Haggs Castle is a 16th-century

tower house A tower house is a particular type of stone structure, built for defensive purposes as well as habitation. Tower houses began to appear in the Middle Ages, especially in mountainous or limited access areas, to command and defend strategic points ...

, located in the neighbourhood of

Pollokshields Pollokshields (, Scots language, Scots: ''Powkshiels'') is an area in the Southside of Glasgow, Scotland. Its modern boundaries are largely man-made, being formed by the M77 motorway to the west and northwest with the open land of Pollok Count ...

, in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, Scotland. The richly decorated building was restored in the 19th century, and today is once more occupied as a residence.

History

The carved stone above the door records that Haggs was built in 1585 by Sir John Maxwell of Pollok and his wife Margaret Conyngham (Cunningham). It was built to replace the Maxwells' former residence, the Laigh Castle, a 14th-century building which stood to the west. Although built as the Maxwells' main residence, it was later used as a jointure house, or

dower house A dower house is usually a moderately large house available for use by the widow of the previous owner of an English, Scottish, Welsh or Irish estate (house), estate. The widow, often known as the "dowager", usually moves into the dower house fr ...

, being occupied by the lord's widow.Williamson, Riches and Higgs, p.571The Glasgow Story - Haggs Castle
/ref> The Maxwells, a covenanting family, were fined for nonconformist activities, although the change of government resulting from the revolution of 1688 saved them from paying up. In 1753 Haggs in turn was replaced as a residence and abandoned when

Pollok House Pollok House, formerly the family seat of the Stirling-Maxwell family, is located at Pollok Country Park in Glasgow, Scotland (which also houses the Burrell Collection). Overview The house, built in 1752 and originally thought to be designed ...

was completed. The castle basement was later used as a smithy.Salter, p.140 In the 1850s the remains were consolidated, and in the 1860s the castle was restored for the Maxwells'

factor Factor (Latin, ) may refer to: Commerce * Factor (agent), a person who acts for, notably a mercantile and colonial agent * Factor (Scotland), a person or firm managing a Scottish estate * Factors of production, such a factor is a resource used ...

. Further restorations and additions were undertaken by Sir John Stirling-Maxwell in 1899–1900. A renovation scheme was prepared by architects

MacGibbon and Ross David MacGibbon (2 April 1831 – 20 February 1902) and Thomas Ross (10 November 1839 – 4 December 1930) were Scottish architects. Their practice, MacGibbon and Ross was established in 1872 and continued until 1914. They are best known today f ...

, although their plans for a faithful restoration were not followed. In 1943 the castle was requisitioned by the military, and was later divided into flats. In 1972 the

Glasgow Corporation Glasgow City Council (Scottish Gaelic: ''Comhairle Baile Ghlaschu'') is the local government authority for Glasgow City council area, Scotland. In its modern form it was created in 1996. Glasgow was formerly governed by a corporation, also kno ...

bought the castle, converting it to serve as the Museum of Childhood. When this closed in 1998, the house once more became a private dwelling.

Architecture

Alexander Duff Robertson - Haggs-Castle-Robertson-93259 - Haggs Castle - 1843

Haggs Castle is an altered

L-plan An L-plan castle is a castle or tower house in the shape of an L, typically built from the 13th to the 17th century. This design is found quite frequently in Scotland, but is also seen in England, Ireland, Romania, Sardinia, and other locations ...

tower, of 4 storeys. The main block measures around 17 m by 7.2 m. The ground floor contained two chambers and a kitchen with a large fireplace. The main stair led up to the first floor, where a private room was located behind the main hall. Smaller corbelled stairs led to the upper storeys, which included a square cap house above the stair tower. Square and round gun loops were located around the tower. The most striking feature is the carved decoration, including cable-moulded string courses, moulded corbels, and the carving over the door. In the 19th century, the upper parts of the walls were rebuilt with larger dormer windows. Other windows were also enlarged, and the stair wing was rebuilt. Most obviously, a new entrance and stair were added to the south, and a new wing to the north.

Notes

References

*"Haggs Castle and its story", in Alison, Robert ''The Anecdotage of Glasgow'', 189

*Coventry, Martin ''The Castles of Scotland (3rd Edition)'', Goblinshead, 2001 *Mason, Gordon ''The Castles of Glasgow and the Clyde'', Goblinshead, 2000 *Salter, Mike ''The Castles of South West Scotland'', Folly Publications, 1993 *Williamson, E, Riches, A and Higgs, M ''The Buildings of Scotland: Glasgow'', Penguin, 1990 *

Historic Scotland Historic Scotland () was an executive agency of the Scottish Government, executive agency of the Scottish Office and later the Scottish Government from 1991 to 2015, responsible for safeguarding Scotland's built heritage and promoting its und ...

Listed Building Repor

*

National Monuments Record of Scotland The National Monuments Record of Scotland (NMRS) was the term used for the archive of the sites, monuments and buildings of Scotland's past maintained by the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. The Commission was ...

Site Reference NS56SE 41.0

{{coord, 55.8364, -4.2959, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Castles in Glasgow Category B listed buildings in Glasgow Listed castles in Scotland Country houses in Glasgow Clan Maxwell Lowland castles Pollokshields Dower houses Tower houses in Scotland