Before and after photos of Craighead House. One pictured from 2000, and another a year later in 2001 following the catastrophic fire which saw the buildings demise. Once a grand house of Blantyre, by the 1900’s this building was sadly a shadow of its former self.
The property called “Craighead Retreat” owned by the Jesuit Fathers was struck by fire at around 9pm on Sunday 18th February 2001. In the days that followed, police immediately launched an enquiry into what had caused the fire, tipped by firemen that something was not quite right. By the time they had arrived, the ground floor, first floor and roof were ablaze in a fierce fire, which had firmly taken hold. It took them 3 hours to bring the blaze under control. The building had been left empty for three previous years, although a security company made daily patrols to check everything was ok. The patrol on that day confirmed everything was normal. Police later found out that the front door of the building had been forced open and the fire had definitely started in suspicious circumstances. Contractors subsequently demolished the remains to make it safe.
What’s your memories of Craighead?
