Craigend Castle is a ruined country house, located to the north of

Milngavie Milngavie ( ; gd, Muileann-Ghaidh) is a town in East Dunbartonshire, Scotland and a suburb of Glasgow. It is on the Allander Water, at the northwestern edge of Greater Glasgow, and about from Glasgow city centre. It neighbours Bearsden. Milnga ...

, in

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, central

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...

Early history

The lands of Craigend were part of the Barony of Mugdock in medieval times, but the estate was sold in the mid-17th century to the Smith family. John Smith (1724–1812) was born at Craigend and became a merchant and the founder, in 1751, of booksellers John Smith & Son. John Smith built a plain house on the estate, but after his death, in 1816, his son, James Smith, incorporated that house in a much more ornate mansion. It was built by Alexander Ramsay, initially using designs by James Smith of Jordanhill, in what is described as Regency Gothic style.

1851

Craigend was sold to Sir Andrew Buchanan, the former Ambassador to the Habsburg court in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, in 1851. James Outram, chartered accountant and nephew of George Outram the one-time owner of the

Glasgow Herald ''The Herald'' is a Scottish broadsheet newspaper founded in 1783. ''The Herald'' is the longest running national newspaper in the world and is the eighth oldest daily paper in the world. The title was simplified from ''The Glasgow Herald'' in ...

newspaper, later leased the Castle from the Buchanan family in the early years of the 20th Century.

1920s

In 1920, Craigend Castle was tenanted by Sir Harold E. Yarrow, Chairman & Managing Director of

Yarrow Shipbuilders Yarrow Shipbuilders Limited (YSL), often styled as simply Yarrows, was a major shipbuilding firm based in the Scotstoun district of Glasgow on the River Clyde. It is now part of BAE Systems Surface Ships, owned by BAE Systems, which has also ...

, who moved there from 'Fairlawn', Ralston Road,

Bearsden Bearsden () is a town in East Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the northwestern fringe of Greater Glasgow. Approximately from Glasgow City Centre, the town is effectively a suburb, and its housing development coincided with the 1863 introduction ...

. Glasgow businessman Andrew Wilson and his

zoologist Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and ...

son, William, bought part of Craigend Estate from the Buchanan family and opened a zoo at Craigend Castle and stables in 1949, with various exotic animals, but it failed to attract significant visitors and eventually closed in 1955. The stables and zoo grounds became part of

Mugdock Country Park Mugdock Country Park is a country park and historical site located partly in East Dunbartonshire and partly in Stirling, in the former county of Stirlingshire, Scotland. It is around north of Glasgow, next to Milngavie (from which the park is eas ...

but the main house has become a ruin. The stable block, located to the north of the house, now serves as the country park visitor centre. Craigend Estate, adjacent, is privately owned and is operated as a cattle and sheep farm.

Gallery

Image:Craigend2.jpg, Another view of the ruins Image:Craigend3.jpg, The former stable block

References

{{reflist

External links

The Glasgow Story: Craigend Castle
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20170329141726/http://www.mugdock-country-park.org.uk/builtheritage_famousresidents.html Notable historical figures with ties to the castle grounds Castles in East Dunbartonshire Category C listed buildings in East Dunbartonshire Listed houses in Scotland Country houses in East Dunbartonshire