CATS CASTLE, off Cardross Road, Dumbarton
ACCESS : This is a bed and breakfast establishment.
Listed B.
The name is intriguing and conjures up visions of a large home dominated by feline occupants. It is in fact a private bed-and-breakfast establishment.
Cats Castle is a very large, well-detailed and prominently-sited example of late 19th century Scots-Baronial architecture. As such it deserves the appellation of "castle" as this is the impression it was obviously intended to express. It built for Robert Craig who was a lawyer and Sheriff Clerk in Dumbarton.
It was originally called Hazelwood.
If you are still wondering about its current name, the listing description offers an explanation. Such building often had some quirky features carved into the stonework. 2-storey, 2-bay with 3-storey round tower bay to outer left. 3-stage round tower, deep battered base, ashlar vents; battlemented corbelled bartizan in re-entrant angle to right; shaped parapet, balustraded rising to shaped solid crenellated parapet; trefoil at centre, feline sculptures. [HES]. There it is. Feline sculptures. A bartizan by the way is an overhanging, wall-mounted turret projecting from the walls of late medieval and early-modern fortifications from the early 14th century up to the 18th century [Wiki]. Crenellated is another term worth remembering. It refers to the stepped parapets so typical of castles from which to fire defensive weapons. This theme was often used by architects in subsequent centuries and so earns the house the title of castle, in this case, cat's castle.
The view from the shore.
Some crow-stepped gables.
BRITISH LISTED BUILDINGS with map : https://britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/200401241-cardross-road-cats-castle-cardross#.X-TSnnpxdPY
CATS CASTLE FaceBook : https://www.facebook.com/catscastlescotland/
GEOGRAPH.ORG : https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2703911
HIDDEN SCOTLAND : https://hiddenscotland.co/listings/cats-castle/
