industrial /
post medieval
medieval
Site of Bishop's Castle
Carstairs
Burnhead Farm
Late medieval remains
Scabgill
Bastle House
Eastshield Tower
Ruins at Eastshield Farm
Lockhart Mill
Late medieval mill
Lockhart Castle
Tower House
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14
page
page
Motte at Gartland
Investigating an artificial mound
Blackcastle
Medieval Site
Medieval: Site of Bishop's Castle
Grid Reference: NS 465940
Site of Bishop's Castle
Carstairs
The place name Carstairs is actually derived
from the words describing 'an earth castle' Castel Terra or Castelterris as it was known in
the Middle Ages.
Irving and Murray tell us that in 1245 Bishop
Walter of Glasgow was resident at a house or
castle in Carstairs. Robert Wishart of Glasgow,
during the Wars of Independence period, was
busy constructing a replacement in stone as
Edward 1 in 1292 grants Bishop Walter
permission to crenellate or build a stone castle.
During the Wars of Independence there are
records of a garrison at Carstairs. In December
1301 mention is made of the fact that Sir
Walter de Burdon is given the custody of the
castle of Tarres and the Sheriffdom of Lanark
along with 30 men at arms.
It is not known how long the castle survived
but it certainly was visited by Edward II on 8th
October 1310. Possibly it was destroyed by
Robert the Bruce after Bannockburn. Nobody
is sure of the exact location, but it is supposed
to lie near the parish church in Carstairsbetween it and Columbie farm
Comment
A resistivity survey might be the quickest way
of resolving this — definitely not digging, since
nobody is sure where the castle was located.
page
5
Medieval: Burnhead Farm
Grid Reference: NS 498871
Burnhead Farm
Late Medieval Remains
To date a detailed survey of the farm has not
been undertaken,
but
initial
observations
would suggest that part of the farm buildings
date to the pre-improvement era.
Comment
Currently not enough information to comment on,
but would say that probably a photographic and
measured survey would suffice.
page
16
Medieval: Scabgill
Grid Reference: NS 509947
Scabgill
Bastle House
Scabgill was only found to be a bastle house
in the late 1990s. The house is in two parts - a
typical 19th century farm house to which is
attached a much older structure. The older part
dates back to the 16th century. It has 3 feet thick
walls, a vaulted ground floor and tiny windows.
These are all features of a bastle house. A bastle
house is a fortified farm house and Scabgill is
the most northerly example of this particular
type of fortified farm.
Comment
Excavation of the site, which has been fairly
disturbed by redevelopment, would not be
worthwhile. Neither would a resistivity survey
be profitable. Perhaps the best thing would be
to do a series of photographs and a measured
drawing of the site.
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Medieval: Eastshield Tower
Grid Reference: NS
501960
Eastshield Tower
Ruins at Eastshield Farm
Ruins of Eastshield Tower lie next to the farm
building of Eastshield Farm. The tower seems
to date from the late 16th century and there is a
date stone marked 1567 set into the byre of the
steadings. This dates to the time of Thomas
Inglis whose estates had only recently been
restored to the family by the government of
James VI. They were confiscated by the Earl of
Morton in 1581 as the family supported the
cause of Mary Queen of Scots.
The Inglis family are recorded as being the
principal retainers of the Sommerville family in
1474 and they are stated to have played a vital
part in the decision to appoint Hugh as Lord
Sommerville in 1570 when there was a
debate as to whether the eldest child should
succeed to the estate. The Inglis family supported those that felt that the eldest son was
not of sound mind. This led to the destruction
of the Sommerville estates in the wrangling
that followed this decision as the tenants were
bitterly divided on this issue.
The remains consist of one wall with a staircase
going up inside the Tower, this was presumably
used to get access to the rest of the tower and
to do a resistivity survey first of all to see what
take it down to reuse the stone. One period this
areas might be worth excavating and to decide
could have happened was during the Cov-
carefully what questions an excavation might
enanting times when James Inglis brother of
answer. This excavation might be the sort that a
William Inglis of Eastshiel supported the Gov-
team with some experience should undertake.
ernment against the Covenanters. Alternatively
What would be useful at this stage could be a
William Inglis might have decided to demolish it
survey using maps to chart the development of
after he was made Commissioner of Excise in
what is a very interesting collection of buildings
1661 by Charles II to show off his new position
spanning all eras from the late sixteenth century
in Society.
to the 20th century. In addition the family has
offered to provide access to a privately produced
Comment
family history. Therefore there is potential here to
It might be possible to conduct an excavation in
tell an interesting story.
the vicinity of the tower but it might be preferable
Medieval: Lockhart Mill
Grid Reference: NS 87794528
Lockhart Mill
Late Medieval Mill
The remains of this mill lie on the river
Mouse near Lanark and it is one of a number
of mills, the nearest being 'Cunning Willies'
Mill which was built beneath Jerviswood
House - the 17th century property belonging to
the Baillie Family.
Lockhart Mill is shown in an old engraving as
being in existence at the end of the eighteenth
century. Similarly it is recorded as being a corn
mill in the 1790s according to tax records of
the period.
Entering the drive of the house known as
Lockhart Mill, the first thing that one sees is a
mill wheel. Walking down to the mill from
what was probably the Miller's House, later
farm and now private house, one can see the
channel which took the water down to the mill
at the bottom of the hill. This was not always
where the mill was powered from as the
engraving shows a mill wheel in the river.
Maybe there was a dam further up to provide
the water for the mill.
What can be seen apart from the channel
coming down the hill are the remains of a
stone wall at southern end of lower level with
small openings like windows - possibly
something to do with the machinery for the
mill. One of these openings is three feet up
from ground level. There is a gable end also
found at south side of the site. Dimensions of
the building appear to be externally 35.5 feet at
the side by 16 feet and 21 feet on the river side
thus the building has an almost wedge shape.
page
20
Medieval: Lockhart Mill, cont.
Grid Reference: NS 87794528
Comment
Some work of a limited nature was done over
twenty years ago by the Lanark and District
Archaeological Society. Little was found out
about the mill, which is divided into two bits,
apart from clear evidence that the small chamber
was at one time used for drying flax. The
evidence for this came from the flat and thin
bricks with small holes through them which
indicate that at some period, Lockhart Mill was
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The best way forward for this site is a thorough
photographic survey and a measured plan of it.
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Medieval: Lockhart Castle
Grid Reference: NS 470893
Lockhart Castle
Tower House
A view of Lockhart Mill at the end of the
18th century shows Castle Lockhart in the
distance, but the detail is insufficient. A view of
Lanark done by a Belgian artist and which
could have been taken from Castle Lockhart at
the beginning of the 19th century shows the
remains of a tower, but it is likely to be
extremely inaccurate.
The castle appears to be a small square tower
overlooking the Mouse Valley to the South.
The tower belonged to the Lockharts of the
Lee and was used by junior members of the
family. It seems likely that the tower was built
in the late 16th century and was in use till the
present Castlehill farm was constructed.
Comment
The site of the tower is now covered by trees
planted almost 20 years ago and so the remains
are well hidden. Archaeological investigation of
the tower is out but a resistivity survey of the
surrounding area would pay dividends. The
surrounding pasture lands are also worth
checking for old roadways and other early
features.
page22
Medieval: Motte at Cartland
Grid Reference: NS 451878
Motte at Gartland
Investigating an artificial mound
One of these has been excavated at Roberton
and the dating evidence suggests that it was
erected in the late 13th century at the time of
the Wars of Independence. These were
probably erected by Edward I to protect his
lines of communication rather than by the
Lockharts.
There is a tree covered mound on the lands
of Greentower Farm overlooking the main road
from Lanark to Carluke as it dips down towards
Cartland Bridge. The mound is not a natural
feature and is definitely artificial. There are two
things that it could be - one is a folly and the
other is a motte. Certainly it is in a good
defensive position overlooking the main route
into Lanark from the North. Whatever it is, it
lies on lands that belonged to the Lock-harts
who held the surrounding lands up until the
20th century.
Comment
Fieldwalking would be perhaps the most useful
thing that could be done by a small group to
find out if there was any occupation of this site
in the Middle Ages
trill
-
Examination of the site shows that there are no
indications that it was an 18th century folly.
However it is more likely to be a motte. There
is a question as to why there seems to be no
bailey and this could be that it was erected like
many mottes in Clydesdale with the express aim
of guarding routes into the area.
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page
3
Medieval: Blackcastle
Grid Reference: NS 534020
Blackcastle
Medieval Site
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Blackcastle is a group of buildings forming
a private dwelling - formerly it was a farm. The
buildings making it up are of different eras
going back as far as the 18th century and may
be before that. There is a late 18th century datestone set into the wall of the farm house but it
may be in the wrong position.
Blackcastle was used as a place for two training
events and it was useful to see how the old
Ordnance survey maps could be used to do
checks of developments over the past 150
years. Also the value of a survey was revealed
when it was found that some of the Ordnance
survey plans were incorrect. The site was also
discovered to date back to at least 1540 as it is
mentioned in the court book of the Burgh of
Carnwath.
The training set a useful benchmark as to what
could be achieved given the time.