1895 Blantyre Lodge House, Blantyre Works
A wonderful and previously unpublished photo of Blantyre Lodge. Taken in the 1890’s this grand 3 storey house belonged to William Jolly, the Blantyre Works Manager’s House. It was located next to the works mills, in what is now the grounds of David Livingstone Centre. It was the house at the end of “The Dandy” path.
I think the house looked very colonial, and it certainly was not just out of the ordinary compared to the adjacent mill houses, but was also very out of character for all of Blantyre as a whole. Indeed, I can’t think of any other home that had a similar appearance in this area. The distinctive criss cross of wood, in a trellis effect completely covered the house, encouraging ivy to grow upon it.
The house was demolished before 1928 to make way for the landscaping at David Livingstone Centre. Today, the exact site is where the children’s playpark and sand pit is at David Livingstone Centre. You can read about the history of Blantyre Lodge house here https://blantyreproject.com/2014/06/13/2014-blantyre-lodge-archeology-dig/