WOODYARD HOUSE, Woodyard Road, south-west bank of the River Leven. Dumbarton.
ACCESS: This is now a private residence, but can be seen from the road and surrounding area.
This is the house on the premises of the boatyard that was to thrive and play a significant part building and developing ships. William Denny started the boatyard, but we don't have a date for the house and it may have been occupied by the subsequent partners which included his sons. The boatyard is covered in the next section. The house can be clearly made out in the maps from that time and was surrounded on three sides by the works.
The works buildings have all disappeared and are today largely replaced by parkland lawns across which you can wander to the banks of the Leven. The house remains intact, although subdivided into two homes. The one side is now called Levenside.
It is a large imposing stone building surrounded by a wall. Alhough now isolated, it was obviously meant to be seen as the frontage of the successul industrial premises and we can imagine that a few select clients were taken through from the management boardroom for a glass of port. We now see it somewhat out of context. Those industrial surrounds given over to lawns with joggers and dogwalker enjoying the quietness of the riverside. When it was built it would have been a very noisy and smoky setting.
It is not listed. It may fall far short of most of the criteria for listing, but it nevertheless has a very important place is Dumbarton's history.
Also see : WOODYARD SHIPYARD.
GEOGRAPH.ORG : https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2773035
NRS : https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/research/learning/hall-of-fame/hall-of-fame-a-z/denny-william
