IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Lyoncross Road, GLASGOW, G53 5UP

The viewpoint for this picture was the top of Crookston Castle, and the view is towards South Cardonald. The main road that is prominent at the centre of the image is Lyoncross Road. The line of distant towerblocks to the right of centre is located at Moss Heights Avenue. The area of woodland filling the middle distance in the right-hand side of the image is Crookston Wood.

This tower is the only part of the castle which still survives to its original height.

This picture was taken from an upper floor of Crookston Castle; see the main description: Image The existing ruined castle dates from the early fifteenth century, but the defensive earthworks were associated with an earlier (twelfth century) wooden structure that stood on the same site. As was mentioned in the main description, the position of an original causeway in the defensive ringwork that surrounds the castle site can still be discerned today. The defensive ditch is clearly visible here, but note a path that crosses it near the position of the red van (which is parked in front of a nearby lodge). It is at this point, where the path crosses the ditch, that the original causeway would have been located. In this image, on the near side of the ditch, just to the right of the path, it is just possible to make out something set into the grass. This is a plaque on a stone, and it reads: "Gatehouse - This is where the gatehouse would always have stood. The first Crookston Castle was built by Robert Croc, who gave his name to the area, before 1180. You can still see the mighty bank and ditch which protected his timber hall, kitchen, bakehouse and stables. The stone castle was built by the Stewarts of Darnley around 1400. This is a carefully planned tower house, with a smaller symmetrical tower at each corner. The castle was damaged in a siege in 1489, and although partially rebuilt was in ruins by 1600."

For the room, see Image This window is, with respect to that picture, out of shot to the right. It is also the higher of the two barred openings that can be seen high on the left in a picture of Image I have called it a window (it now overlooks a sheer drop above the Great Hall), but it would originally have been a doorway leading onto a floor (now long gone) in the centre of the castle.

This room, in the north-eastern tower of Crookston Castle, is immediately above the one shown in Image This final set of rungs leads to the rooftop: Image Out of shot to the right is a window (originally a doorway): Image

This room, in the north-eastern tower of Crookston Castle, is immediately above the one shown in Image, and the view direction is the same: the steps in that picture lead to the opening at the lower left corner of the present picture. The north-eastern tower is the only one that survives to its full height, and there is one more storey above this one. The castle would originally have been more symmetrical (see Image), but other towers have been destroyed. The barred window on the right is the lower of the two that can be seen, one above the other, high up on the left-hand side in a picture of Image When there were floors in the central part of the castle, this "window" would have been a doorway. For the next room up, see Image

This room in the north-eastern tower is reached by means of a spiral staircase (Image) from the doorway that is visible to the right of the fireplace in a view of Image There are another two storeys above this one; those rooms are superficially similar to this one, and they are reached by climbing sets of metal rungs, as the picture shows. For the next floor up, see Image From the topmost room (which is two storeys above the one in the present picture), more rungs lead to the rooftop. (On my last visit, I was allowed to ascend the castle after I had made it clear that I had no objection to climbing ladders in cramped spaces in near darkness; more light gets into the building now.)

The picture was taken within what remains of the Great Hall, now roofless; its fireplace is a prominent feature: Image The doorway to the right of the fireplace leads to a spiral staircase (Image), which in turn leads to the Lord's Bedchamber (Image); from there, modern metal rungs give access to another two storeys above that one (Image and Image – the barred windows of those rooms can be seen in the present picture), and finally to the rooftop; its fence can be seen at the upper left corner of the picture. Those rooms and the rooftop (Image) are parts of the north-eastern tower, the only one of the towers to survive to its full height; compare Image For a view from the fenced-off area at the top-left corner of the present picture, see Image The place from which the present picture was taken can be seen in that view. Click on the end-note title for other pictures of the castle.

See the main item: Image The fireplace shown here is in one of the upper floors of the castle, and is described by an accompanying plaque (which is visible to the right of the fireplace); it reads: "Fireplace - this warmed the high table end of the hall, where the Stewarts and their important guests sat. To the left you can see the outline of two shields which would have borne the coats of arms of the Stewarts of Darnley and one of their wives. This important part of the hall was lit by two high windows." As is obvious in a much wider view (Image), the hall is now entirely roofless. In the present picture, it is lit only by an overcast sky. The shields mentioned on the plaque are rather small, but are visible in this image as two faint heart-like shapes incised on a large stone which is the fifth up from the floor, immediately to the left of the opening of the fireplace. In the left-hand side of the image, another small plaque is visible through the doorway. It stands beside what is now a tall narrow window-like opening with a metal grill on it, and reads, in part: "These lockable cupboards provided secure storage for valuables in the days before banks."

The north-eastern tower is on the right, with its fenced-off rooftop: Image On the left are the remains of the south-eastern tower; when this was intact, the castle would have had a more symmetrical appearance. For the intact north-east tower, see also Image Click on the end-note title for related pictures. The Image is in the left background.