"The original lands of the family of Colquhoun were along the river Clyde near the village of Kilpatrick. This was where “Unfridus de Kilpatrick” had his holding when granted the lands of Colquhoun. On the banks of the river stood the castle of Dunglass. The old castle dates back to 1380, when it was the important strategic stronghold of the barony of Colquhoun. It was used as a residence by Sir. John Colquhoun, Chamberlain of Scotland, during the period from 1439-1478." In 1489 James IV is said to have refortified Dunglass Castle during his siege of Dumbarton Castle.
Dunglass mansion, built around 1800, stands on the site of the 14th century Castle of Dunglass, a stronghold of the Earls of Home. It was destroyed by Somerset in 1548. Sir Humphrey Colquhoun built a new fortified house in the north-west corner of the site in 1590. Consisting of a three story house arranged approximately north to south, it had a small overhanging corner turret projecting from the NW corner. Below the corbels under this turret are carvings of the Colquhoun arms and a face in the shape of a shield, between which is the letter C. A wall extending from the north-east corner of the house, containing an arched entrance, and a relatively thin eastern wall and incorporated dovecot are also thought to date to a similar period, although the conical-roofed dovecot may be 17th century. Colquhoun was beaten in a skirmish with the MacFarlanes of Arrochar in 1592.
In 1889 the Dunglass Castle was described by D. MacGibbon and T. Ross, "is now fragmentary having been despoiled upon an order by the Commissioners of Supply in 1735 to use it as a quarry for repairing the quay. The castle, of the period 1400-1542 and courtyard plan now consists of the remains of a high wall enclosing the top of the cliff and mixed in parts with modern work. Of this wall the major portions are in the south and west walls against which buildings were formerly erected. Near the west end of, and outside the south wall is a small landing place appearing to have been protected by a hoarding - some corbels for which still remain. At the NW corner of the enclosure is a dwelling house, partly old, possibly circa 1590, but mostly modern - the interior is wholly so."
"In the early 18th century it fell into neglect and was partly dismantled and used for the restoration of the Bowling quay as mentioned above. In 1738 it passed to the Edmonstone of Duntreath family in 1738. This dismantlement was halted by Andrew Buchanan of Auchentorlie, who bought the property in 1812. He remodeled and extended the house in the 1830s with the addition of an east wing, and in the 1850s a circular turret was added to the SW corner of the house. It now stands as a fragmentary castle situated on a rocky cliff by the River Clyde. The north-west turret has checkered corbelling and bears the Colquhoun arms along with other symbols, while the round SE turret is probably 17th century in date and may have been a pigeon roost (doocot). "A dwelling house (now demolished) sat in the NW corner of the enclosure, incorporating older elements but mostly post-1812 in date. A dovecot, or doocot in Scotland, sits adjacent." At the NE corner of the courtyard, the rocky highest point on the site and now occupied by a 19th century monument to the steamship pioneer Henry Bell, there is thought to have been a tower. Probably built in the 14th or 15th centuries, no trace of it now remains. It may have been replaced or superseded by the south range.
From 1893 until 1899 the designer Talwin Morris owned and lived at Dunglass Castle, and carried out some work on the interiors. In 1899 he sold the property to his best friend Charles Macdonald, the lawyer brother of the artist Margaret Macdonald who would later marry Charles Rennie Mackintosh.
Early in the 1920s land was reclaimed from the river to the west of the castle, and an oil terminal was built upon it by the then British Mexican Petroleum Co. Ltd. In the 1930s the oil terminal expanded onto partially reclaimed land to the east of the castle, leaving it surrounded by a massive industrial site.
The site was later bought by Esso but operations were closed down in 1997 and the process of decommissioning the plant began. Esso employed Simpson and Brown Architects to compile a report on the condition of the castle, and in 2000 they re-roofed the house and carried out consolidation work on the castle walls. The Rennie Mackintosh interiors, including a valuable fireplace and mantelpiece and a bookcase now in the Royal National Museum in Edinburgh, and all other interior fittings have been removed. Historic Scotland granted Listed Building Consent in 2013 to repair the castle walls and make the house watertight.
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