Pollok House facts for kids
Pollok House is a beautiful old house located in Pollok Country Park in Glasgow, Scotland. This park also has the famous Burrell Collection. Pollok House was once the home of the Stirling-Maxwell family for nearly 700 years. Today, it is open to everyone and is a wonderful place to learn about history, art, and nature.
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Discovering Pollok House
Pollok House was built in 1752. People first thought the famous architect William Adam designed it. However, he might have only given advice on the plans. In the early 1900s, Rowand Anderson added more parts to the house.
In 1966, Dame Anne Maxwell Macdonald gave Pollok House to the City of Glasgow. Her family had owned the estate for a very long time. Now, the National Trust for Scotland (NTS) takes care of the house. It is open for visitors to explore. The inside of the house was updated in 1899 by Alexander Hunter Crawford.
In September 2023, the NTS announced that Pollok House would close for about two years starting in November. This is for a big renovation project costing £4 million.
Amazing Art and Treasures
Inside Pollok House, you can see a large collection of Spanish paintings. These include works by famous artists like El Greco, Francisco Goya, Alonso Sánchez Coello, and Bartolomé Esteban Murillo. There are also paintings by Rubens and William Blake.
Besides paintings, the house displays beautiful glass, silverware, porcelain, and old furniture. Downstairs, you can visit the servants' quarters. These areas show how the staff lived and worked. You can also find two shops and a restaurant there. Entry to the servants' quarters is free.
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A lady in a fur wrap (Alonso Sánchez Coello)
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A girl at a harpsichord (Mather Brown)
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Portrait of George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham (Peter Paul Rubens)
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Canterbury Pilgrims (William Blake)
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Exploring the Gardens
Pollok House has a huge garden. It is home to over 1,000 different kinds of rhododendrons. These plants have beautiful, colorful flowers.
Behind the main house, you can find the Pollok Park Beech tree. This tree is thought to be about 250 years old! It looks very unusual. Its trunk is very wide, about 7 meters (23 feet) around at the bottom. It gets even wider, about 10 meters (33 feet) around, higher up. It also has many twisted branches.
Around the Estate
The Pollok House estate also has other interesting buildings. There is a group of offices, stables, and a sawmill. Some parts of these buildings are from the 1700s.
A stone arch bridge leads to the house over the White Cart Water river. This bridge was built in 1757. You will also see two lion statues on the gate pillars. These lions were carved in 1950 by John Marshall. He followed a design by Huw Lorimer.
See also
In Spanish: Pollok House para niños
