Capelrig House is an 18th-century house in Newton Mearns

Newton Mearns

Newton Mearns is a suburban town in East Renfrewshire, Scotland. It lies southwest of Glasgow City Centre on the main road to Ayrshire, above sea level. It has a population of approximately 22,637.The town is part of the Greater Glasgow conurbation...

, East Renfrewshire

East Renfrewshire

East Renfrewshire is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. Until 1975 it formed part of the county of Renfrewshire for local government purposes along with the modern council areas of Renfrewshire and Inverclyde...

, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

. It is located beside Eastwood High School

Eastwood High School (Newton Mearns, Scotland)

Eastwood High School is a public school situated in Newton Mearns, East Renfrewshire just outside of Glasgow, Scotland. It is on Capelrig Road and has 1500 pupils. The current head teacher is Mr. Stuart Maxwell...

, and is protected as a Category A listed building.

The lands of Capelrig were held by the Knights Templar

Knights Templar

The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon , commonly known as the Knights Templar, the Order of the Temple or simply as Templars, were among the most famous of the Western Christian military orders...

 in the 12th century. Upon the suppression of the Templars, their property passed to the Knights Hospitaller

Knights Hospitaller

The Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta , also known as the Sovereign Military Order of Malta , Order of Malta or Knights of Malta, is a Roman Catholic lay religious order, traditionally of military, chivalrous, noble nature. It is the world's...

. At the time of the Scottish Reformation

Scottish Reformation

The Scottish Reformation was Scotland's formal break with the Papacy in 1560, and the events surrounding this. It was part of the wider European Protestant Reformation; and in Scotland's case culminated ecclesiastically in the re-establishment of the church along Reformed lines, and politically in...

, the Hospitallers' lands were surrendered to the Crown, but were returned by Mary, Queen of Scots to Sir James Sandilands

James Sandilands, 1st Lord Torphichen

James Sandilands was born circa 1511 in Calder, West Lothian, Scotland, and died in 1596.He was the second son of Sir James Sandilands, 7th Lord of Calder...

, the last preceptor

Preceptor

A preceptor is a teacher responsible to uphold a certain law or tradition, a precept.-Christian military orders:A preceptor was historically in charge of a preceptory, the headquarters of certain orders of monastic Knights, such as the Knights Hospitaller and Knights Templar, within a given...

 of the Hospitallers in Scotland.

Capelrig was later acquired by the Mure family of Caldwell

Caldwell, East Renfrewshire

Caldwell is a mansion and old estate with the remains of a castle nearby. These lands lie close to the Lugton Water and the villages of Uplawmoor in East Renfrewshire and Lugton in East Ayrshire.- Caldwell Castle and tower:...

. The Mures sided with the rebellious Covenanter

Covenanter

The Covenanters were a Scottish Presbyterian movement that played an important part in the history of Scotland, and to a lesser extent in that of England and Ireland, during the 17th century...

s during the religious conflicts of the 17th century, and Capelrig was briefly taken by the Royalist General Tam Dalyell of the Binns.

In 1769, the existing house on the property was demolished by the then owner, Robert Barclay, a lawyer from Glasgow, who erected the present house in the Georgian style

Georgian architecture

Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1720 and 1840. It is eponymous for the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I of Great Britain, George II of Great Britain, George III of the United...

. A wing was added to the south-west in 1913. In 1962 the house became the property of the County of Renfrew

Renfrewshire (historic)

Renfrewshire or the County of Renfrew is a registration county, the Lieutenancy area of the Lord Lieutenant of Renfrewshire, and one of the counties of Scotland used for local government until 1975. Renfrewshire is located in the West Central Lowlands of Scotland, south of the River Clyde,...

. It was refurbished as an arts centre, and is now used as offices by East Renfrewshire Council.