Geograph - photograph every grid square

Stanely Castle

Stanely Castle
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I have around 50 pictures of the castle in my collection.

Stanely Castle, to the west of Paisley, is still standing today, despite sitting in the middle of a reservoir.
The exterior of this L-shaped keep is relatively intact - but the interior of the structure is now completely destroyed.
It is situated on land that was originally the property of the Danzieltoun or Dennistoun family.
In 1402, the lands passed through marriage to the Maxwells of Calderwood, who at the same time also took possession of Newark estate, at modern-day Port Glasgow on the Clyde estuary.
The Maxwells undertook the construction of four storey Stanely Castle and it remained in the family for the next two centuries until 1629, when it was sold to the Hawkhead family.
It passed by marriage to the Boyle family in the middle of the 18th century.
David Boyle had been made the first Earl of Glasgow in 1703 and the family's main estate was centred around Kelburn Castle at Largs.
The Boyles built many churches all over Scotland, including the Cathedral of the Isles - Britain's smallest cathedral - on Cumbrae.
By the 19th century the family found themselves in serious debt and Stanely Castle was abandoned and fell into ruin.
In 1837 the marshland surrounding the castle was flooded to create the Stanely Reservoir, which supplied the people of Paisley and its surrounding areas with fresh water.
Over the years, the reservoir level was raised.
It now submerges the lower portion of the castle, which had until then remained above the waterline on higher ground....