CORRA CASTLE

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Corra Castle in South Lanarkshire was one of the most defensible structures in Scotland.
On three sides it is defended by 100ft sheer cliffs down to the River Clyde, just upriver from the famous Corra Linn waterfall, the largest of four that make up the Falls of Clyde.
The fourth side of this 15th century stronghold was protected by a 20ft deep ditch dug into the rock with access to the castle made possible by a drawbridge.
It is not clear where the name Corra comes from, but it may derive from Princess Cora, daughter of Malcolm II, King of Scotland from 1005-34.
Cora fell in love with a palace stable worker but her family insisted she marry a noble.
However, the heartbroken Cora killed herself by riding her favourite stallion over the cliffs.
The ruined castle stands near to famous New Lanark mills, created by David Dale in the 1780's.
The land, now the Scottish Wildlife Trust's Falls of Clyde reserve, was originally the property of Kelso Abbey whose Lesmahagow priory owned the parish.
However, in 1400, the estate was granted to the Bannatyne family who built the castle.
It remained in the family's hands for 300 years until the estate passed to the Somervilles of Cambusnethan in 1695 and was later owned by the Cranston family.
In 1826, a lawyer in the family was raised to the bench and became Lord Corehouse, a name also used for the castle, likewise the nearby mansion the judge built in the 1820's.

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