Greenhall House – Wardrope/Moore

Greenhall House is not to be confused with the current Crossbasket House, Greenhall. They are 2 very different buildings. A prominent family (as were most who lived in Greenhall), the Wardrope’s lived in Greenhall House (pictured) with the then head of the house a Mr J Wardrope Moore, who was often the chair of the town Committee meetings. The mansion passed from owner to owner from the 1920s. It has since been demolished in the 1960s.

A community figure passionate about improving Blantyre, Mr Wardrope’s Moore donated the horse trough that is set into the graveyard wall at the old Kirkyard at High Blantyre cross. (the area known as Kirkton). Greenhall House was a grand building made of stone. The trough is often referred to as the Wardrope-Moore trough and the stone archway is a fairly iconic reminder of the contribution of this individual.

Mr Moore was the business owner of Greenhall Brick Works located near Calderside. According to Neil Gordon’s book and Strother’s 1912 Directory, “Access to the brickworks was by a track leading from the General’s Brig (Bridge) in Stoneymeadow up the hill, over where the current East Kilbride Expressway is, up through the woodland and along the top of the high bank of the Calder River towards an open field. The existing remains of the kiln and associated works can be seen to this day.”
However, this is a mistake that is being carried by generations through history and was spotted by Robert Stewart. Robert contacted me with the query and upon investigating, i concluded from the 1910 map hat Greenhall Brickworks was actually accessed from Craigmuir Road near the Old Parish Church, in a far more Eastwardly location , and certainly nowhere near the Chainlink road or General’s Brig.

Update: Since first writing the above article, i have now had a chance to fully investigate the history of Greenhall, which can be read here.