Publication Account
Date 1985
Event ID 1016579
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Publication Account
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1016579
The matte at Carnwath, more correctly referred to as Libberton Motte as it originally lay in that parish, is the most impressive Norman earthwork to survive in Lanarkshire and can be viewed with advantage from the Carnwath-Carstairs road (A 70). It is a classic 'pudding basin' mound, circular on plan and rising with steep sides (now unfortunately planted with trees) to a level top, and surrounded by a ditch. For such a massive earthwork (9m in height), the summit area is surprisingly small, measuring a meagre 13.5m in diameter, only marginally larger than the comparatively slight matte at Coulter (no. 46).
The motte may have been built for William de Sommerville (died 1160), who came from Yorkshire to Libberton at the invitation of David I.
Information from ‘Exploring Scotland’s Heritage: The Clyde Estuary and Central Region’, (1985).