Pollok Castle
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The lintel stone of the last building to be named Pollok Castle carried an inscription which indicates that a castle had stood on the site since the 12th century. The first record of a castle is on Timothy Pont’s map of c.1596, the Baronee de Renfrew no.33, where a castle named Pook is marked in the area of Over Pollok.
The First Known Castle
The first known castle existed as a traditional Scottish keep which Crawford in his “History of Renfrewshire” describes as “a handsome old tower, according to the ordinary model, with a large battlement”.
The Second Castle


In the late 17th century Sir Robert Pollok partially demolished the keep and according to Crawford, “raised a stately large house of a new model”. Sir Robert extended the castle in stages and also laid out the extensive grounds. A detailed description of this castle can be found in “The Castellated & Domestic Architecture of Scotland from the 12th to the 18th Century'”, by David MacGibbon & Thomas Ross, Vol lV 1892. In 1882, the castle was destroyed by fire and lay in ruins until 1886 when William Fergusson Pollok and his wife, Jean Johnston Fergusson Pollok, had it re-built in Scottish Baronial style.
The Third Castle


At the outbreak of the second world war, Miss Jane Dunlop Fergusson Pollok (20/5/1869 -14/4/1950) was the only member of the family living in the castle. It was requisitioned by the army and used as an ammunition store. Miss Fergusson Pollok continued to live in a wing of the castle until 1941 when she moved from the castle to Pinmore House, Pinwherry near Girvan. She moved out with fourteen pantechnicons containing furniture, carpets, paintings, and silver.
Miss Fergusson Pollok never returned to live at Pollok Castle and died in 1950 . Her heir, Robert Hew Fergusson Pollok who lived in Vancouver Island, arranged for the moveable assets of the estate to be shipped out to Canada. He gave instuctions for the castle to be demolished and the land sold. For the first time in eight centuries, the lands of Upper Pollok were no longer Pollok lands. Robert Hew Fergusson Pollok was the last of the long line of Polloks. He died in 1967 without issue.
Stone from the castle was used in the construction of the runway of Renfrew airport. The runway can be identified as a long straight section of the M8 between junction 26 and junction 27 on the approach to Glasgow Airport.
Today, no evidence of Pollok Castle remains. The original stables and the gardener’s cottage still stand in the grounds and are both private houses.


The east lodge was demolished in 2008 to make way for the commercial development at Greenlaw. It had a sculpture of the Pollok Coat of Arms over the front door. The West Lodge which still stands at the entrance to the estate has the initials of William Fergusson Pollok and Jean J Fergusson Pollok who rebuilt the Castle in 1886 - 1889

