Gregor messaged me yesterday asking to know the story of the Woodhouse as he passed it while out walking so it seemed a good addition to Connections.

The house is just a ruin now and I imagine most people walk past without even noticing it. If you do spot the steps and go and investigate the footprint of the house you’ll see it was tiny – but Charles and Christina brought up a family of 7 children inside it.

My great grandparents, Charles Brown Macfarlane and his wife Christina Smith, lived at the Woodhouse in Mugdock. The Woodhouse was on the land around Mugdock Castle in an area I’ve always known as Bluebell Wood. It was also close to Jimmy Richt’s Well. I’ve never found the well (or have any clues to who Jimmy Richt was) but my Gran used to tell me her father sent her to get water from Jimmy Richt’s Well on the day he died.

Charles was a grieve on the castle estate, You’ll find more on the family here : The Macfarlanes of the Woodhouse.