This is a historical blog, from an event we went to back in March. We were working in the former 133 acre Kilmahew Estate, built in Victorian times, has miles of buried trails, unseen waterfalls and bridges that cross its two burns. Ancient yews and a medieval castle hint at a distant past. At the centre of all this is the Grade A-listed seminary, hidden deep within the beautiful woodlands.
St Peter’s Seminary was designed by Glasgow architects Andy MacMillan and Isi Metzstein of Gillespie, Kidd and Coia for the Archdiocese of Glasgow. It sits in a semi-ancient woodland between the villages of Cardross and Renton, below Carman Moor, looking out onto the Firth of Clyde. Opening in 1966, for 13 years, St Peter’s was home and place of learning for trainee priests before closing in 1979. After a brief spell of use as a drug rehabilitation centre, the buildings fell into a state of disrepair. It is now registered as one of the World Monument Fund’s most endangered cultural landmarks.
We were lucky enough to be working within the Victorian Walled Garden with the newly formed agricultural group. The very beginning stages of turning the garden back into a productive garden started with us digging over a plot and planting potatoes.
We are happy to be going back to this site this coming Sunday and next week on Monday and Tuesday. Come along, join in and feel good 🙂
