Castle House, Dunoon

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Castle House
Castle House Museum - geograph.org.uk - 838074.jpg
The castle and its gardens in 2008
Castle House, Dunoon
General information
Town or city Dunoon, Argyll and Bute
CountryScotland
Coordinates 55°56′46″N4°55′28″W / 55.946187°N 4.924443°W / 55.946187; -4.924443
Completed1822;202 years ago (1822)
Design and construction
Architect(s) David Hamilton

Castle House is situated in the Scottish town of Dunoon, Argyll and Bute. It sits on top of a promontory called Castle Hill, between West Bay and East Bay, overlooking Dunoon Pier and the Firth of Clyde. It was built in 1822, and designed by David Hamilton. It is a Category B listed structure. [1]

Contents

The house was built for James Ewing of Strathleven. Ewing was a merchant and slave owner and was described by biographer Stephen Mullen as "among the most financially successful of [Glasgow's] élite nineteenth-century sugar/slavery aristocracy". He used the profits from his business to buy and establish property across London. [2] The house was designed by architect David Hamilton who also designed Castle Toward and Hutchesons' Hospital. [3]

Dunoon Town Council purchased the house, for £4,600, [4] in 1893 and used it to house the Council Chamber and Tulloch Free Library. [1]

The flag post on Castle Hill marks the original site of a 13th-century Dunoon Castle. [5]

Current use

The building has been home to Castle House Museum since 1998. It is run by Dunoon & Cowal Heritage Trust. [5]

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References

  1. 1 2 Castle House, Castle GardensHistoric Environment Scotland
  2. Mullen, Stephen (2016). "Ewing, James (1775–1853), West India merchant, slave owner, and civic leader" . Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/53100 . Retrieved 7 October 2020.(Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  3. Scott, Ronald David (2005). The Cemetery and the City: The Origins of the Glasgow Necropolis, 1825-1857 (PhD). University of Glasgow. p. 26. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  4. Surveyor, Volume 33 (1908), p. 801
  5. 1 2 About Us – Castle House Museum official website