Bedlay Castle in Chryston, photographed by Thomas Annan in 1870.
The Bedlay and Mollins estate was gifted to the Cathedral Church of Glasgow by King William the Lion in the 12th century. The estate was held by the Boyd family c 1535 to 1642 and the oldest part of this L-plan tower house was erected during this period. It was probably also during this period that a "priest's hole" (a hiding place that was accessed by a secret panel in a window seat) was installed. The Roberton family acquired the castle and occupied it until 1786, making additions that included two turret towers and a garret.
The Glasgow tobacco merchant James Dunlop (b 1741) of Garnkirk acquired the estate of Bedlay and Mollins in 1786 but sold it in 1793 to another Glasgow merchant, John McKenzie. Bedlay subsequently passed to James Campbell of Petershill, for whom Campbell Street in the Gallowgate was named, and then the Christie family.
There are a number of ghost stories associated with the building.
Reference: Sp Coll Dougan Add. 73
Glasgow University Library, Special Collections
Keywords:
Bedlay Castle, Bedlay House, castles, country houses, ghosts, mansions, priests' holes, towers, turrets
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