Report - Pimiehall Residential School - Croftamie - Sept 21

Bikin Glynn · Oct 25, 2023

Pimiehall Residential Sch

I could only find one source of information on this place which annoyingly wouldn't let me copy & paste, so here is my painstakingly reconstructed version.

In early 20th century Croftamie & surrounding area were popular choice with politicians & businessmen alike and some of the local buildings emphasise this.
One such example is pimiehall in croftamie.
The building was erected in 1896 as a mansion house for Sir Alexander Murray. Pimiehall stayed in the family & was passed on to Robert Alexander Murray & his wife Catherine Laird Murray.
Richard was a chartered accountant and part of the Glasgow firm Brown Fleming & Murray.

The design of the building is often credited to architect Archibald Campbell and his assistant Andrew Edward Martin, unfortunately its not clear who designed Pimiehall.
The building was commissioned by William Ewing Gilmour to commemorate his deceased daughter Jessie Campbell Gilmour.
The site was later sold for private use.

The role of Pimiehall changed in 1940s. The 1939-1948 valuation roll for Dumbarton Council comfirm that the hall & several other buildings in the village were owned by Robert Alexander.
The 1950 - 1951 roll shows the hall had been taken over by Dumbarton County Council Education Committee .
It is at this point that the building became a residential schiool.

Srirling archives hold plans for Pimiehall Residential School, they detail the proposed extension and additions for the school in 1972. Although they are not the original plans the alteration plans detail the original layout of the building.
Distinctive features such as the tower can be seen on these plans.

The school closed down in 1993 and the school became derelict.
The building is now in a very bad state of disrepair. I believe the last report is 2009 & the difference is notable.