Balloch Castle

I've blipped so many pictures from in and around the park that I thought it was time I blipped the building from which the park gets it's name.

Balloch Castle was built in 1808/9 near the site of the original castle (built 1238), possibly incorporating some stone from the original castle. This new castle was built as a residence by a Glasgow merchant, John Buchanan of Ardoch. The turrets are decorative, with no defensive function or value.
After subsequently passing through a few owners, the castle and surrounding parkland was purchased in 1915 by the City of Glasgow Corporation to provide publicly accessible open space. Although still owned by what is now Glasgow City Council, it has been leased by the local authority here (West Dunbartonshire Council) since 1975, and registered as a Country Park in 1980.
The castle has been a Category A listed building since 1971, occasionally being used as offices and for visitor facilities, but since falling in to a state of disrepair has been on the Buildings at Risk Register for Scotland since 2008.
The Council announced a programme of repairs 2 years ago, and it has recently completed re-roofing, so hopefully it will be somewhat further restored in the coming years and can again become an asset to the park and the local community.