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industrial /post medieval

medieval

Site of Bishop's CastleCarstairs

Burnhead FarmLate medieval remains

ScabgillBastle House

Eastshield TowerRuins at Eastshield Farm

Lockhart MillLate medieval mill

Lockhart CastleTower House

Motte at GartlandInvestigating an artificial mound

BlackcastleMedieval Site

Medieval: Site of Bishop's Castle Grid Reference: NS 465940

Site of Bishop's CastleCarstairs

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 Carstairs- between it and Columbie farm

CommentA resistivity survey

might be the quickest way of resolving thi

s — definitely not digging, since nobody is

sure where the castle was located.

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Medieval: Burnhead Farm Grid Reference: NS 498871

Burnhead FarmLate 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.

Medieval: Scabgill Grid Reference: NS 509947

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ScabgillBastle 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.

CommentExcavation of the site, which has been fairly dis-turbed 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.

Medieval: Eastshield Tower Grid Reference: NS 501960

Eastshield TowerRuins 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 sup-ported 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 take it down to reuse the stone. One period this could have happened was during the Cov-enanting times when James Inglis brother of William Inglis of Eastshiel supported the Gov-ernment against the Covenanters. Alternatively William Inglis might have decided to demolish it after he was made Commissioner of Excise in 1661 by Charles II to show off his new position in Society.

CommentIt might be possible to conduct an excavation in the vicinity of the tower but it might be preferable

to do a resistivity survey first of all to see what areas might be worth excavating and to decide carefully what questions an excavation might answer. This excavation might be the sort that a team with some experience should undertake. What would be useful at this stage could be a survey using maps to chart the development of what is a very interesting collection of buildings spanning all eras from the late sixteenth century to the 20th century. In addition the family has offered to provide access to a privately produced family history. Therefore there is potential here to tell an interesting story.

Medieval: Lockhart Mill Grid Reference: NS 87794528

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Lockhart MillLate 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.

Medieval: Lockhart Mill, cont. Grid Reference: NS 87794528

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CommentSome 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 used as a lint mill.

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 CastleTower 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.

CommentThe 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.

Medieval: Motte at Cartland Grid Reference: NS 451878

Motte at GartlandInvestigating an artificial mound

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.

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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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.

CommentFieldwalking 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

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Medieval: Blackcastle Grid Reference: NS 534020

BlackcastleMedieval Site

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 dat-estone 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.