Mugdock Country Park

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Mugdock Country Park
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Mugdock Castle, Mugdock Country Park, East Dunbartonshire - geograph.org.uk - 47908.jpg
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Mugdock Country Park
Type Country park
Location East Dunbartonshire/Stirlingshire, Scotland
Nearest city Glasgow
Area260 ha (642 acres) [1]
StatusOpen

Mugdock Country Park is a country park and historical site located partly in East Dunbartonshire and partly in Stirling, in the former county of Stirlingshire, Scotland. It is around 10 miles (16 kilometres) north of Glasgow, next to Milngavie (from which the park is easily accessible), and covers an area of 260 hectares (642 acres). [2]

Contents

The park includes the remains of the 14th-century Mugdock Castle, stronghold of the Grahams of Montrose, [3] and the ruins of the 19th-century Craigend Castle, a Gothic Revival mansion and former zoo. [4] The park has a moot hill [5] and gallowhill, [6] historical reminders of the baronial feudal right, held by lairds, of "pit and gallows". [7] Also located in the park are the remains of numerous anti-aircraft trenches, which were established during World War II as part of the Clyde Basin anti-aircraft defense system. [8]

The park was also the home of the Mugstock Music Festival, at which performers have included Emma Pollock, [9] Dodgy and Beats Antique. [10]

Natural features include the Allander Water, [11] Mugdock Loch [12] and Drumclog Muir, [13] all of which provide popular walking and cycling routes with tourists. Visitor facilities include a visitor centre and cafe in the former Craigend Castle stable block, and a garden centre and restaurant in the walled garden. [14]

The park is served by the Mugdock and East Dunbartonshire Countryside Ranger Service. [15]

The West Highland Way, a linear long distance footpath between Milngavie and Fort William, passes through the outer areas of the park alongside the local Clyde Coastal Path. [16]

Close again to the country park is Milngavie water treatment works, another popular walking and tourist attraction. It is situated just south of Mugdock and connects to the park via Drumclog Moor. [13]

Related Research Articles

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Milngavie is a town in East Dunbartonshire, Scotland and a suburb of Glasgow. It is on the Allander Water, at the northwestern edge of Greater Glasgow, and about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) from Glasgow city centre. It neighbours Bearsden. Milngavie is a commuter town, with much of its working population travelling to Glasgow to work or study. The town is served by Milngavie railway station on the North Clyde Line of the SPT rail network, which links it to Central Glasgow.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Lanarkshire</span> Council area of Scotland

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">East Dunbartonshire</span> Council area of Scotland

East Dunbartonshire is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the north of Glasgow and contains many of the affluent areas to the north of the city, including Bearsden, Milngavie, Milton of Campsie, Balmore and Torrance, as well as many of the city's commuter towns and villages. East Dunbartonshire also shares borders with North Lanarkshire, Stirling and West Dunbartonshire. The council area covers parts of the historic counties of Dunbartonshire, Lanarkshire and Stirlingshire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Highland Way</span> Long distance footpath in Scotland

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dunbartonshire</span> Historic county in Scotland

Dunbartonshire or the County of Dumbarton is a historic county, lieutenancy area and registration county in the west central Lowlands of Scotland lying to the north of the River Clyde. Dunbartonshire borders Perthshire to the north, Stirlingshire to the east, Lanarkshire and Renfrewshire to the south, and Argyllshire to the west.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stirlingshire</span> Historic county in Scotland

Stirlingshire or the County of Stirling, Scottish Gaelic: Siorrachd Sruighlea) is a historic county and registration county of Scotland. Its county town is Stirling.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cowal</span> Human settlement in Scotland

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Sir Hugh Fraser, 2nd Baronet, formerly 2nd Baron Fraser of Allander, was chairman of the House of Fraser, Harrods, George Outram and Company, and Whyte and Mackay. He lived at Mugdock, near Milngavie, Scotland. He was the son of Hugh Fraser, 1st Baron Fraser of Allander, and inherited the Barony of Fraser of Allander on his father's death in 1966, but disclaimed it for life the same year. He has three daughters: Patricia, Belinda and Caroline. He was not related to the politician Sir Hugh Fraser.


|caption = Entrance front of Balloch Castle |locmapin = Scotland West Dunbartonshire |map_caption = Location in West Dunbartonshire |coordinates = 56.013°N 4.583°W |designation1 = category a 14 May 1971 |designation1_number = LB123 |designation2 = Inventory of gardens and designed landscapes |designation2_date = 1 July 1987 |designation2_number = GDL00042 |designation2_offname = }}

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Balloch Country Park</span>

Balloch Country Park is a 200-acre (0.81 km2) country park on the southern tip of Loch Lomond in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. It was recognised as a country park in 1980, and it is the only country park in the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park, Scotland's first national park. Balloch Country Park features nature trails, guided walks, a walled garden, and picnic lawns with views of the Loch. It was originally developed in the early 19th century by John Buchanan, a partner in the Glasgow and Ship Bank, and the gardens were significantly improved by the Dennistoun-Browns, who bought the estate in 1851. Buchanan also built Balloch Castle, which now serves as the park's visitors' center.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Strathblane</span> Human settlement in Scotland

Strathblane is a village and parish in the registration county of Stirlingshire, situated in the southwestern part of the Stirling council area, in central Scotland. It lies at the foothills of the Campsie Fells and the Kilpatrick Hills on the Blane Water, 12 miles (19 km) north of Glasgow, 14 miles (23 km) east-southeast of Dumbarton, and 20 miles (32 km) southwest of Stirling. Strathblane is a dormitory village for Greater Glasgow, and has a total resident population of 1,811.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Milngavie water treatment works</span> Water treatment works in East Dunbartonshire, Scotland

Milngavie water treatment works is a Scottish Water-operated water treatment facility located in Milngavie, Scotland. It is the primary source of water for the city of Glasgow in western Scotland. Part of the Victorian Loch Katrine water project, construction was started in 1855 and the works was opened by Queen Victoria in 1859, replacing the previous water supply sourced from the River Clyde at Cuningar Loop in Dalmarnock.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mugdock Castle</span>

Mugdock Castle was the stronghold of the Clan Graham from the middle of the 13th century. Its ruins are located in Mugdock Country Park, just west of the village of Mugdock in the parish of Strathblane. The castle is within the registration county of Stirlingshire, although it is only 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) north of Milngavie, East Dunbartonshire, on the northern outskirts of Greater Glasgow.

Balmore is a small village formerly in the county of Stirlingshire, but now lies in East Dunbartonshire, Scotland, located 1 km west of Torrance and 5 km east of Milngavie.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Craigend Castle</span>

Craigend Castle is a ruined country house, located to the north of Milngavie, in Stirlingshire, central Scotland.

A moot hill or mons placiti is a hill or mound historically used as an assembly or meeting place, as a moot hall is a meeting or assembly building, also traditionally to decide local issues. In early medieval Britain, such hills were used for "moots", meetings of local people to settle local business. Among other things, proclamations might be read; decisions might be taken; court cases might be settled at a moot. Although some moot hills were naturally occurring features or had been created long before as burial mounds, others were purpose-built.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexander Ramsay (architect)</span>

Alexander Ramsay was a Scottish builder and architect.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mugdock</span> Human settlement in Scotland

Mugdock is a hamlet in Stirlingshire, Scotland. It lies to the south of the village of Strathblane, and was in the civil parish.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Drowning pit</span>

A drowning pit, drowning pool, murder-pool or murder hole was a well or pond specifically for executing women and girls under Scottish feudal laws. Rivers or lochans were used if conveniently situated near to a moot hill, where the baronial court dempster would announce the death penalty. The term fossa was also used, as in the phrase ‘furca and fossa’.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glasgow Corporation Water Works</span>

Glasgow Corporation Water Works and its successors have provided a public water supply and sewerage and sewage treatment services to the Scottish city of Glasgow. There were several schemes in the early part of the 1800s, with the Glasgow Company which was established in 1806 pumping filtered water from the River Clyde into the city. The Gorbals Gravitation Water Company was established in 1846, and brought water from reservoirs to the south-west of the city. However, an outbreak of cholera in 1848/1849, in which 4,000 people died, concentrated the minds of Glasgow Council, and in 1855 a scheme to use water from Loch Katrine, 36 miles (58 km) to the north, was authorised. The work required at Loch Katrine was quite modest, and the major construction work was the building of an aqueduct to carry the water to the city by gravity.

References

  1. "Mugdock Country Park". VisitScotland. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
  2. "Exploring The Castles & History of Mugdock Country Park". www.lifeofgibbers.com. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
  3. "Mugdock Castle". Castles for Battles. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
  4. "Criagend Castle". britainirelandcastles.com. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
  5. "Moot Hill". Mugdock Country Park. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
  6. "Our Built Heritage The Gallowhill". Mugdock Country Park. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
  7. "The dark history of Scotland's drowning pools". The Scotsman. 18 March 2016. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
  8. Historic Environment Scotland. "Mugdock Wood, Battery (105603)". Canmore . Retrieved 7 March 2020.
  9. Nan Spowart (18 July 2016). "Emma Pollock headlines this year's MugStock Festival". The National. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
  10. "Hundreds expected to flock to MugStock as festival gets under way". Evening Times. 7 August 2015. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
  11. "5 River Allander Circuit" (PDF). Bearsden and Milngavie Ramblers. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
  12. "Mugdock Loch". Gazetteer for Scotland. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
  13. 1 2 "Mugdock Country Park & Milngavie Reservoirs". Ramblers Association. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
  14. "Mugdock Country Park". Visit Scotland. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
  15. "Countryside Ranger Service - Practical Nature Conservation". Mugdock Country Park. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
  16. "Milngavie to Drymen". West Highland Way Management Group. Retrieved 7 March 2020.

See also

Coordinates: 55°58′N4°19′W / 55.967°N 4.317°W / 55.967; -4.317