Lennox Castle Hospital, Lennoxtown, east Dunbartonshire, was opened on September 24, 1936, by Lord Provost John Stewart as the Lennox Castle Certified Institution for Mental Defectives.
Lennox Castle was built between 1837 and 1841, in the square style of a Norman castle for John Lennox Kincaid by architect David Hamilton (1768 - 1843). The large, three storey red sandstone mansion has battlemented corner towers, a five story tower, and a large entrance porch to the north.
During World War I, the castle was requisitioned for use as a military hospital.
In 1927, the castle was purchased by Glasgow Corporation for £25,000, together with 494 ha (1,222 acres) of the Lennox Kincaid estate, as part of its plans to create a hospital for the mentally-ill. Built to the designs of Wylie, Shanks and Wylie, the new institution provided twenty dormitory blocks, with sixty beds in each, accommodating a total of twelve hundred patients, six hundred males and six hundred females in separate sections. Each section also had its own dining hall, kitchen, and workshop. There was also a new central administration block, medical block, visitors' tea-room, assembly hall with cinema, and forty additional houses which served as married quarters for the staff. During the construction phase, the castle building was used to house the hospital's patients. When the works were completed, the castle then became the nurses home.
In 1936, Lennox Castle Certified Institution for Mental Defectives officially opened.
During World War II, the castle was again requisitioned for use as a hospital, with patients being transferred to huts erected in the grounds - a temporary arrangement that lasted for some forty years.
In 1942, the hospital allocated beds to maternity patients, as part of another temporary arrangement, this one lasting until 1964.
On November 3, 1948, Marie McDonald McLaughlin Lawrie was born at Lennoxtown - now better known as singer Lulu Kennedy-Cairns, OBE.
In 1987, the original Lennox Castle building was no longer required by the hospital, and was vacated.
A phased closure plan for the hospital began in the 1990s, including a planned resettlement of all the residents. Lennox Castle Hospital closed in April, 2002.
By 2004, only the original Lennox Castle building remained on the site, all other hospital buildings having been demolished, and the site cleared.
On May 11, 2006, the first ground was broken to mark the beginning of construction of Celtic Football Club's new training facilities on the site, due for completion in the summer of 2007.
Builders Mactaggart & Mickel have also been granted consent to regenerate the site of the former Lennox Castle Hospital with a substantial mix of 76 properties in their Campsie View development.
Lennox Castle was severely damaged by fire on May 19, 2008. Part of the tower was destroyed, and movement of the stonework may lead to the demolition of the building. The cause of the fire is undetermined.
Lennox Castle was built between 1837 and 1841, in the square style of a Norman castle for John Lennox Kincaid by architect David Hamilton (1768 - 1843). The large, three storey red sandstone mansion has battlemented corner towers, a five story tower, and a large entrance porch to the north.
During World War I, the castle was requisitioned for use as a military hospital.
In 1927, the castle was purchased by Glasgow Corporation for £25,000, together with 494 ha (1,222 acres) of the Lennox Kincaid estate, as part of its plans to create a hospital for the mentally-ill. Built to the designs of Wylie, Shanks and Wylie, the new institution provided twenty dormitory blocks, with sixty beds in each, accommodating a total of twelve hundred patients, six hundred males and six hundred females in separate sections. Each section also had its own dining hall, kitchen, and workshop. There was also a new central administration block, medical block, visitors' tea-room, assembly hall with cinema, and forty additional houses which served as married quarters for the staff. During the construction phase, the castle building was used to house the hospital's patients. When the works were completed, the castle then became the nurses home.
In 1936, Lennox Castle Certified Institution for Mental Defectives officially opened.
During World War II, the castle was again requisitioned for use as a hospital, with patients being transferred to huts erected in the grounds - a temporary arrangement that lasted for some forty years.
In 1942, the hospital allocated beds to maternity patients, as part of another temporary arrangement, this one lasting until 1964.
On November 3, 1948, Marie McDonald McLaughlin Lawrie was born at Lennoxtown - now better known as singer Lulu Kennedy-Cairns, OBE.
In 1987, the original Lennox Castle building was no longer required by the hospital, and was vacated.
A phased closure plan for the hospital began in the 1990s, including a planned resettlement of all the residents. Lennox Castle Hospital closed in April, 2002.
By 2004, only the original Lennox Castle building remained on the site, all other hospital buildings having been demolished, and the site cleared.
On May 11, 2006, the first ground was broken to mark the beginning of construction of Celtic Football Club's new training facilities on the site, due for completion in the summer of 2007.
Builders Mactaggart & Mickel have also been granted consent to regenerate the site of the former Lennox Castle Hospital with a substantial mix of 76 properties in their Campsie View development.
Lennox Castle was severely damaged by fire on May 19, 2008. Part of the tower was destroyed, and movement of the stonework may lead to the demolition of the building. The cause of the fire is undetermined.
