BOWLING HARBOUR : CUSTOMS HOUSE, Lower canal basin.
ACCESS : You can view this building from various points, but it is privately occupied.
Listed B.
Also see the other features around Bowling Harbour.
Imagine this basin buzzing with harbour activities. It sits at the western end of the Forth and Clyde Canal; the end of a journey across the central Scotland isthmus; the point at which goods are transferred to sea-going vessels. From there - up or down the western coast, to the isles, to perhaps England or Ireland. And so this point needed a customs point. It was from this building that such control was applied.
It is one of those almost classical buildings of the 1800s. A simple reactangular cube with a gabled pitched roof. White harled walls with contrasting stone edging and banding.
It housed the canal customs office and accommodation for the officials, all overlooking the basin. And it is across this basin that it is best appreciated as it is reflected in the calm water.
Reflections in 2023.
BRITISH LISTED BUILDINGS with map: https://britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/200347745-customs-house-bowling-harbour-forth-and-clyde-canal-old-kilpatrick#.X9pbdnpxdPY (wrong photo on this website)
CANMORE : https://canmore.org.uk/site/43326/forth-and-clyde-canal-bowling-harbour-customs-house
WEST DUNBARTONSHIRE HERITAGE TRAIL : OLD KILPATRICK, BOWLING AND MILTON : https://www.west-dunbarton.gov.uk/media/2619074/ok_booklet.pdf
