Historic Greenock building that has served as care home for ex-mariners hits market

A landmark Greenock building that has served as a care home for ex-mariners and seamen has hit the market.

A 7.12-acre site in the west end of Greenock is set to change hands, as a buyer is sought for former care home Sir Gabriel Wood’s Mariners’ Home and accompanying Mariners’ Court.

Property agents are seeking a buyer for Sir Gabriel Wood’s Mariners’ Home and accompanying Mariners’ Court, which lie in a 7.1-acre site in the west end of the Inverclyde town.

Marketed jointly by Colliers and Savills, the site could be sold for use as a care home or development opportunity, such as residential or hotel/leisure.

Incorporating a large listed building of historical importance, the 43-bed care home closed earlier this year. The adjoining Mariners’ Court, which was built in the 1990s, features 30 retirement flats.

Mariners’ Home had been operated as a care home for ex-mariners and seamen since it was founded in 1850 by Sir Gabriel, a commissary general born in Gourock in 1767. He travelled the world and held senior posts in North America during the Napoleonic Wars.

His family later moved to Greenock and following his death in 1845, his widow and sister, Lady Louisa Augusta Wood and Miss Francis Ann Wood, carried out his dying wish to found a care facility for aged master mariners and merchant seamen within his native town.

The building was designed by architect Robert Macintosh of Exeter and it is now recognised as one the town’s finest buildings.

Greenock has a population of about 45,000 people and is the largest town within the Inverclyde council areas. It has historically been one of the most important Scottish maritime ports, providing docking for ocean liners and merchant shipping.

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