page_title: Callendar House
section_title: Forbes family
hierarchical_section_title: Callendar House / History / Forbes family
caption_attribution_description: English: Forbes Mausoleum by Callendar House
context_page_description: Callendar House is a mansion set within the grounds of Callendar Park in Falkirk, central Scotland. During the 19th century, it was redesigned and extended in the style of a French Renaissance château fused with elements of Scottish baronial architecture. However, the core of the building is a 14th-century tower house.
  During its 600-year history, Callendar House has played host to many prominent historical figures, including Mary, Queen of Scots, Oliver Cromwell, Bonnie Prince Charlie and Queen Victoria. The current building is by far the most substantial historical building in the area, with a 300 ft frontage. It is protected as a category A listed building, and the grounds are included in the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland, the national listing of significant gardens.
context_section_description: In 1783 the estate went to auction after the York Buildings Company was forced to sell its assets. Lord Errol bid for the estate, but was outbid by an Aberdeen coppersmith William Forbes (1756–1823), a businessman who specialised in contracts to supply the Royal Navy. William Forbes bought the house and estate for £100,000, though it was rumoured at the time that the timber alone on the estate was worth double that. Forbes made significant alterations to the house, and his son and grandson further altered the building by adding French-château-style roofs. James Craig prepared drawings in 1785, though it is not certain these were carried out. In 1827 a scheme of internal alterations was undertaken, to designs by David Hamilton. Forbes' descendants kept the house for almost 200 years, after which it fell into disrepair.
  When construction of the Union Canal was proposed, William Forbes objected to it passing through his estate, in view of Callendar House. This necessitated building a 696 yd (636 m) tunnel through Prospect Hill to the west.
  The dovecote which cost £84 was built in the 1850s; the kennels below were heated.
caption: Forbes Mausoleum
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