Crawfordjohn Castle
Legend has it that there was a castle close to the village, the building was of considerable importance, and was built by James V, as a residence for his mistress, Elizabeth, daughter of Carmichael of Meadowflat who was the keeper of nearby Crawford castle. She stayed there until her marriage to the Laird of Cambusnethan. Later on it was the headquarters of James and his Queen in a hunting expedition for which preparations were made on a grand scale, with tapestries being brought from Edinburgh and Stirling Castles for the occasion.

Crawfordjohn library.
At one time Crawfordjohn possessed its own library which was more worthy of a larger community. Its contents were increased greatly by a bequest from Dr Proudfoot of Kendal, a native of the parish. Many of these books now form a collection within the museum

Craighead quarry.
Also within the parish was the quarry at Craighead Farm where blocks of stone (Essexite) were cut from Craighead Hill and moulded into curling stones.

The stones gained a reputation for taking a high polish, had a hard quality and a good ring for the local curlers. The quarry also produced small gravel stone that adorned many gardens in the area.

Picture: Craighead Quarry workers (1930's)
Gilkerscleugh House.
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.

Included in the Museums collection are other articles of interest regarding Gilkerscleugh and it's history.