Publication Account
Date 1985
Event ID 1016545
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Publication Account
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1016545
Argyll Lodging has been described as 'the most important surviving town house of its period in Scotland' and earns this reputation on account of its good state of preservation and the architectural quality of the building. Originally built in the 16th century, it was acquired by the Crown about 1800, serving as a military hospital until the 1950s, and it is now in use as a Youth Hostel.
Although the house gives the superficial impression of belonging to a single phase, it underwent a long period of building and alteration beginning in the 16th century, and reaching its apogee in 1674. Today, the building is ranged around three sides of an irregular courtyard, while the fourth side, which includes the entrance gateway, is enclosed by a screen-wall. The earliest part of the building forms the ground-floor of the north-east side of the court; this was later expanded to the south to form an L-shaped block, and subsequently the main north range was extended. About 1630 the site was acquired by William Alexander, Viscount Stirling, a prominent courtier of Charles I, who carried out extensive alterations including the construction of the east range and the modification of the south block. Alexander died in 1640 and, following his death, the house was taken over by the Town Council with a view to converting it to an almshouse (see also Mar's Work, no. 12), but in 1666 the site was bought by Archibald, 9th Earl of Argyll. The Earl finished the south range in 1674, and the completion of the project is commemorated in a datestone which lies over the doorway to the staircasetower in the south-west angle of the courtyard. A century later the house was sold by the 4th Duke of Argyll and ultimately passed to the Crown who are still responsible for its guardianship.
Information from ‘Exploring Scotland’s Heritage: The Clyde Estuary and Central Region’, (1985).
