Skellyton Footbridge – Cambusnethan Priory loop from Shieldmuir
Skellyton Footbridge – Cambusnethan Priory loop from Shieldmuir
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Skellyton Footbridge – Cambusnethan Priory loop from Shieldmuir
02:13
7.97km
140m
Hiking
Moderate hike. Good fitness required. Easily-accessible paths. Suitable for all skill levels. The starting point of the route is accessible with public transport.
Last updated: April 15, 2026
Waypoints
Start point
Bus stop
Get Directions
2.86 km
River Clyde
Lake
3.56 km
Skellyton Footbridge
Highlight • Bridge
Tip by
3.85 km
Woodland Path and Bluebells
Highlight • Natural
5.64 km
Cambusnethan Priory
Highlight • Castle
There was originally a Norman tower house near the site of the present building, and this was replaced by a manor house during the 17th century. The manor house burned down in March 1816, and the present house was commissioned and built in 1820.
Recent photo
The Priory was built for the Lockhart family of Castlehill, their coat of arms being carved above the main entrance and etched in every balustrade of the main staircase inside. The arms represents a casket, heart and lock and derives from the tradition that the ancestors of this family carried Robert the Bruce's heart back from the holy land. The nearby Cambusnethan Manse (now Elaina Nursing Home, Netherton) was also the birthplace of John Gibson Lockhart, Sir Walter Scott's biographer and later son in law.
There are few remaining examples of early 19th-century Neo-Gothic mansions remaining in Scotland as many were demolished in the late 1950s and 1960s. Cambusnethan House is a notable building in its own right as a good example of the neo-Gothic style, and also because so few buildings of this type still remain.
Nineteenth-century view.
The house is two and three storeys high with turrets at each corner, a three-storey bow in the west elevation and a massive square porch. Characteristically, the house was very ornately decorated with a variety of architectural details; castellated roof lines, scrolled pinnacles, narrow pointed windows and drip moulds, and various cornices, besides carved motifs and decorated chimneys. Some of the ornate pinnacles have been removed in the interest of safety, and there had been at a recent extension to the lower ground floor across a sunken passage across the house with a roof flush with ground level.
Use of the building ended in 1984, and the building has fallen prey to vandalism and fire. The building is listed as At Risk by the Scottish Civic Trust but is already in derelict condition.
Text taken from:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambusnethan_House
Tip by
7.97 km
End point
Bus stop
Way Types & Surfaces
Way Types
3.98 km
2.97 km
574 m
263 m
164 m
Surfaces
6.31 km
922 m
726 m
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Elevation
Highest point (90 m)
Lowest point (30 m)
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Weather
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Sunday 12 July
21°C
11°C
0 %
Additional weather tips
Max wind speed: 15.0 km/h
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Our route recommendations are based on thousands of hikes, rides, and runs completed by other people on komoot.
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