Haggs Castle

The carved stone above the door records that Haggs was built in 1585 by Sir John Maxwell of Pollok and his wife Margaret Conyngham. It replaced the Maxwells' former residence, the Laigh Castle, a 14th-century building which stood to the west.

The tower as it now stands is an altered L-plan building of four storeys, its main block measuring around 17 metres by 7.2 metres, with square and round gun loops set around it. The most striking feature is the carved decoration: cable-moulded string courses, moulded corbels, and the carving over the door.

Although built as the Maxwells' main residence, Haggs was later used as a jointure house, or dower house, occupied by the lord's widow. The Maxwells, a covenanting family, were fined for nonconformist activities, although the change of government resulting from the revolution of 1688 saved them from paying up.

In 1753 Haggs was in its turn replaced as a residence and abandoned when Pollok House was completed. The castle basement was later used as a smithy.

In the 1850s the remains were consolidated, and in the 1860s the castle was restored for the Maxwells' factor. The 19th-century work rebuilt the upper parts of the walls with larger dormer windows, enlarged other windows, rebuilt the stair wing, and added a new entrance and stair to the south along with a new wing to the north. Further restorations and additions were undertaken by Sir John Stirling-Maxwell in 1899-1900. The architects MacGibbon and Ross prepared a renovation scheme, though their plans for a faithful restoration were not followed.

In 1943 the castle was requisitioned by the military, and was later divided into flats. It was designated a category B listed building on 15 December 1970, and in 1972 Glasgow Corporation bought it and converted it to serve as the Museum of Childhood. When the museum closed in 1998 the house once more became a private dwelling.