Lennox Castle is an abandoned castle in Lennoxtown, East Dunbartonshire, Scotland, approximately 12 miles (19 kilometres) north of Glasgow. [1] It is infamous for previously hosting Lennox Castle Hospital, Scotland's "largest institution for people with learning disabilities". [2]
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The castle was built between 1837 and 1841 by David Hamilton for John Lennox Kincaid, on the Lennox of Woodhead Estate, replacing Kincaid House. [3] In 1927, the castle and its land was purchased by the Glasgow Corporation, and converted into a hospital for people with learning disabilities; the hospital opened in 1936. [3] [2] The castle itself was the nurses' home, whilst its grounds provided accommodation for about 1,200 patients. [2] The Scotsman reports that soon afterwards, the facilities were "vastly overcrowded, understaffed and underfunded". [1]
By 1982, 1360 patients between the ages of 10 and 80 years old were looked after by around 500 staff- with fewer than half of these being trained nurses. The Scottish Hospitals Advisory Service had visited the year before and recommended a further 100 staff. [4] The care provided by the hospital was reported to be poor, with patients being malnourished. [2]
There was also a separate maternity unit in operation between the 1940s and 1960s; [3] [5] singer Lulu and footballer John Brown were among the babies born there. [6] [7]
This hospital was closed in 2002, [8] as a reflection in changes to how society treated patients with learning disabilities with a view to keeping them in the community. [2] [9] Further it was noted that patients were treated poorly by staff. [1]
The castle itself (Category A listed since the 1970s) [10] is in ruins following a fire in 2008. Part of the grounds of the castle were converted into Celtic F.C.'s Lennoxtown Training Centre (opened in 2007), [1] [6] while other parts towards Lennoxtown village have become a long-term residential development to be completed in several phases, known as Campsie Village. [11] [12]
In 2024, the castle was used as the setting of an indie short film, "Diokophobia", produced by YouTube film company 'Operating System Films'.
