Pollok House facts for kids
Pollok House is a grand old house found in Pollok Country Park in Glasgow, Scotland. It used to be the home of the Stirling-Maxwell family for many years. This park is also where you can find the famous Burrell Collection of art.
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Exploring Pollok House
Pollok House was built in 1752. It was later made bigger in the early 1900s. In 1966, Dame Anne Maxwell Macdonald gave the house to the City of Glasgow. Her family had owned the land for nearly 700 years!
Today, the National Trust for Scotland (NTS) looks after Pollok House. It is open for everyone to visit. The inside of the house was updated in 1899.
Art and Treasures
Pollok House holds a large collection of Spanish paintings. You can see works by famous artists like El Greco and Francisco Goya. There are also paintings by Rubens and William Blake.
The house also displays beautiful glass, silverware, and old furniture. Downstairs, you can visit the servants' quarters for free. There are even two shops and a restaurant there.
Gardens and Nature
The house has a huge garden with over 1,000 types of rhododendron flowers. Behind the main house, you can find a very old tree called the Pollok Park Beech. It is thought to be 250 years old. This tree has a very thick trunk and many twisted branches.
Estate Buildings
Near the house, there are old offices, stables, and a sawmill. Some of these buildings date back to the 1700s. A stone arch bridge leads to the house over the White Cart Water river. This bridge was built in 1757. The lion statues at the gate were carved in 1950.
Future Plans
Pollok House closed in November 2023 for a big renovation project. This work is expected to last for about two years. The project costs £4 million and will help keep the house in good condition for many more years.
The Pollok Witches
In 1677, a group of five women and one man were accused of using witchcraft. People believed they tried to harm Sir George Maxwell of Pollok. They were accused of making him sick by using a wax image.
The accused people were Jonet Mathie, Annabell Stewart, John Stewart, Bessie Weir, Marjorie Craige, and Margaret Jackson. They were arrested because people thought they had made a deal with the devil. They were also accused of doing other bad things.
Art collection
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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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See also
In Spanish: Pollok House para niños
