The Overtoun Estate

The first definate mention of an estate at Overtoun can be found in the 14th century history of the Colquhon clan, but it is possible to speculate on the previous owners of the land round Overtoun.

In the newly established kingdom of Scotland one of the first owners of the land were the Earls of Lennox. The first Earl of Lennox was probably Alwyn, son of Arkyll, who received lands from King Malcolm III (1057-1092). The place name Lennox means "Leven pastureland" refering to the river that runs from Loch Lomond to Clyde at Dumbarton. The Earldom however was quite extensive and covered the whole of Dumbartonshire and parts of Renfrewshire, Stirlingshire and Perthshire. The Earls of Lennox were amoung the most powerful in Scotland and supported Robert the Bruce and the Stewart monarchy.

Around 1241 the Earl of Lennox granted Humphrey de Kilpatrick the lands of Colquhoun. The Kilpatrick family, the Kilpatrick Hills and the village of Old Kilpatrick are all related. Kilpatrick is thought to mean "church of Patrick" in reference to St Patrick who is believed to have been born close to Old Kilpatrick (the village was called Kilpatrick until the parish split in 1649 into East and West Kilpatrick, West Kilpatrick later became Old Kilpatrick).

Humphrey de Kilpatrick, established the clan Colquhoun. About 1368, Sir Robert Colquhoun married the heiress of Luss and the seat of the clan moved to Luss where it remains to this day at Rossdhu House on the West Shore of Loch Lomond. Around this time the land of "Overtoun of Colquhon" was sold to an unknown buyer. In 1603 a feud between the Colquhouns and Macgregors lead to the famous Battle of Glenfruin, the "Glen of Sorrow" near Helensburgh, where the Colquhouns were massacred and the Macgregors "outlawed".

Little is known of buyer who bought Overtoun from the Colquhouns. The next mention of the estate comes in 1761 at which time it was owned by the Garshake Estate. Garshake Farm is still adjacent to the site and can be seen from Overtoun West Drive. A transaction between John Dennistoun of Garshake and one Gabriel Lang of Greenock is recorded, and the land belonged to the Lang family for many years subsequently. It is possible that the cliffs that overlook the Overtoun Estate were named after this family, they are called the Lang Craigs, or perhaps they simply take their name from the local dialect pronunciation of 'long' which could be spelled 'lang'.