Castle Toward
Castle Toward
The present Castle Toward was built in 1820 by Kirkman Finlay, former Lord Provost of Glasgow, as his family's country house. Later owned and extended by the Coats family of Paisley, the house is a castellated mansion, with Italian plasterwork installed in the public rooms in 1920. The grounds incorporate the ruins of the sixteenth century Toward Castle, the Chinese ponds, wooded areas, access to the shore, and views over the Firth of Clyde.
During the Second World War the castle was used as a combined operations centre (COC No. 2), HMS Brontosaurus.[2]
The castle, and 226 acres (0.91 km²) of woodland, were purchased by the Corporation of Glasgow in the 1940s. The building was used initially as a residential school for children recovering from illness or living in deprived home conditions. It then became available for residential education for children from all Glasgow Primary Schools and operated for 50 years as an outdoor education centre, being used by up to 400,000 children[clarification needed] from Glasgow and Renfrewshire.
With the reorganisation of local government in Scotland in 1996, ownership passed to Argyll and Bute Council and such centres were threatened with closure. A rescue operation was mounted by Castle Toward’s principal, Peter Wilson, and a company, Actual Reality was formed, which kept the castle in use as an outdoor activity centre, along with the council-owned centre at Ardentinny.[3] There have been several attempts by the council to sell the estate, but all have met with fierce opposition.[4]
On 13 November 2009 Argyll and Bute Council closed the castle on the grounds that it was unfit for purpose. This followed directly Actual Reality's request to upgrade the fire protection system following an audit of the castle in co-operation with Strathclyde Fire Brigade. There is currently a growing online campaign to save Castle Toward,[5] including a Facebook campaign which has attracted over 4000 members in its first month.[6]
CC Wikipedia
Castle Toward
Castle Toward
The present Castle Toward was built in 1820 by Kirkman Finlay, former Lord Provost of Glasgow, as his family's country house. Later owned and extended by the Coats family of Paisley, the house is a castellated mansion, with Italian plasterwork installed in the public rooms in 1920. The grounds incorporate the ruins of the sixteenth century Toward Castle, the Chinese ponds, wooded areas, access to the shore, and views over the Firth of Clyde.
During the Second World War the castle was used as a combined operations centre (COC No. 2), HMS Brontosaurus.[2]
The castle, and 226 acres (0.91 km²) of woodland, were purchased by the Corporation of Glasgow in the 1940s. The building was used initially as a residential school for children recovering from illness or living in deprived home conditions. It then became available for residential education for children from all Glasgow Primary Schools and operated for 50 years as an outdoor education centre, being used by up to 400,000 children[clarification needed] from Glasgow and Renfrewshire.
With the reorganisation of local government in Scotland in 1996, ownership passed to Argyll and Bute Council and such centres were threatened with closure. A rescue operation was mounted by Castle Toward’s principal, Peter Wilson, and a company, Actual Reality was formed, which kept the castle in use as an outdoor activity centre, along with the council-owned centre at Ardentinny.[3] There have been several attempts by the council to sell the estate, but all have met with fierce opposition.[4]
On 13 November 2009 Argyll and Bute Council closed the castle on the grounds that it was unfit for purpose. This followed directly Actual Reality's request to upgrade the fire protection system following an audit of the castle in co-operation with Strathclyde Fire Brigade. There is currently a growing online campaign to save Castle Toward,[5] including a Facebook campaign which has attracted over 4000 members in its first month.[6]
CC Wikipedia