Eddlewood Castle Research Summary

 

Introduction

Eddlewood Castle may have been situated in Chatelherault Country Park, which lies to the south of Hamilton. A map in Hamilton Public Library shows that there was a castle at this site in 1776. In addition there are two, distinct references to Eddlewood Castle in the historic record. But should there not be a more substantial record for a castle owned by the Hamilton family? Perhaps their family archive has more information about this site.

Location

 

 

The site of Eddlewood Castle is beside the Eddlewood housing estate at the edge of Chatelherault Country Park, much of which lies between the River Clyde and the Meikle Burn. It was part of the Duke of Hamilton’s estate and an 18th century plan of the area shows that there was a castle at this location.

Historic Record

Record 1

The site of Eddlewood Castle is recorded by Canmore at
https://canmore.org.uk/site/74524/eddlewood-castle
which has a reference to
H. A. {1889} ‘The Hamiltons of Eddlewood and Neilsland’,
in
Watson, J, John Watson of Bathville and John Watson of Earnock, his son: by the latter. Glasgow.
There is a copy of this book at Hamilton Public Library and on page 60 it says that
“The Castle of Eddlewood was situated on the Meikle burn, a short distance below the confluence of Blackbog and Simsonland burns, and within the wall which encloses the High Parks of Hamilton. Its site is marked by a mound of rubbish and the fragment of a wall. It was probably dismantled, along with Cadzow – which is situated on the Aven, about a mile eastward – by the troops of the regent Murray, after the battle of Langside, in 1568. After the destruction of the castle, the residence of the proprietors seems to have been removed to the Mains of Eddlewood, outside the wall enclosing Cadzow Forest, and on part of the lands constituting the present estate.”
This article ends on page 65 with “A.H. Quarter September 1874”
It may be that A.H. is the Andrew Hamilton mentioned in Record 3 below,

Record 2

The information in Record 1 also appears in the Hamilton Advertiser of September 26, 1874. This can be seen at
https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000471/18740926/005/0001
but a subscription is required.

Record 3

The site is also mentioned in
“Naismith’s Hamilton directory for 1878-79, including Bothwell, Blantyre, Uddingston, Motherwell, and Larkhall to which is added, A history of Hamilton and neighbourhood”
which can be found at
https://digital.nls.uk/antiquarian-books-of-scotland/archive/131656084#?c=0&m=0&s=0&cv=263&xywh=-335%2C-116%2C3120%2C2313

Page 121 is the beginning of an article entitled “Quarter” by Andrew Hamilton”. This article, on page 126, has the same description, as Record 1, of the location of Eddlewood Castle but it does not mention the Battle of Langside.

Record 4

Record 1 and 2, but not Record 3, suggest that Eddlewood Castle was dismantled after the Battle of Langside (1568). This suggestion is, very weakly, supported by the following reference
“A diurnal of remarkable occurrents that have passed within the country of Scotland since the death of King James the Fourth till the year M.D.LXXV from a manuscript of the sixteenth century, in the possession of Sir John Maxwell of Pollock, Baronet ” by Thomson, Thomas, 1768-1852 which can be found at  https://archive.org/details/diurnalofremarka00thom/page/176/mode/2up
At the bottom of page 177 and on page 178, which relate to the year 1570, we have:
“Here are the names of castellis, palices, houssis and places quhilk wer brint and castin doun in Cliddisdaill . In the first, the castell, palice and toun of Hamiltoun …”
Eddlewood Castle does not appear by name in this list but it may possibly be one of the “diverse uther places pertenying to the saidis Hamiltonis and thair adherentis.”

Record 5

In the Ordnance Survey name book of 1858 to1861

https://scotlandsplaces.gov.uk/digital-volumes/ordnance-survey-name-books/lanarkshire-os-name-books-1858-1861/lanarkshire-volume-40/59
there is a reference to a cave beside the Meikle Burn, where visitors took refreshments.
The cave is situated close to the site of Eddlewood Castle and the reference suggests that the area attracted visitors in the early days of tourism in Scotland. It may be that the link between Eddlewood Castle and the Battle of Langside was created at that time to make the site more interesting to visitors.
It may be that the 1874 article in the Hamilton Advertiser (Record 2) was intended to attract visitors to the site.

Record 6

A reference to Eddlewood in 1314 can be found at the People of Medieval Scotland site:
POMS: record
Robert, king of Scots, has given his beloved and faithful Oliver Carpenter, for his homage and service, all the land of Eddlewood. Probable date 24 June 1314
But there is no mention of Eddlewood Castle on the People of Medieval Scotland site.

Early Maps of Eddlewood

Pont’s 1596 map shows Eddlewood beside Hamilton ( Pont 1596 ) and a copy of this map was produced by Blaeu ( Blaeu 1662 ).

 

Roy’s map of 1752-55 shows Aidlewood to the west the Avon and Chatelherault. This shows one of the alternative spellings for Eddlewood ( Roy 1752-55 )

Ross’ map of 1773 does not show Eddlewood, but it does show other settlements such as Meikle Earnock and Silvertonhill ( Ross 1773 ).

Forest’s map of 1816 shows Eddlewood to the south west of Cadzow Castle and to the east of Mickle Earnock. ( Forest 1816 )

OS 1st edition 1858
The OS 1st edition map of 1858 shows Eddlewood House and Meikle Earnock to the west of the area where the Eddlewood housing estate is today.

Table of Names on the early Maps

This table shows that the name Eddlewood is on all of these maps except the Ross map of 1773.
The name Eddlewood Castle does not appear on any of these maps. But, on the other hand, the name Cadzow Castle only appears on Forest’s map of 1816 and the history of Cadzow Castle is well established. See Canmore:

Cadzow Castle | Canmore

Cadzow Castle was the occasional residence of David I (1124-53), and his successors down to Robert the Bruce (1306-29) (Hamilton Civic Soc 1932)
Hamilton past and present. (1932) Hamilton past and present [1456-1932]. [Hamilton].

Early Maps showing possible location of Eddlewood Castle

There are three maps in the archive at the Hamilton Public Library which show a mound at the site of the castle in the ‘Location’ section above.

“Douglas” Map

The site is shown on a plan of the High Parks produced for the Duke of Hamilton by William Douglas in 1776.

This image was taken at the Chatelherault Visitors Centre, where a copy of the map is on display.
The original map is stored at the Hamilton Public Library.

Closeup image of the original map stored at the Hamilton Public Library.
This image shows more detail of the area of land labelled “Groundwood” on the Douglas 1776 plan. The area lies at the western edge of the High Parks where a mound (circled in red) is located above the Meikle Burn as it skirts the southern edge of Groundwood.

 

This closeup of the mound on the original Douglas 1776 map shows the word Castle on the mound above the Meikle Burn. The layout of the Castle, mound, wooded area and Meikle Burn on this map is the same as it is today.
This image is the strongest evidence that Eddlewood Castle ever existed.

“Bauchop” Map

R. Bauchop’s Hamilton, Plan of the High Parks at Hamilton, 1810 shows a mound at the same location as the Douglas Map shown above. In this case there is no label to indicate the nature of the mound.

The “Bauchop” Map shows a mound at the same place as the Douglas map above.
The “Bauchop Map” is stored at the Hamilton Public Library archive, where this image was taken.

 

“No Surveyor” Map

This map is recorded as “Hamilton – Plan of part of the barony of Hamilton between Cadzow Castle and Crookedstone Muir (with minerals noted) 19th century” but the surveyor is not recorded.

The 19th century “No Surveyor” map shows a mound at the same location as the two maps above. In this case the mound has the label “Ruin”.
The “No Surveyor” Map is at the Hamilton Public Library archive, where this image was taken. The pencil lines on this map suggest that the Mound was used as a survey point by the “No Surveyor”. In this case the line of sight would have been clear, suggesting there were few or no trees on the mound at this time. In the other two maps, the area was forested as it is today.

Summary

There is today a structure at the site labelled “Castle” on the 1776 plan of the High Parks produced for the Duke of Hamilton. This structure matches the description in Record 1 above: “Its site is marked by a mound of rubbish and the fragment of a wall”. Also the site location agrees with the description in Record 1 above – “The Castle of Eddlewood was situated on the Meikle burn, a short distance below the confluence of Blackbog and Simsonland burns”.
Records 1 and 2 suggest that the castle was “cast down” following the Battle of Langside (1568) but we have seen little evidence to support this connection to the battle. Possibly this story was attached to the location to make it more interesting to visitors to the site in the early days of tourism in Scotland.

We are surprised that we cannot find any evidence of Eddlewood Castle existing before 1776 although there are several references in charters to the Eddlewood estate from the 14th century onwards.

Postscript

At our recent dig at the site, we discovered several sherds of medieval pottery. The site was active in the medieval period and it may be linked to the deer park near Cadzow Castle
( HamiltonHigh Parks, park pale Hamilton High Parks, park pale (SM10733) )