Site Report

WoSASPIN 7768

(NS 4302 6225) Johnstone Castle (NAT)
OS 1:1250 map (1965)

"Johnstoun, an old possession of the Nisbets, came from them to the Wallaces, continued six generations a house of good account, now decayed".
W Macfarlane 1907

Johnstone Castle, now situated in a modern housing scheme, was originally named "Easter Cochran" and owned by the family of that ilk, its name changed in 1733 when it was acquired by the Houstons of Johnstone. they added to and altered the former mainly 16th century fortalice in the years that followed. Now that the estate has been taken over by the burgh, most of the extended mansion has been pulled down and only the original part is left, though much scarred by 19th century 'improvements'. It is now in use as a store.
The castle as it now stands is L-shaped and consists of a comparatively little-altered main block of three storyes and a garret, lying E-W, with a wing, now built in the form of a massive Gothic tower, projecting N and rising a storey higher. Apart from two tiny windows at basement level, and others built up, the wing has been very much altered.
The hall, on the first floor of the main block, has also been much altered, but still retains a garderobe and a very deep window embrasure, giving the impression of a nucleus older than the 16th century.
N Tranter 1970

Two trenches were opened by the Renfrewshire Local History Forum in 1997, one to the N and one to the S of the remaining standing building. The N trench exposed a wall foundation of roughly dressed stone, sealed beneath demolition debris. The S trench revealed some stonework, again beneath demolition debris, but the excavation could not establish whether this was structural or bedrock. Unstratified finds including green glaze pottery were recovered.
Report in SMR archive.
Entered WoSAS (CF) 25/01/2000

Timothy Pont's map of 1595 showsJohnstone (Ihonstoun) Castle to be sited on the other side of the Black Cart Water, near Kilbarchan.

This "house and lands of Johnston" have interesting links to another subject explored by the Forum during the year. Crawfurd attributes some considerable age to this site as "An ancient family, of the sirname of Wallace, did possess the se lands for several ages". The lands were acquired by the Houston family in the reign of Charles II and in 1733 George Houston (or Houstoun) sold the house and lands to Major James Milliken. He demolished the house and built a modern mansion called Milliken House as the Houstons had retained the title of Johnston.

At Easter Cochrane the Houstons occupied the Tower House which they renamed Johnstone Castle. This was the situation in 1796 when John Ainslie's map was published. This Tower House was not the Cochrane Castle later to give its name to the housing estate. That building, in Auchengreoch Road, was already a ruin by the early 18th century. A later George Houston erected a small Tower on that site in 1896, building in a plaque with the Cochran arms and the date 1592 although Cochran's holding of the land goes back much further, certainly to the mid 15th Century and possibly the 14th Century.

The Houstons prospered from local mines and mills, allowing them to "improve" and enlarge the Castle from the rather spartan Tower. The result was the substantial 19th century Mansion house (fig 2 ), recognised by everyone from the photograph in the present day Johnstone Town Hall. Its main claim to fame was a visit in September 1848 by Frederick Chopin, supposedly fleeing the revolution in Paris although other reports say he was invited to tea after a successful concert in Glasgow. In its turn this building was demolished about 40 years ago to leave the remains of the Tower House with some of the Houstons' "Gothic" style additions still attached.

Looking at the remaining structure, the basic late Medieval Scottish Lairds' Tower House can be identified. From the outside there is a three storey, Lshaped, tower with an entrance in the re-entrant angle of the NE corner. At roof height there are crow-stepped gables and a garret. Above the entrance some corbelling remains and on the east gable is an angle turret, which may have been a later addition. Around the top of the tower can been seen some possible machicolation. This was a form of wall-head defence, which became popular in the mid-15th century, the corbelling designed to support an oversailing parapet. The structure here, however may well be' a decorative feature rather than defensive as the overhang is slight especially if compared with that surviving on Herbert Lord Maxwell's Mearns Castle.

With the reduced fear of attack by the mid-16th century, Tower House owners had less need for such defensive works but being very conservative the building style changed little over the hundred years or more. Projecting from the west wall are the remains of part of the Mansion house with the rolled stone-work of the sides of "Gothic" arched windows clearly discernible.

For the "demonstration" excavations, two trenches were cut out. Trench A on the north side of the Tower was where we expected to find the remains of the 19th century foundations. Trench S, on the south side, was more speculative. Here we hoped to find some earlier remains.

TRENCH A - In line with the stub of the wall showing the remnants of the arched windows we opened a trench 2m by 1m, 1.5m out from the wall. Here we expected to cross the corner of the foundations. After carefully deturfing, setting the turf aside so that it could easily be replaced, about 15cm of topsoil, which included a variety of spring bulbs, was also carefully removed.

The next layer was clearly a mixture of subsoil and rubble from the 1950s demolition. From this rather unstratified layer some 35 "finds" were recovered. These are listed in the appendix. Most were items to be expected in a "modern" demolition zone. The glass, thick by present day standards was likely from the 19th century windows and the pieces of pottery were also typical of that period. A marble with a red flash through it, of the type most of us could remember playing with as children, was also found.

Removal of this infill eventually revealed the foundation layer we were looking for. This consisted of stone more roughly dressed than that of the house walls above ground level.

TRENCH B - Meanwhile over on the south side some, more speculative, digging was going on. We really did not know what we might find but hopes were high that given the alignment of the remains of the Tower House we would uncover some related early structures. Immediately on deturfing the area 1.7m by 2.25m, marked out for Trench B we hit. a substantial concrete slab which looked about all of 50 years old. In true Time Team style we discussed the implications of this discovery and decided to returf the area and extend the trench 2.5m further to the east.

As in Trench A, under the turf and topsoil, lay a mixture of subsoil and rubble from the 1950s demolition. A total of 47 "finds" were recovered and again these are listed in the appendix.. Building materials from the 19th Century structure once more predominated. Pieces of glass of a uniform thickness varying in colour from a greenish hue through yellowish to clear, appears to be window glazing. Roofing material included pieces of slate containing the remains of nail heads. In post excavation examination of the material found, what was originally thought to be pieces of coarse pottery turned out to be heavy plaster or rendering from the walls of the demolished building.

Evidence of children was also uncovered in this trench when two small green bricks of a ceramic material were found. It was among the small collection of ceramic material that the most exciting find of the day appeared - a sherd of grey pottery, with a pitted green glaze only on the outside of the pot. This type of pottery was found in abundance in the Paisley Abbey drain a few years ago. It is possible therefore that here we have a little evidence of occupation of the site in the early Post Medieval period (15th-16th century). We do need a health warning here though - the find was in an unstratified layer and could have been brought to the site a long time after its manufacture.

Once all this infill had been removed some very crudely dressed stone was revealed. Unfortunately time ran out for the team and we could not investigate further. The stonework was so crudely fashioned that it was not possible to tell at the time whether it was structural or bedrock. Even as the latter, however, this stone may have been the foundations of an earlier building. Further excavation will be required to test this theory but even with the "health warning" noted above, the presence of the sherd of post-medieval pottery is a hopeful indication.
Henry, B, Renfrewshire Local History Forum Occasional Paper No.2, (1997)

Demolition of the more modern elements of the mansion took place in 1950. The remaining structure of the castle was kept basically secure and weatherfast by Renfrewshire Council until it was sold to a private owner in 2001-2002.
Entered WoSAS (HMcB) 29/04/2004

The owner of Johnstone Castle, Paisley (NGR: NS428623), commissioned SUAT to undertake an archaeological evaluation of the Castle and its grounds, during renovation work intended to refurbish the Castle as a dwelling. The initial work was carried out on May 24th, 2004. Additional monitoring work was carried out later, on 29th September 2005.

The main aim of this evaluation was to establish the presence/absence, date, character and quality of any archaeological remains surviving within the development area, and to record the current standing structure of the castle, internally and externally, prior to its renovation. The results of this evaluation will be used to inform future mitigation strategies for this area of the proposed development.

The castle stands within small, grass-covered grounds occupying approximately one third of an acre, and surrounded by a council housing estate on Beith Road, Johnstone, to the west of Paisley. The central core of Johnstone Castle dates from the 16th century, and was heavily modified during the 19th century by its incorporation into a much larger mansion. This fell into dereliction, and was eventually levelled in the 1950's, leaving only the historic core standing. Tranter suggests that the 16th century castle may have been built on the site of an earlier structure, pointing to a much longer period of occupancy of the site. Recent excavations on the site by Renfrewshire Local History Forum (1997) have shown that the site has undergone significant disturbance, however, the area adjacent to the standing building had not been tested, nor had the interior floor surfaces and solum.

Archaeological work on the site comprised two phases: firstly, an evaluation of the castle grounds in the form of a watching brief on the machine excavation of a service trench and foundations for a new barmkin wall on the west side of the castle; secondly, a standing building recording survey using an EDM, scale elevation drawings and digital photography to produce a three-dimensional record of the castle structure. The first phase was completed on 24th May, 2004, the second phase on the 28th September 2005, and the results are summarised in this report. The EDM and digital photographic surveys were completed simultaneously with the first phase, however.

The turf immediately west of the castle was stripped within the area of the proposed new barmkin wall, which enclosed a truncated section of wall projecting east-west from the west side of the castle. This exposed a concrete platform lying just below the turf, at a depth of 0.25m below the present ground surface. This platform was up to 0.40m thick on the north side of the incomplete wall projecting from the castle. The concrete was found to extend beneath the western wall of the castle for 2.40m, a length of 3.00m of this wall having been rebuilt from ground level up to the second floor (a steel lintel was visible in the wall at the top of this rebuild). Beneath the concrete in the platform was a layer of yellow sandstone rubble, with no evidence of dressed faces or edges. This formed a hardcore base for the concrete. A brick duct featuring a manhole was exposed on the north side of the projecting wall and extended beneath the rebuilt section of the western wall.

On the south side of the projecting wall, west of a crow-stepped gable wing adjoining the castle tower, the concrete was found to be 0.15m thick, over a rubble layer composed of broken yellow sandstone fragments and boulders, and cream-coloured machined bricks. Below this rubble was a second layer of concrete. Running parallel to the gable, a ceramic sewer pipe was exposed, set within a brick-built duct (cream-coloured bricks on the east side, red bricks on the west). The duct was filled with a coarse, greyish-brown sand, mixed with rnortar and cream-coloured sandstone fragments. At the south end of the duct, the service trench containing it turned at a right-angle to run westwards towards the road, almost on the line of the south wall of the gable wing.

A new service trench was excavated on the south side of the tarmac path from the perimeter boundary railing to the western castle wall. This trench was an average of 0.75m wide, and 0.70m deep. At the western end of the trench, immediately below the turf at a depth of 0.15m below the present ground surface, was a layer of grey sandy mortar and frequent sandstone fragments, this layer being an average of 0.16m thick. Beneath this layer, a concrete platform was exposed. Immediately to the east of this concrete at a similar depth, a mixed deposit of brown silty clay, grey sandy mortar and occasional large sandstone rubble fragments formed a layer beneath the turf and topsoil. In the base of the new trench was a compacted layer of greyish mortar with inclusions of charcoal flecks and creamy fleck aggregate. To the east, this layer abutted a floor of flagstones 0.08m thick and 2.00m across, which in turn abutted the single remaining course of a sandstone wall, 0.10m thick and 0.80m wide, overlying broken slates. Lying above this wall were a layer of loose black loam and a layer of yellowish mortar. Abutting wall to the east was a construction of four layers of red bricks, bonded with cream-coloured mortar. This lay just beneath the turf, and was 0.40m thick, extending fully across the new trench and blocking its path to the castle wall. Flagstones lay immediately below this feature. No associated finds were recovered from either the barmkin wall foundations area or the new service trench.

The concrete platform and the service ducts presumably relate to late 19th or early 20th century activity at the site. The exposed sandstone wall and perhaps the brick structure may represent a part of the large mansion house extension to the castle, now demolished. No features of archaeological significance were exposed, and whether any traces of earlier activity remain in the area is open to debate, given the extensive concreting which obscures any areas of potential survival. It should suffice to say that, clearly, the ground has been much disturbed, and nothing of archaeological interest was detected.

Standing Building Recording
As previously stated, an EDM survey of the exterior of the castle was carried out. In addition, notes and drawings were made of the interior, with drawings concentrating on the rooms that showed most evidence of alterations. The following descriptions amalgamate the information recorded over the two site visits, since the second visit added to the information initially recorded.

Exterior
The castle remains took the form of a block house with vestigial or heavily truncated connecting walls visible in places and representing the only visible traces of the demolished mansion. The block house comprised a tall, angular tower, attached to a slightly shorter (and probably later) building with crow-stepped gables and a projecting bartizan turret. The construction technique involved the use of dressed grey sandstone with regular quoins reinforcing walls of irregular, lime-bonded blocks. Several areas of infilling or rebuilding were noted, visible as lighter, yellowish stone within the main fabric. The bulk of the fabric was undecorated.

North Side
This was characterised by a rectangular, flat-topped tower wall rising to four stories and buttressed on the eastern edge to third storey height. The buttress extended outwards to the northeast, to a width of 1 metre as far as the base of the third storey whereupon it narrowed to 0.20m with a chamfered shoulder. The top of the buttress was also chamfered to meet the corner of the tower. The western edge was keyed into a vestigial connecting wall, extending northwards for less than a metre and rising to the same height as the buttress.

The western edge of each of the first three storeys was pierced by a narrow, Norman window, each glazed with plain glass and each of a slightly different design. The ground floor window was slightly squatter than the window above it, and was subdivided into two panes. 3m east of the window were two small converted gun ports at knee height, one rectangular the other square. The first floor window was more slender than its ground floor counterpart, and lacked the internal subdivision. To the east was situated a deep-set rectangular window, within which the glazed area was considerably smaller than the masonry setting, suggesting modification which might have been a defensive measure. The second floor/third storey window on the west was longer than the windows below it, with a decorative masonry hood; a window identical in form, but blocked, lay on the eastern side of the wall. In addition, both the first and second floors featured a blocked window in the centre of the wall (the feature on the first floor may in fact have been a door).

The third floor/fourth storey featured a large sub-rectangular window with a flattened Romanesque arch, a decorative hood and a central masonry column with foliated impost block that served to subdivide the window into two equal halves, each glazed. The window was positioned in the centre of the wall.

The top of the north wall featured dummy machicolation moulding projecting outwards beneath a flat roof.

NE Corner
The main features in this area were those on the north wall of the gabled house (features visible on the east wall of the tower are described below). A corner bartizan turret projecting out at second floor/third storey level from the east wall of the gabled house featured a small circular window set within a squat T-shaped/rectangular recess, a small arrow slit or gun port below this, and a decorated handrail around the turret roof. The main wall alongside the turret featured a small rectangular window near the top of the wall, with moulded ledges above and below, and a small blocked window with protruding ledges near the base of the turret.

East Side
The tower and the attached gabled house were both visible on this side. A doorway gave entrance into the block house on the ground floor, in the apex of the join between the block house and the gabled house. No windows were apparent on this floor. The first floor on this side featured a wide Romanesque window with a hood moulding above. Offset slightly from this on the second floor was a rectangular window with rectangular hood moulding, above which on the third floor was a bisected Romanesque window identical in form to that in the north wall, but blocked. The machicolation moulding continued around the top of the tower. The buttress projected outwards from the northeast corner of the wall, and was as described above.

The east wall of the gabled house was largely blank, except for, at first floor level, a small, rectangular gun port, and crow-steps on the south side of the gable, running up to a wide, rectangular chimney with a moulded projecting ledge. Projecting from the north-eastern corner of the house, in place of a gable, was a circular bartizan turret at second floor/third storey level. It projected slightly over the ground floor doorway, and featured a decorative colonnaded hand rail around the roof, and small, possibly decorative gun ports and arrow slits.

South Side
The gabled building took up most of the south side of the castle remains. The ground floor featured a rectangular window with damaged moulding above, set just to the east of the centre of the wall. Further to the west was a small rectangular gun port window at waist height. On the first floor, in the centre of the wall, a large, glazed rectangular window with heavy stone lintel may originally have been a door: it was larger than the ground floor doorway, and smaller blocked rectangular windows were visible to either side. Twin, unglazed lancet windows occupied the western edge of the wall. The third floor featured two glazed rectangular windows, the western narrower and taller than the eastern. Machicolation moulding ran around the top of the wall, more widely spaced than that on the block house. Above this ran iron guttering, below a steeply inclined roof of grey slate. An iron drainpipe ran to the ground down the eastern edge of the wall.

Behind and above the gabled building rose the tower, bare on this side save for the continuing machicolation moulding below the roof, and a rectangular ground floor doorway currently occupied by a grey steel door. Extending westwards of this were the vestiges of a connecting wall, 3m long at the base, narrowing irregularly as it rose to disappear at the base of the third storey of the tower. The wall and that of the tower were of similar construction, and were keyed into one another.

West Side
The tower on this side was currently entirely blank except for the continuing machicolation moulding at the top, an iron drainpipe down the northern edge of the wall, and an area of rebuilding or infilling apparent as lighter coloured stone on the southern edge. However, above this area, separated from it by a stone or concrete lintel, were two third storey rectangular windows blocked in with stone. The vestiges of the connecting wall extended westwards from the southern edge (see above). The west gable of the adjoining house was presented, with a rectangular window close to the northern edge of this building at first floor/second story level. A small arrow slit or gun port was positioned at chest height on the ground floor, covering the southern entrance into the tower.

Ground Floor
The ground floor consisted of a doorway issuing into the stairway with three rooms, all with vaulted ceilings. A thick cement floor had been added later which was reduced by six inches during the renovation works. The kitchen was divided into two unequal halves by a very large chimney flue, and contained four small windows in the E and W walls. The utility room was lit by two narrow windows with flared sills to maximise light, and a single gun loop, which had been opened by the time of the second visit. The Hall Cloakroom was similarly lit by two narrow windows, and contained stairs issuing to the Great Hall, at first floor level.

First Floor
The first floor contained the most complete archaeological information, showing several phases of construction. The Library housed a tooled sandstone fireplace on its N wall, which had a hearth lower than the current floor level. To either side were recesses: a press to left (W) and a window to right (E). Above the fireplace the wall had been substantially modified with brick, and had been finished in a cement plaster. Cement plaster was a feature throughout this floor, as most of the wall had been covered in this material. On the W wall the spiral stairs issued up from the Hall/ Cloakroom, and a large infilled doorway was noted which had been reused as a press cupboard. To N was a reused doorway with a relieving arch over the lintel which had a rubble infill below approximately 1m. About 60cm N of this was one of the few early features that were apparent on the initial visit -a stone buttress-like feature extending 5cm out from the wall and containing a single iron hinge pin. Above this was a riveted steel lintel. The wall also returned slightly and was chamfered on the comer approximately 60cm N of the iron hinge pin.

To N of this lintel was a narrow doorway that issued onto a new concrete spiral stair, above which was a blocked window, with a possible wide relieving arch visible above. A small box-like cupboard was noted 1m to N.

The returning wall (N elevation) of the Great Hall showed very little information, and was photographed only. In the NE comer of the Great Hall, on the E elevation, a small door opened into the lower part of the turret, above which a small piece of moulding was noted. A possible fireplace was also noted adjacent to this feature which suggested that the turret was an inserted feature. The fireplace recess contained sockets for fireplace furniture of some sort. In the SE comer of the room was a deep cupboard with a brick backing, suggesting that it was a blocked doorway dating from the 19th century extensions.

The S elevation contained three openings, the central and W of which were in use, with the easternmost infilled with rubble within an arched lintel. The central opening was partially infilled, suggesting it was a reused doorway. Immediately to W of this was a small recess in the floor which was interpreted as a keepsafe. A double arched window was to W -directly above the staircase to the Hall/ Cloakroom. This contained rubble infill below the mullions and appeared to be of the same dimensions as the other window, suggesting that this was also a reused doorway.

Brick infill was noted above the E elevation of the Great Hall and above the Wand N elevations of the adjoining Library, suggesting that flooring had been replaced, with the gap made up with brick infill.

Second Floor
The second floor contained a large open area directly above the Great Hall. This was directly below the majority of the roof structure, and was accessed from an area approximately 0.5m higher and to N, via a late semi-circular topped arch. The W wall contained a press and a cement patch with "1959" inscribed into it whilst still wet. A doorway opened into the turret room in the NE comer of the room.

The area to N of this was not recorded in great detail as it was not intended to make substantial modification.

Third Floor
A single room occupied the uppermost storey, and was accessed via a spiral stair which was inserted in the SW corner of the room. Little architectural detail was noted, although dooks were apparent, suggesting that originally the walls had been covered in lath and plaster.
Fyles, C. & Hind, D., SUAT Ltd, 'Archaeological Evaluation and Survey: Johnstone Castle, Paisley', (2006)