Johnstone Castle

Last updated

Johnstone Castle
Johnstone Castle.jpg
Johnstone Castle in 2019
Location Johnstone, Renfrewshire, Scotland
Built1560
Listed Building – Category B

Johnstone Castle (Scots : Johnstoun Castle) is a structure and former mansion in the town of Johnstone in Renfrewshire, Scotland.

It belonged to the Houstons of Milliken, who acquired the estate of Easter Cochrane in 1773. The original structure was substantially enlarged in 1771 and 1812 by George Houston, [1] who had the structure remodelled in a castellated style complete with a turret at the left hand of the front elevation, possibly by the architect James Gillespie Graham. [2]

The most notable features were barrel vaulted rooms in the ground floor. Externally in addition to the battlemented decoration there was a rope-styled string course. Although the castle and policies were considered particularly picturesque, the continued growth of the town of Johnstone reduced its size and the estate had largely disappeared by the start of the 20th century. Much of the house was demolished in 1950, and most of the remainder of the grounds was purchased by the local authority for housing in 1956. [3]

Today all that remains is the central square tower along with a crow-stepped bartizaned section of an older date. The tower lay in disrepair until being purchased in 2001, and is now a private residence. It is a protected category B listed building. [4]

Frédéric Chopin

Johnstone Castle's principal claim to fame is a visit by the Polish composer Chopin in 1848. He had been invited by Anne Houston, wife of the then-5th laird of Johnstone Ludovick (1780-1862), as part of his Scottish tour. Anne's sister Jane Wilhelmina Stirling was a student and long-time friend of the composer, and had arranged the tour. Chopin was initially charmed by the estate and grounds, describing his stay in a letter: "I am staying at Mrs Houston's house. The Castle is very handsome, opulent, one leads life on a grand scale." [5] Unfortunately the weather deteriorated, and he wrote to his friend Wojciech Grzymała:

The weather has changed, and it is dreadful outside. I am feeling sick and depressed, and everyone wears me down with their excessive attentions. [6]

To compound his misery, he had a brush with a death more violent than a wasting. As the composer rode in a two-horse carriage, one of the animals reared and broke loose from the reins. Chopin was still inside when the carriage hit a tree and smashed into pieces. He managed to climb free of the wreckage. [7]

Related Research Articles

Frédéric Chopin Polish composer and pianist (1810–1849)

Frédéric François Chopin was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic period who wrote primarily for solo piano. He has maintained worldwide renown as a leading musician of his era, one whose "poetic genius was based on a professional technique that was without equal in his generation."

Johnstone Town in Scotland

Johnstone is a town in the administrative area of Renfrewshire and larger historic county of the same name, in the west central Lowlands of Scotland.

Sir William Pulteney, 5th Baronet Scottish advocate, landowner and politician (1729–1805)

Sir William Pulteney, 5th Baronet, known as William Johnstone until 1767, was a Scottish advocate, landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1768 and 1805. He was reputedly the wealthiest man in Great Britain. He profited from slave plantations in North America, and invested in building developments in Great Britain, including the Pulteney Bridge and other buildings in Bath, buildings on the sea-front at Weymouth in Dorset, and roads in his native Scotland.

Edinample Castle

Edinample Castle is a late 16th-century tower house on the southern shores of Loch Earn near Balquhidder in the Stirling council area of Scotland. It was designated as a Category A listed building in 1971.

Balnagown Castle

Balnagown Castle is located beside the village of Kildary in Easter Ross, part of the Highland area of Scotland. There has been a castle on the site since the 14th century, although the present building was remodelled in the 18th and 19th centuries. Balnagown is the ancestral home of the Chiefs of Clan Ross, although since the 1970s it has been owned by the Egyptian-born businessman Mohamed Al-Fayed. The castle is protected as a category B listed building, and the grounds are included on the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland, the national listing of significant gardens.

Corehouse

Corehouse is a country house and estate, located 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) to the south of Lanark, Scotland. The estate is by the Corra Linn Falls on the River Clyde, and close to the World Heritage Site of New Lanark. The house was designed by Sir Edward Blore for George Cranstoun, Lord Corehouse, and was completed in 1827.

Lauriston Castle

Lauriston Castle is a 16th-century tower house with 19th-century extensions overlooking the Firth of Forth, in Edinburgh, Scotland. It lies on Cramond Road South, between Cramond, Davidson's Mains, and Silverknowes. The substantial grounds, Lauriston Castle Gardens, operate as a local park. The castle was bequeathed to the Edinburgh Corporation and hosts the Lord Provost's annual Garden Party. The house is a Category A listed building and the grounds are included in the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland.

Kelburn Castle

Kelburn Castle is a large house near Fairlie, North Ayrshire, Scotland. It is the seat of the Earl of Glasgow. Originally built in the thirteenth century it was remodelled in the sixteenth century. In 1700 the first Earl made further extensions to the house in a manner not unlike a French château which is virtually how it appears today. In 1977 the house and grounds opened to the public as a country park. It is one of the oldest castles in Scotland and has been continuously inhabited by the same family for longer than any other. The castle is protected as a category A listed building, while the grounds are included in the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland.

Haltoun House Baronial house in City of Edinburgh, Scotland, UK

Haltoun House, or Hatton House, was a Scottish baronial mansion set in a park, with extensive estates in the vicinity of Ratho, in the west of Edinburgh City Council area, Scotland. It was formerly in Midlothian, and it was extensively photographed by Country Life in September 1911.

Airthrey Castle

Airthrey Castle is a historic building and estate which now forms part of the buildings and grounds of the University of Stirling in central Scotland. The 18th-century building with 19th-century additions occupies a beautiful setting in landscaped grounds in the southern edge of the Ochil Hills, above the Forth valley. It is located close to Bridge of Allan, 2 miles from the historic city of Stirling.

Dundas Castle

Dundas Castle is a 15th-century castle, with substantial 19th-century additions by William Burn, in the Dalmeny parish of West Lothian, Scotland. The home of the Dundas family since the Middle Ages, it was sold in the late 19th century and is currently the residence of politician and businessman Sir Jack Stewart-Clark. The tower house and the adjoining Tudor-Gothic mansion are listed separately as Category A buildings, and the grounds are included in Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland.

Craigiehall Country house in City of Edinburgh, Scotland

Craigiehall is a late-17th-century country house, which until 2015 served as the Headquarters of the British Army in Scotland. It is located close to Cramond, around 9 km (5.6 mi) west of central Edinburgh, Scotland.

Herbertshire Castle was a castle built in the Barony of Herbertshire in the early fifteenth century, located near Dunipace, Falkirk, central Scotland. It is said once to have been a royal hunting station. Its situation on elevated ground on the north bank of the River Carron, Forth was “very beautiful”. It was in an L-plan, dominated by a four-storey, rectangular, battlemented tower. In 1889 it was described as a large and lofty structure, measuring 63'6" in length, including the wing, by 43'8" in breadth. The small limb forming the L was 26'2" wide and appears to have projected about 12'. It formed a landmark for miles around. It was badly damaged in a fatal fire in 1914 which claimed three lives, and lay in ruins until its demolition in the 1950s. The grounds remain, as Herbertshire Castle Park, also known as Denny Gala Park. Nothing remains of the castle but an area of low scarps and shallow depressions.

Craigcrook Castle is a well-preserved 6,701 square feet (622.5 m2) castle giving its name to the Craigcrook district of Edinburgh, about 3 miles (4.8 km) west of the centre of Edinburgh, Scotland. The castle is primarily of the 17th century, though with later additions. In the 19th century, it was the home of Francis Jeffrey, Lord Jeffrey, and became known for its literary gatherings. It is a category B listed building.

Balcarres House

Balcarres House lies 1km north of the village of Colinsburgh, in the East Neuk of Fife, in eastern Scotland. It is centred on a mansion built in 1595 by John Lindsay (1552–1598), second son of David, 9th Earl of Crawford. The house became the family seat of the Earl of Crawford. The present house is the result of substantial extensions in the early nineteenth century, using part of a fortune made in India, but preserves much of the original mansion.

Stobo Castle Castle in Scottish Borders, Scotland, UK

Stobo Castle is located at Stobo in the Scottish Borders, in the former county of Peeblesshire. The Manor of Stobo was originally owned by the Balfour family. It became the family seat of the Graham-Montgomery Baronets from 1767. The building of the present castle began in 1805 and was completed in 1811 under the supervision of architects Archibald and James Elliot. It is currently operated as a health spa. The house is protected as a category A listed building, while the grounds are included in the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland, the national listing of significant parks and gardens.

Jane Stirling

Jean ("Jane") Wilhelmina Stirling was a Scottish amateur pianist who is best known as a student and later friend of Frédéric Chopin, who dedicated Nocturnes, Op. 55 to her. She took him on a tour of England and Scotland in 1848, and took charge of the disposal of his effects and manuscripts after his death in 1849. While there is no evidence they were lovers, she was often referred to, after Chopin's death, as "Chopin's widow".

Ardgowan House

Ardgowan House is a late 18th-century mansion and estate on the Firth of Clyde near Inverkip, Scotland. Ardgowan is located in Inverclyde, in the former county of Renfrewshire. The Ardgowan estate has been held by the Stewart family since the early 15th century: towards the end of that century, their tower house Ardgowan Castle was built within the site of the previous Inverkip Castle fortress. The present house was erected in 1797 and completed in 1801 from designs by Cairncross. It is the seat of the Shaw Stewart baronets, currently Sir Ludovic Houston Shaw Stewart, 12th Baronet of Greenock and Blackhall.

Ochiltree Castle, West Lothian 16th-century Scottish tower house

Ochiltree Castle is a 16th-century tower house a few miles south east of Linlithgow in West Lothian, Scotland. It is also described as a farmhouse and lairds house. Along with its boundary wall, the castle was designated as a Category A listed building in 1971.

Events from the year 1848 in Scotland.

References

  1. "Houston Family of Johnstone papers - Archives Hub". archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk. Retrieved 21 September 2021.
  2. Walker, Frank Arneil (1986) The South Clyde Estuary, RIAS
  3. Scott, Charles A. 'Burgh of Johnstone' in The Third Statistical Account of Scotland- The County of Renfrew (1962) (ed. Moisley et al), Collins
  4. Historic Environment Scotland. "Johnstone Castle, off Beith Road (Category B Listed Building) (LB35602)" . Retrieved 20 March 2019.
  5. quoted in Audrey Evelyn Bone, Jane Wilhelmina Stirling 1804-1859 (Self-published, 1960), p. 72.
  6. quoted in Zaluski, Iwo & Pamela (1993) The Scottish Autumn of Frederick Chopin, John Donald.
  7. Zaluski (1993)

Coordinates: 55°49′41″N4°30′28″W / 55.82806°N 4.50778°W / 55.82806; -4.50778