Buildings and Places : Scotland

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Avon Aqueduct, Linlithgow, West Lothian

The aqueduct was completed in 1822 for the opening of the Edinburgh and Glasgow Union Canal, and was designed by Hugh Baird, engineer. It is the longest of the three major aqueducts on the canal, with 12 spans. This shows one span of the aqueduct from the south-west. Thomas Telford advised on the design of the viaducts on this canal, and the use of cast-iron troughs was originally his idea, first used in Shropshire in the 1790s.

Baird's Brae, Glasgow

This bridge marks the point where the original Glasgow branch of the Forth and Clyde Canal, opened to Hamiltonhill in 1777, looking down Baird's Brae. In the right background is Oakbank Hospital, built on the site of the Oakbank Foundry, where the first Clyde built iron steamship was built in 1829. The bridge was rebuilt in about 1990 as part of the Glasgow Canal Project. All the buildings seen in the background, apart from the tower block, have since been demolished.

Baird's Mill, South Ayrshire

This was one of the last 19th-century, water-powered corn mills to work in south Ayrshire. It had three pairs of stones, one each for shelling, oatmeal finishing and provender milling. The first two were driven through gearing, and the third was belt-driven. The water-wheel was a high-breast one. To the left is a later brick addition, probably built after the closure of the mill, when the complex was used as a poultry farm.

Cambusdoon, Alloway, Ayrshire

Built in 1853 by James Baird of the Lanarkshire family of iron-masters who had just purchased the 20.000 acre estate and who changed its name from Greenfield to Cambusdoon. The house is in Scottish baronial style with a conservatory to one side. These views were published, with historical notes, in a collection of photographs of 'inhabited castles and mansions' of Ayrshire.
photograph by Thomas Annan of Glasgow (1829-1887)

Cambusnethan Priory, Lanark

Built in 1820 for the Lockharts of Castlehill, it replaced a seventeenth century manor house constructed for Sir John Harper, Sheriff-Depute of the County of Lanark. The manor house was destroyed by fire in 1810. Previously, a Norman tower house, Baird Tower, had occupied a site nearby. The property changed hands several times the Wilson brothers were the last, who attempted to run the castle as a medieval centre, the property now stands derelict.

Closeburn Castle, Dumfriesshire

Reputedly one of Scotland's oldest inhabited houses, Closeburn Castle is large and plain and dates from the 14th century. It stands one mile east of Closeburn village in Nithsdale on a slight eminence. Formerly a strong hold of the Kirkpatrick family. Douglas Baird from the family of iron-masters purchased part of the estate in 1848 and acquired the remaining part from Sir James Monteath in 1851.