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Publication Account
Date 1985
Event ID 1016578
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Publication Account
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1016578
The motte at Abington is the only earthwork castle in upper Clydesdale to retain its outer bailey. The site has been carefully chosen to make maximum use of natural defences with, on the south-east, a steep drop of some 10m down to the Clyde and a lesser stream protecting the south-west flank. The motte is tucked into the angle between the two water courses and is defended on the north and east by a ditch lam broad and 1.5m deep. The oval mound rises to a height of 2m above the interior of the bailey and its summit measures 20m by 12m. There is no causeway across the ditch, and the timber tower that once crowned the mound must have been reached by a wooden bridge. The bailey lies to the north; it is irregular on plan, measuring a maximum of 80m by 58m within an earthen rampart accompanied by an external ditch. A modem track breaches the rampart on the north, but the original entrance is probably represented by a 4m wide gap on the south-west
The estate associated with the motte probably corresponded with the bounds of the parish of Crawfordjohn, within which it lies, and John of Crawford appears as a witness on a charter oflands in Lesmahagow between the years 1147 and 1164.
Information from ‘Exploring Scotland’s Heritage: The Clyde Estuary and Central Region’, (1985).
