Newark Castle (Port Glasgow)

Newark Castle is a castle in the Scottish town of Port Glasgow in Inverclyde. In 1971 the building was added to the Scottish lists of monuments in the highest category A. In addition, the facility is classified as a Scheduled Monument.

History

Through marriage, the lands came on the Firth of Clyde in 1402 in the possession of the Clan Maxwell. 1478 George Maxwell built a tower house in this place, which is the nucleus of Newark Castle. The building was called " Newwerk " or " Newark " ( " new (construction) work" ). From 1495 it is known that the Scottish king James IV spent the night there. Under the Laird Patrick Maxwell of the castle from the 1580s has been extended. In this case, parts of the old building seems to have been torn. The work was probably completed 1597-1599. Later, no significant changes have been made more so the castle today is substantially equal to that state. In the 18th century Newark Castle was abandoned and fell into disrepair. It is now owned by Historic Scotland. Earlier, the city of Port Glasgow was known derived from the castle as Newark.

Description

The castle on the banks of the Firth of Clyde is one of the most important secular buildings from this period in Scotland. The Renaissance building is made of red sandstone and surrounds three sides of a courtyard. The original Tower House occupies the southeastern part. The resulting 16th centuries, parts of the building were connected to the older building and form a unit. The windows and Eingangsöfnungen are suspected with ornate cornices. At the edges of buildings collar crowd from watchtowers. The gables are working as a stepped gable. Newark Castle was hidden for a long time by the surrounding port facilities.