Photographs, route description and map of a circular walk starting and finishing at the village of Killearn along the banks of the Endrick Water

Boquhan House

Boquhan House set in unspoilt countryside

between the villages of Balfron and Killearn

Also known as Boquhan Old House,

the Category B listed building dates from 1784.

The 1897 publication Strathendrick and its inhabitants

from early times”, by John Guthrie Smith,

reveals that the lands known as Meikle Boquhan

had been in the ownership of the Buchanans of Boquhan

since at least the early 17th century.

The present house would have been built for Thomas Buchanan,

seventh of Boquhan, who succeeded his father Hugh in 1761.

A writer in Glasgow, and Procurator-Fiscal

to the Commissary of Hamilton and Campsie,

he died unmarried in 1803 and left a will

which made his third sister, Elizabeth, his heir,

as “he favoured her,

and she had kept his house for many years.

The house may have been the work

of the architect David Henderson,

whose son John designed the Assembly Rooms

on Edinburgh’s George Street.

It was extended around 1900

with the addition of the offset east wing.

It is described in The Buildings of Scotland:

Stirling and Central Scotland by John Gifford and Frank Arniel Walker

as “archetypal” of the smaller country house

of the later 18th century “simple five-bay, two storeyed houses,

most skew gabled with a pedimented façade

and a central doorway leading directly to a stair at the rear.”

Lacking only a roofline pediment,

Boquhan House conforms almost exactly to this description.

The sundial at the front of Boquhan House

is a registered monument.

Canmore - Boquhan Old House

Wikipedia - Boquhan

This is a pleasant, circular three mile walk from Killearn which crosses the River Endrick through the Carbeth Estate.
It is important to mention that the walk also crosses an awkward small tributary, which ﬂows into the Endrick,
and can be difficult to negotiate - especially in the rainy season.
The walk starts at the Killearn health centre car park at the corner of Station Road, and turns left onto the A875 in
the direction of Balfron. Aﬁer passing the pharmacy the walk turns left opposite Killearn Tennis Club onto the
narrow Drumtian Road and heads down hill into the countryside of open ﬁelds, farms and estates.
It passes Little Carbeth Estate on the left Carbeth Estate on the right and at the foot of the hill turns left into the lane, signed “Public Path Drumtian Ford ". At the ford there is an arch wooden bridge to walk across the River Endrick. With the substantial depth of water in the river it is quite amazing that vehicles were once using this ford to cross over.
It is also a popular area for ﬁshing by the Loch Lomond Angling Improvement Association ( LLAIA ).
Leaving the bridge, the walk turns right along the riverbank and passes by the track on the left as the entry / exit route for the ford.
At the electric fence sign, stiles have been put in place into the ﬁeld for easier and safer walking, compared to the rough path on the bank. It is pleasing that one of the stiles has been positioned beside a new seat on the bank in memory of Malcolm ‘Endrick’ Prescott.
This thoughtfulness has, however, not extended to the next stage of the walk and the crossing of the tributary which ﬂows into the Endrick. Without a bridge some stepping stones are in place at the estuary, but it is awkward and great care is required on crossing. It is to be hoped that some thing will be put in place in the future by the relevant authority. Having crossed the tributory the walk passes by the Wester Ballochruin Woods Project on the wider banking which is ‘regenerating the native woodland and wildlife habitats. It then climbs up and turns right onto the footpath alongside the road bridge. Over the bridge the walk enters the second track on the right, which bends downhill, ﬁrst to the right and then to the left, before continuing ahead to pass by outbuildings, a duck pond and
a walled garden within the 100 acre Carbeth Estate. There is a “No Entry" sign for vehicles, but walkers are allowed on this track which soon passes the mansion on the left of Carbeth House, built in the 17th century and converted into ﬂats in the 1980s. The walk passes through a gate into the Stables Cottages and turns left to exit through another gate which leads to Drumtian Road. On the right is the signed path previously taken to Drumtian Ford and continuing up the hill retraces the outward walk back to the health
centre car park.