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 Sir William Maxwell of Calderwood settle the lands of Newark and Finleystone on his second son George Maxwell. It was he who built the original tower and gatehouse of Newark Castle in the early part of the 15th century. Overlooking the Clyde estuary towards Dumbarton, the castle stood within a barmkin wall with round towers in the corners, one of which remains. This was later converted in to a Dovecot. King James IV was a guest of the Maxwells at the castle in 1495 and is recorded as having bought fish there.
The Maxwells of Newark were much involved in local feuds especially the one between the Montgomerys and the Cunninghams. Siding with the latter, Sir Patrick Maxwell with several Cunninghams, ambushed and murdered Hugh Montgomery of Skelmorlie in 1586. This notorious ruffian was not above outrages within his own family and was accused of murdering his own cousin and namesake, Patrick Maxwell of Stainley. He was present at the Battle of Dryfe Sands in 1593 and the raid on Lockerbie two years later when he was “mortally wounded”. However, not mortally enough to kill him as he lived on for another thirty years. It was he who built the splendid Renaissance three-story central range between the tower and gatehouse in 1597, a date announced by the carved lintels over the dormer windows. George Maxwell of Newark and Tealing (1678-1744) assumed the name of his maternal grandfather, John Napier of Kilmahew when he inherited the barony of Kilmahew in 1694 He was much taken with the sporting field and spent a great deal on the horses which he stabled in stalls lined with silvered mirrors. He is reputed to have shod his horse with silver shoes to ride to his wedding. Such prolific spending led to the early break up of this vast inheritance and Newark was sold in 1705. Since early attempts to cut a navigable channel up to Glasgow had failed, the city fathers approached Sir George Maxwell in 1674 and bought eighteen acres of land to the west of the castle to construct a "New Port for Glasgow" which became the urban sprawl of Port Glasgow with its shipyards eventually engulfing the castle and hiding it from public view for nearly one hundred years. When the ship building industry collapsed after the second world war, the great sheds came down to reveal and almost perfectly preserved medieval castle, which is now in the care of Historic Scotland. | 
