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Lennox Castle

Date 23 December 1992

Event ID 896680

Category Management

Type Site Management

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/896680

Large 3 storey red sandstone mansion built in Norman castle style. The walls are castellated and battlemented, and an imposing porte-cochere frames the northern entrance. 4 storey pavilions stand at each corner and, along with the 5 storey tower, display decorative embattled parapets. A profusion of round-headed windows with dripmoulds and glazing bars adorns the facade. Pitched, slated roofs are concealed behind crenellated parapets. An enclosed courtyard lies to the west side. The interior features some fine plasterwork, timber mouldings, shutters, and other decorative features.

In April 1925 Glasgow Parish Council resolved to build a new Mental Deficiency Institution under the provisions of the 1913 Act. In 1927 the castle and its estate were purchased and plans drawn up for what was intended to be the largest and best equipped hospital of its type in Britain.

Providing 1,200 beds at the cost of £1.25m, work began converting the estate to the designs of Wylie, Shanks and Wylie. Lennox Castle itself was adapted into a nurses home. Later requisitioned under the Emergency Hospital Scheme, with ward huts constructed near the Castle, during WW2. A maternity unit was subsequently established on the site in 1941 which operated until 1964. (H.Richardson) In 1987, the castle, previously used for nurses' accommodation, was vacated.

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