MYSTERY this week surrounded the future of an award-winning country house hotel in Clydesdale.

Nov 12 2009 by George Topp, Lanark & Carluke

The 26-bedroom Shieldhill Castle has been closed and deserted for more than a week – leading to speculation it is closing.

The hotel, which has featured in at least two prominent television programmes, closed suddenly after a wedding two weeks ago, say neighbours.

This week phone calls to the hotel, near Quothquan, were unanswered. Visitors were greeted by curtained or shuttered windows on the ground floor, and a locked front door.

A woman living in a cottage in the grounds, who did not identify herself, said the hotel was closed for the winter and said it might not reopen.

When asked how to contact the owner, Christina Lamb, she replied: “You will not find the owners.”

On Wednesday VisitScotland, who class Shieldhill as a four-star country house hotel, still had the property on their accommodation website and admitted they had not been told of any problems. A booking agency for a haunted house ghost weekend at the hotel in February were still taking bookings.

According to tourist sources, one couple getting married in February at another hotel and who had also booked guests into Shieldhill have now received a letter from lawyers saying the Shieldhill is closed and they might not get their £400 deposit back.

Speculation about the hotel’s future is rife in the area, with neighbours claiming former staff had been paid off and the hotel closed.

The four-star hotel, which boasts an AA two rosette dining room, cost, according to their 2008 website tarriff, £100 to £248 per night, or, for exclusive use, between £4500 to £6500 per day.

Prior to becoming a hotel in 1959, Shieldhill Castle was the seat of the Chancellor family for over 750 years. The Chancellors are recorded as one of the oldest families in the area, having come from France at the time of the Norman Conquests, along with the Somervilles of Carnwath, with whom there are long-standing connections. The hotel’s keep is claimed to be haunted by the Grey Lady, thought to be a daughter of the Chancellor Family.

The luxury hotel is a popular location for weddings and even has its own chapel. Catering for parties of up to 200 people, the hotel has also catered for shooting parties.

Shieldhill’s website says: “Whether you are looking for grouse, partridge or pheasant; several good driven days or just the excuse to get away with some friends, Shieldhill can create the perfect trip for you.

“Your resident hosts Bob and Christina Lamb have been keen sportsmen all their lives.”

In 2003 Shieldhill Castle Sporting took part in the BBC 2 series My Week in the Real World. The programme sent MPs to spend a week in the life of an everyday voter. The Shieldhill programme put Liverpool MP Peter Kilfolyle in the role of a shoot manager. Peter spent a week at Shieldhill, and its sporting estates.

Chef Nick Nairn was there in March last year, to film Christina in the kitchen for Landward, a programme later shown in two parts.

Earlier this year Christina Lamb was Highly Commended in the Hotel Chef of the Year category of the 2009 Scottish Chef Awards, the fourth year running Shieldhill has attained this distinction.

AWARDS: Shieldhill Castle owner Christina Lamb pictured with chef Ashley Gallant and Irish comedian Dara Ó Briain at the Food and Wine Awards.