Johnstone Castle

Johnston Castle is the name applied for part of a tower house that is occupied and sits in the middle of a modern housing estate within the Glasgow suburb of Johnstone. The site is a ridge of high ground between two watercourses, and although the castle can easily be seen from the pavement, it is not open to the public.

The castle is said to date from the 16th century, when the surrounding lands were part of the Easter Cochrane estate, owned by the Cochrane family of that Ilk. However in 1520 the lands were sold to the archbishop of Glasgow, and at the Reformation to the Porterfield family of Quarrelton, perhaps related to the first post-Reformation bishop of that surname. By the late 16th century a substantial tower seemingly called “Eliebanck” was on this site. In the latter 17th century, the Houston family acquired the estate, by now called Quarrelton, and that of Johnstone the other side of the river. When they sold the Johnston estate they moved into the Quarrelton tower house and called it Johnstone some time after 1750. The house was massively extended, and occupied until 1931, when it passed to the local authority, who promptly demolished most of the house, only leaving what survives today, which was for many years used just for storage.

HES Canmore database entry