands in 1921 as a result of the sale of the estate and was bought by the tobacco manufacturing family Mitchell. The same family who had bequeathed the Mitchell library to Glasgow in 1874.
Mr. Stephen Mitchell (1884 - 1951) contributed a lot to this community including his role of church elder. He also held the parliamentary seat of Lanark between 1924 - 1929. The house was later sold and sadly totally destroyed by fire in the 1950s.
Nowadays, Broadwood stands on the site of Gilkerscleugh House andit has retained some of it's original features such as the high stepped gable ends. The only remains of Gilkerscleugh House is a the bottom of the turret.
The cache is located at the end of the driveway not far off the road. Quick find. Lid is quite tough to open. Best way to open is to put your fingers under the side of the lid and run them right around the lid. Please ensure you press the lid down well when putting it back. Parking in the mouth of the driveway for Broadwood (Our driveway). Please Do Not Park in front of Springdale and the cache is not in a green postbox. Enjoy
Congrats to M@C & Newinners for the FTF