Shandon is a village on the open sea loch of the

Gare Loch The Gare Loch or Gareloch () is an open sea loch in Argyll and Bute in the west of Scotland, and it bears a similar name to the village of Gairloch in the north west Highlands. The loch is well used for sailing, recreational boating, list of ...

Argyll and Bute Argyll and Bute (; , ) is one of 32 unitary authority, unitary council areas of Scotland, council areas in Scotland and a lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area. The current lord-lieutenant for Argyll and Bute is Jane Margaret MacLeod ...

, Scotland. Shandon overlooks the

Rosneath Peninsula Rosneath Peninsula is a peninsula in Argyll and Bute, western Scotland, formerly in the historic county of Dunbartonshire. The peninsula is formed by the Gare Loch in the east, and Loch Long in the west, both merge with the upper Firth of Clyd ...

to the west and is bordered by

Glen Fruin Glen Fruin () is a glen in Scotland, adjacent to Loch Lomond. It contains the Fruin Water which flows into the loch, and a road, now the A817 road, known as the Glen Fruin Haul Road, which goes from the A82 up the glen and over the top of the h ...

() to the east, which is the site of the Battle of Glen Fruin, one of the last clan battles in Scotland, fought on 7 February 1603, in which an estimated 300 warriors on foot from the MacGregor Clan claimed victory over an estimated 600–800 men from the Colquhoun Clan on horse-back. Shandon is northwest of

Helensburgh Helensburgh ( ; ) is a town on the north side of the Firth of Clyde in Scotland, situated at the mouth of the Gareloch. Historically in Dunbartonshire, it became part of Argyll and Bute following local government reorganisation in 1996. Histo ...

, west of

Loch Lomond Loch Lomond (; ) is a freshwater Scottish loch which crosses the Highland Boundary Fault (HBF), often considered the boundary between the lowlands of Central Scotland and the Highlands.Tom Weir. ''The Scottish Lochs''. pp. 33-43. Published by ...

and northwest of

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

city centre. Formerly in the county of

Dunbartonshire Dunbartonshire () or the County of Dumbarton is a Shires of Scotland, historic county, lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area and registration county in the west central Lowlands of Scotland lying to the north of the River Clyde. Dunbar ...

, it developed alongside other similar settlements in the area, in the 19th century, from a

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

to a fashionable residential area for wealthy Glasgow merchants and several mansion houses still remain. Shandon Castle and Faslane Castle, dating from the Medieval age once occupied prominent positions in the area.

West Shandon House

Built in the 1840s by

John Thomas Rochead John Thomas Rochead (28 March 1814 – 7 April 1878) was a Scottish architect. He is most noteworthy on a national scale for having been the designer of the Wallace Monument. Life He was born in Edinburgh, the son of John Rochead and Catheri ...

for Robert Napier, often described as 'the father of Clyde shipbuilding' was a prominent landmark and was renowned for housing Napier's extensive art collection. It later became a hydropathic institution, Since the 1960s, His Majesty's Naval Base Clyde has been based between the outskirts of Shandon and the village of

Garelochhead Garelochhead (,
, "Headland of the Short Lake") is a ...

Faslane His Majesty's Naval Base, Clyde (HMNB Clyde; also HMS ''Neptune''), primarily sited at Faslane on the Gare Loch, is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy (the others being HMNB Devonport and HMNB Portsmouth). It ...

, and it occupies the whole of the former grounds of West Shandon House.

Shandon House

Designed by Charles Wilson for William Jamieson, and built in 1849. used as a reform school named St Andrew's, from 1965 until 1986. It is currently owned by the Ministry of Defence who had plans to make it into accommodation for Royal Marines serving at the Naval Base nearby. It lies behind

Faslane Peace Camp Faslane Peace Camp is a permanent peace camp sited alongside Faslane Naval base in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It has been occupied continuously, in a few different locations, since 12 June 1982. In 1984, the book ''Faslane:Diary of a Peace Camp ...

, derelict and boarded up.

External links

West Shandon House

TURKISH baths at Shandon House
in the Helensburgh Heritage *

References

{{authority control Villages in Argyll and Bute