Newark Castle (HS)

Newark is a real treasure which for too long has lurked behind the giant sheds and cranes of the Port Glasgow shipyards. The castle originally consisted of a tower house, built by the Maxwells soon after 1478. This was extended when Patrick Maxwell added a handsome Renaissance mansion in the 1590s. Above the main doorway of Patrick’s new house is the inscription ‘The blissingis of God be herein’. Patrick, however, was no saint. He was a murderer and a wife beater who somehow escaped justice. Patrick’s wife, Lady Margaret, must have had a particularly wretched life. In 1632 he beat her so severely that she was confined to bed for 6 months.

In 1668 George Maxwell sold 18 acres of land around his castle to enable a port and harbour to be built for Glasgow’s growing trade. Shortly afterwards Newark ceased to be used as a laird’s residence. There were various tenants in the building including a market gardener, a joiner and a ropemaker. John Orr, the ropemaker, had an unusual sideline, buying wild animals – panthers, leopards and bears – from passing ships, and selling them on.