Castle Toward

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Country house in Scotland

title: "Castle Toward" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["castles-in-argyll-and-bute", "category-b-listed-buildings-in-argyll-and-bute", "listed-castles-in-scotland", "inventory-of-gardens-and-designed-landscapes", "clan-lamont", "cowal"] description: "Country house in Scotland" topic_path: "geography/united-kingdom" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castle_Toward" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Country house in Scotland ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox building"]

FieldValue
nameCastle Toward
native_nameCaisteal an Toll Àird
native_name_langGaelic
imageCastle Toward - geograph.org.uk - 5843976.jpg
image_size250px
image_captionThe castle in 2018
map_typeScotland Argyll and Bute
map_captionCastle Toward within Argyll and Bute
statusPrivate
building_typeCountry House
architectural_styleGothic Revival
locationToward, Argyll and Bute, Scotland
location_city
location_countryScotland
coordinates
designationsScheduled Monument:
start_date1820
demolition_date
clientKirkman Finlay
owner{{plainlist
materialStone
architectDavid Hamilton
footnotesNational
::

| name = Castle Toward | native_name = Caisteal an Toll Àird | native_name_lang = Gaelic | logo = | logo_size = | logo_alt = | logo_caption = | image = Castle Toward - geograph.org.uk - 5843976.jpg | image_size = 250px | image_caption = The castle in 2018 | map_type = Scotland Argyll and Bute | map_alt = | map_caption = Castle Toward within Argyll and Bute | map_size = | map_dot_label = | map_dot_mark = | relief = | former_names = | alternate_names = | etymology = | status = Private | cancelled = | topped_out = | building_type = Country House | architectural_style = Gothic Revival | classification = | location = Toward, Argyll and Bute, Scotland | address = | location_city = | location_country = Scotland | coordinates = | designations = Scheduled Monument: | altitude = | current_tenants = | namesake = | groundbreaking_date = | start_date = 1820 | stop_date = | est_completion = | topped_out_date = | completion_date = | opened_date = | inauguration_date = | relocated_date = | renovation_date = | closing_date = | demolition_date = | cost = | ren_cost = | client = Kirkman Finlay | owner = {{plainlist|

Castle Toward () is a nineteenth-century country house in Argyll and Bute, Scotland.

Built in 1820, by Glasgow merchant Kirkman Finlay, it replaced the late medieval Toward Castle, formerly the ancestral home of the Clan Lamont. It was greatly extended in the early 20th century, and in the Second World War it served as HMS Brontosaurus. After the war it was sold to Glasgow Corporation and was used as an outdoor education facility until its closure in 2014. After a failed community buyout, Toward Castle and the estate were sold by Argyll and Bute Council to private owners in 2016. Castle Toward is a scheduled monument (LB5068).

History

Toward Castle

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0a/Old_Castle_Toward.jpg" caption="Ruins of Toward Castle"] ::

The original Toward Castle dates from the 15th century and was owned by the Clan Lamont until 1809. The castle was extended in the 17th century, but was abandoned after an attack by the Clan Campbell in 1646. The ruins lie around 500 m south-east of the later Castle Toward. Toward Castle is a scheduled monument (SM300).

Castle Toward

The present Castle Toward was built in 1820 for Kirkman Finlay (1773–1842), former Lord Provost of Glasgow, as his family's country house. Finlay purchased the Achavoulin estate and renamed it Toward in 1818. It is built in the castellated Gothic Revival style, and was designed by David Hamilton. Edward La Trobe Bateman was involved in garden design work here in the 1880s.

It was from Castle Toward that the second son of Alexander Struthers Finlay – Alexander Kirkman Finlay – emigrated to the then colony of Victoria, Australia, and subsequently married the daughter of the then Governor of New South Wales, Hercules Robinson, 1st Baron Rosmead. The wedding of Nora Robinson and Alexander Kirkman Finlay at St James' Church, Sydney, in 1878 attracted enormous attention in the colony and was extensively reported in the press.

Later owned and extended by Major Andrew Coats, of the Coats family of Paisley, Italian plasterwork was installed in the public rooms in 1920. The entire building was restored and enlarged over the course of the 1920s by the architect Francis William Deas, who also laid out most of the current landscaping. The grounds incorporate the ruins of the original Toward Castle, the Chinese ponds, wooded areas, access to the shore, and views over the Firth of Clyde.

HMS ''Brontosaurus''

During the Second World War the castle was requisitioned as a combined operations centre (COC No. 2), and was commissioned as HMS Brontosaurus in 1942. It was a training centre for the amphibious landings that were launched on D-Day, as well as for other raids. Officers and men trained on nearby beaches to use various landing craft. Both Winston Churchill and Lord Mountbatten during this time visited Brontosaurus. It closed in 1946.

Outdoor education centre

The castle, and 226 acre of woodland, were purchased by the Corporation of Glasgow in 1948. The building was used initially as a residential school for children recovering from illness or living in deprived home conditions. It then became available for residential education for children from all Glasgow Primary Schools and operated for 50 years as an outdoor education centre for children from Glasgow, Renfrewshire and further afield. With the reorganisation of local government in Scotland in 1996, ownership passed to Argyll and Bute Council and such centres were threatened with closure. Peter Wilson, at the time the principal of the centre, formed a company called Actual Reality to operate the centre, as well as a second council-owned centre at Ardentinny. The house was also used for residential courses for young people in music and art. The Glasgow Schools' Symphony Orchestra and West of Scotland Schools' Concert Band visited regularly. The house has been a category B listed building since 1971, and the grounds were added to the national Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland in 2007.

Sale

On 13 November 2009, Argyll and Bute Council temporarily closed the castle on the recommendation of Strathclyde Fire and Rescue, on the grounds that it was unfit for purpose. The castle's former composer-in-residence, John Maxwell Geddes, wrote a Postlude for Strings in protest at plans to sell the castle. The Council placed the building on the market in 2010, and in response the South Cowal Community Development Company (SCCDC) was formed to explore community ownership of the castle, though their initial bid was rejected by the Scottish Ministers in 2011. An agreement was reached with a holiday company, which then pulled out of the sale in 2013 forcing the council to market the property once more. SCCDC launched a second community ownership bid which was accepted by Scottish Ministers in November 2013. However, in December 2014, the Council rejected SCCDC's offer, claiming that at £865,000 it was below market value, and instead offered to support SCCDC with a loan. SCCDC dismissed the council's proposal in January 2015, stating that securing the community purchase before a 31 January deadline now had "very little chance of succeeding". By 26 January, 5,600 people had signed an online petition calling on the council to reconsider their decision.

References

References

  1. "CASTLE TOWARD (LB5068)".
  2. "Toward Castle | The Castles of Scotland, Coventry | Goblinshead".
  3. (1999-07-20). "Toward Castle". Darkisle.com.
  4. {{Historic Environment Scotland
  5. {{Historic Environment Scotland
  6. {{Historic Environment Scotland
  7. (8 August 1878). "Family Notices.". [[The Sydney Morning Herald]].
  8. (17 August 1878). "Mr. and Mrs. Finlay". [[Australian Town and Country Journal]].
  9. "Combined Training Centre – Castle Toward".
  10. "Castles during World War Two".
  11. (10 October 2003). "Castle Toward Sell Off". Dunoon Observer.
  12. "Raven (2002– )". IMDB.
  13. (30 December 2009). "Castle Toward Sell Off Threat". Dunoon Observer.
  14. (26 January 2015). "5,600 sign petition to save Argyll's Castle Toward". The Scotsman.
  15. (16 September 2011). "Community Bid Rejected". Dunoon Observer.
  16. (29 June 2013). "Castle Toward For Sale – Again". Dunoon Observer.
  17. (27 November 2013). "Castle Toward – Community Purchase One Step Closer". Dunoon Observer.
  18. (22 December 2014). "Castle Toward". Argyll and Bute Council.
  19. (22 January 2015). ""NO" to £1 Million pound loan". SCCDC.
  20. (2015-06-27). "Castle at centre of community buyout controversy is sold to developer for just £1.5m". [[The National (Scotland).

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

castles-in-argyll-and-butecategory-b-listed-buildings-in-argyll-and-butelisted-castles-in-scotlandinventory-of-gardens-and-designed-landscapesclan-lamontcowal