Lennox Castle

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Lennox Castle

Lennox Castle is a ruined castle not far from the Scottish town of Lennoxtown in East Dunbartonshire . The building is located on a spacious plot of land with numerous outbuildings to the west of the village. In 1973 Lennox Castle was listed in the Scottish Monuments List in the highest category A.

history

Members of the Kincaid of that Ilk clan built their ancestral home, Kincaid House, in what is now Milton of Campsie in the 1810s . The descendant John Lennox Kincaid had Lennox Castle built a few kilometers west at the foot of the Campsie Fells from 1837 . As an architect, David Hamilton was responsible for the planning. Lennox Castle was finally completed in 1841. Among other things, the House of Commons Charles Bateman-Hanbury-Kincaid-Lennox lived on the property. He married the heiress of Lennox Castle in 1861 and took her name.

In 1927 the Glasgow Corporation bought the 494 acre property for £ 25,000 to operate a psychiatric clinic. New buildings to accommodate 600 male and 600 female patients have been added. In addition, an administration building was built, while Lennox Castle itself housed the staff. Another 40 houses were built to accommodate the families of the workforce. The facility was officially opened in September 1936. At the beginning of the Second World War , a military hospital was also set up on the grounds of Lennox Castle. In 1941 a maternity ward was added, which closed again in 1964. The clinic reached its highest occupancy rate with 1620 patients in the 1970s. In 1987 the nurses' home was closed. The clinic itself was gradually wound up between 1990 and 2002. All additionally constructed buildings were demolished. In 2006, the football club Celtic Glasgow established a training ground on the property.

Status

Since the closure of the nurses' home, which was housed in Lennox Castle, the condition of the building has deteriorated noticeably. A few years later, it was added to the list of endangered buildings in Scotland. During an inspection in 1992, the windows on the ground floor were boarded up. Nevertheless, vandalism has been reported. Overall, however, the building fabric was rated as good. The east facade had a diagonal crack, which could indicate movement due to rotting beams. Due to a damaged roof, water pulled into the masonry, especially on the upper floor. The ceilings have already been propped up to secure them. The interior was partially damaged, but overall in good condition. In 1993 the Western Properties Company acquired the property for £ 160,000. The following application for conversion to the establishment of 47 apartments was rejected. By 1998 the condition had deteriorated significantly. The lock was careless and numerous windows were thrown in. The restoration cost was estimated at £ 240,000. In 2001 most of the soil collapsed. Six years later, Lennox Castle was already in complete ruin. With the exception of the lavishly designed entrance hall, most of the interior was destroyed. Graffiti was also reported. In 2008 the ruin burned out. In the following years, other parts of the building collapsed. Today Lennox Castle is classified as a ruin of the highest danger level.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Listed Building - Entry . In: Historic Scotland .
  2. ↑ a b Lennox Castle. In: David Munro, Bruce Gittings: Scotland. An Encyclopedia of Places & Landscapes. Collins et al., Glasgow 2006, ISBN 0-00-472466-6 .
  3. ^ Lennox Castle. In: Francis H. Groome: Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland: A Survey of Scottish Topography, Statistical, Biographical and Historical. Volume 4: (Har - Lib). Thomas C. Jack, Grange Publishing Works, Edinburgh et al. 1885, p. 496 .
  4. ↑ Entry on buildingsatrisk.org.uk

Web links

Commons : Lennox Castle  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 55 ° 58 ′ 38.5 "  N , 4 ° 14 ′ 7.9"  W.