This site is interior accessible on special open days only. The grounds are open year round for visitors.
Built next to the Antonine Wall, Kinneil House was the chief seat of the powerful and wealthy Hamilton family. Subject to extensions and refurbishments over 300 years, it reflected the Hamiltons’ high status both inside and out.
The house has a good claim to being the birthplace of the improved steam engine. The pioneering Scots engineer James Watt developed his first engine in a small workshop here in the 1700s.