Callendar House and Park

Callendar House is a mansion set in the grounds of Callendar Park, which is quite close to the centre of Falkirk, Scotland. It is currently  very much in the form of a French Renaissance  chateau,  having been completely redeveloped in the 19th century. The house is, however, much older. The current building is built around a 14th century tower, but the history of the park goes back to the 2nd century since the Antonine Wall goes straight through the parkland and the first known building on the site was a 12th century Thane Hall.

The French chateau look (with a hint of Scots Gothic) was instigated by the Forbes family in the early to mid 19th century. Prior to the Forbes family ownership, the history  involved a series of executions of various Scots aristocrats  accompanied by confiscations of their properties and acquisition by a vulture fund. The major players in this  drama were the Livingston  family, who were dedicated  Jacobites (Bonnie Prince Charlie stayed at the house in 1725 and the Earl of Kilmarnock (husband of Lady Anne Livingston) was executed  in 1746).

In 1963, the house and  some of the surrounding  parkland were purchased  by Falkirk Burgh Council and part of the estate was used for the construction  of eleven 15-storey housing blocks.

In 2011 the management of the house and the undeveloped part of the parkland was taken over by Falkirk Community Trust. It is being developed as a major heritage centre with the house being used to contain a museum, an art gallery (which hosts many guest exhibitions and the regional records office) and (in the former library) the local records archive. The exhibits in the museum deal with the history  of the house itself and the history  of Falkirk (particularly the iron industry) and provide numerous  opportunities for educational workshops. A very popular exhibit is a replica of a 1960s vinyl record  shop. The images speak for themselves.