Promontory Sites of the Upper Clyde
Edward Smith
Clutha Archaeology Group
Introduction
The Clutha Archaeology Group is interested in the archaeology of the Upper Clyde. The main focus at present is on the promontory sites located in the Incised Valleys of this area. These valleys are defined by nature.scot (Reference 1) as “narrow, steep sided valleys cut deeply into the plateau farmlands”. Among the interesting features of these valleys, listed by nature.scot, are “castles and other historic sites.” The valleys may also contain prehistoric sites. These narrow, steep sided valleys are little used today for commercial purposes; except for the managed woodlands in some areas. Because of this, there is a reasonable chance that there will be some archaeology at these sites unaffected by modern farming and house building.
Remains from many archaeological periods exist in these areas but among the known periods are medieval (and possibly Iron Age) at Castle Qua, medieval at Cadzow Castle and industrial at Hallcraig. These periods are estimated from the archaeological finds on the sites but it seems likely that there were earlier structures which were covered at a later date. This is particularly true of Hallcraig where today the foundations of an 18th century mansion are visible beside the signs of industrial activity but it is expected that under these foundations there are the remains of earlier periods. The Old Statistical Account (Reference 2) of 1793 suggests that Hall-Craig was formerly a place of strength, traces of which remained at that time. It would be interesting to explore beneath the industrial layers to record the earlier story. The industrial period had a considerable effect on the Upper Clyde so there are many obvious remains from this period left in the landscape but there are far fewer known sites from the Iron Age and earlier periods.
The sites in the Incised Valleys, which interest Clutha Archaeology Group, have the following characteristics in common.
- The sites are perched on the edge of a steep-sided gorge.
- Access to the site is restricted, by the steep ground, to a relatively narrow entrance.
- There is often, higher ground nearby.
- There may be archaeological remains on the site.
These features could be used to define a type of Promontory Site.
The main aims of our Group are
- To explore the Incised Valleys of the Upper Clyde.
- To identify potential Promontory Sites.
- To excavate some of these sites to find, among other things, datable material.
- To investigate the history of these sites.
Another topic for investigation is the possibility of routeways along the Incised Valleys.
Background
Many of the people in Clutha Archaeology Group (Clutha) met during the Clyde and Avon Valley Landscape Partnership (CAVLP) which ran between 2016 and 2018. This project provided opportunities to learn about the landscape and heritage of the Clyde and Avon Valleys with options for training in local heritage skills, including some aspects of field archaeology. One area of particular interest in the project, was Chatelherault Country Park and after CAVLP ended, Clutha was formed and continued to investigate this area.
It turns out that the gorge, carved out by the Avon Water, is an Incised Valley and so Clutha decided to explore similar landscapes in the Upper Clyde. Figure 1 shows the location of some of the Promontory Sites in this type of landscape.
Figure 1 The red dots show Promontory Sites on some of the Incised Valleys of the Upper Clyde between Hamilton and Lanark. Contains OS data @ Crown copyright and database rights (2024).
Paul Murtagh led the Heritage element of CAVLP and he pointed out a site of interest at the edge of Chatelherault Country Park, on the Meikle Glen. This is the site marked “Castle” in Figure 2.
Figure 2 Site of a possible Castle on the Meikle Burn. Contains OS data @ Crown copyright and database rights (2024).
The site is marked on the plan, prepared by Douglas in 1776, of the High Parks area of the Duke of Hamilton’s estate. A copy of this plan is on display in the Chatelherault Visitors Centre but the image has a very low resolution, so it was difficult to be sure what was there. The site was not visited at that time but after CAVLP ended and the Clutha Archaeology Group was formed, a visit to Hamilton Public Library revealed the original estate plan which showed the word “Castle” marked at this location.
Following this, a visit to this site on the Meikle Burn revealed features which matched the following description of Eddlewood Castle in Canmore (Reference 3)
“The Castle of Eddlewood was situated on the Meikle Burn, 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 … by the troops of the Regent Murray, after the Battle of Langside, in 1568.”
This is a quotation from the Hamilton Advertiser of 1874 which can be seen at Hamilton Public Library. At the site, there is a fragment of wall on a mound, as shown in Figure 3, which is probably the “mound of rubbish and the fragment of a wall”.
No reference to Eddlewood Castle has been found prior to the 18th century estate plan but Eddlewood Estate has been mentioned in earlier records. For example, a 14th century charter (Reference 4) records that “Robert, king of Scots, has given his beloved and faithful Oliver Carpenter, for his homage and service, all the land of Eddlewood in Clydesdale … and the forinsec service of one archer, and three suits of court at his court of Cadzow ”
Figure 3 Clutha investigates the “mound of rubbish and fragment of a wall” at the site of Eddlewood Castle mentioned in Canmore (Reference 3).
Site Investigation
In July 2024, Clutha Archaeology Group investigated the Eddlewood Castle site and opened three test-pits, following the advice of Andrew Jepson of Archaeology Scotland.
The site is part of the designated Country Park and the Clyde Valley Woodlands National Nature Reserve (NNR). Permission for excavation within the Country Park was granted by South Lanarkshire Council Countryside and Greenspace Service.
The main features of the site are a Flat Area together with a Mound of earth and bedrock, shown in Figure 4. On top of the Mound there are walls of quarry-cut stone blocks which may have led people to suspect that there was once a castle here.
Figure 4 Photo of the site with the Flat Area in the foreground and the Mound at the back. Clutha Archaeology Group excavate a test pit during a site visit by Andrew Jepson of Archaeology Scotland.
In the test pit, shown in Figure 4 of the Flat Area below the Mound, sherds of Medieval pottery were uncovered. Some of the sherds were glazed.
On top of the Mound, the remains of a tiled floor were uncovered in the area between two stone walls. The walls look as if they are at right angles and in the corner, a single floor tile was discovered (Figure 5).
Figure 5 Part of the wall showing the single remaining floor tile under a stone block in the corner. There were no other floor tiles found on the site.
Discussion
The discovery of medieval pottery has made this site even more interesting. Before this, the main information on the history of this site was the word “castle” written on an 18th century estate plan together with rumours of activity in the 16th – 17th century, following the Battle of Langside. But now there is strong evidence that the site was occupied in the medieval period which takes us to a time when this area may have been part of a deer park which included Cadzow Castle where there are the remains of a Park Pale (Reference 5).
There is a great deal more to be discovered at this site.
- The Mound will have to be excavated with care to determine the nature of the structure. Archaeology Scotland advised us to do this only with profession supervision as there will be health & safety issues with the stability of the stone walls. Further excavation will probably destroy the site so it will be necessary to keep a careful, accurate record of the process.
- It is likely that the area occupied in the past was larger than the site explored on this visit. Future work will expand the area to find out how it meets the higher ground nearby.
- Geophysics may help us uncover structures in the expanded area.
- The Flat Area, where the medieval pottery sherds were found, may contain further secrets.
- The steep drop down to the Meikle Burn will be explored for material which may have fallen down from the site.
Conclusion
Eddlewood Castle is only one example of a Promontory Site in an Incised Valley of the Upper Clyde. There are many more. The plan is to
- visit these sites, record the remains and date them.
- record the history of these sites and how they changed over time.
- investigate any trackways between the sites. There are certainly trackways that were active in the industrial period, for moving goods to market but there were probably links between these sites in earlier times. Are there traces of these links?
- investigate if any of the Promontory Sites were active at the same time. For example, there is a possibility that the Eddlewood Castle site was occupied at the same time a deer park was active near Cadzow Castle.
References
1.
nature.scot (Scottish Natural Heritage)
LCT 204 – Incised River Valleys – Final pdf.pdf
2.
Old Statistical Account 1793
Statistical Accounts of Scotland
3.
Canmore ID 74524
Eddlewood Castle Canmore
4.
POMS (People of Medieval Scotland)
POMS:record
5.
Canmore ID 45735
Cadzow Castle, Park Pale Canmore