Scottish Castles Association

Provan Hall, which stands on the outskirts of Glasgow, is set to benefit from a £4.5million lottery grant which will be used to create Scotland’s largest urban heritage nature park.

There are plans to restore Provan Hall, arguably Glasgow’s oldest building, along with a selection of other projects such as cycling paths and the Seven Lochs Wetland Park.

The area certainly deserves attention. It adjoins the Easterhouse development built in the 1950s as one of a series of peripheral estates to house those displaced by slum clearances. Poor planning and social problems have dogged the venture ever since so perhaps this imaginative scheme will help provide a valuable recreational space and some respite from the challenges still faced by those who live there.

Provan Hall photographed during a Scottish Castes Association visit in 2009

Provan Hall consists of two ranges linked by a walled courtyard. One range is probably post-reformation though claims are made for an earlier date. Much work took place in the 17th and 18th centuries and in the 19th it became a farmhouse with associated buildings.

In 1937 the site came into the possession of the National Trust for Scotland who demolished the auxiliary buildings and put it in a state of repair.

Provan Hall, however, proved a strain on the Trust’s resources and in 1979 it was leased to Glasgow City Council who have since developed it as a local amenity and heritage site.

Eagle-eyed fans of the iconic TV series Outlander may have spotted Provan Hall which, like many other of Scotland's historic buildings, has appeared in it.

Article by SCA member Brian McGarrigle.